The 2012 Consumer Electronics Show is over, but so many tech news stories, product showcases and software announcements came from the convention that you’re almost guaranteed to have missed something. If you take a look at our wrap up guides, you just might catch up on something you overlooked. Here’s everything we saw — and loved — at CES 2012.

CES 2012: Best in Show

The Annual Best of CES Awards
Here are the show’s standout products in 13 categories including the best smartphone, laptop, tablet, auto technology and accessory to surface in an unending swell of new gadgets.

Reader’s Choice Award 
The Best of CES Awards spotlights our editors’ top picks from the annual convention, but this year our readers had a decidedly different take on the single hottest piece of new tech.  

CES 2012: The Hottest Products

Best Laptops of CES 2012
Seven of these 8 clamshells fell short of a Best of CES Award, but they certainly garnered their fair share of time in the spotlight. Check out the laptops we eagerly look forward to reviewing this year.  

Best Smart Phones of CES 2012
The show’s smartphone announcements include a big step forward for Windows Phone, larger-than-ever screen sizes and phone cameras with the best specs we’ve encountered.

Best Tablets of CES 2012
This year’s tablets will offer longer battery life, lower prices and clearer screen resolutions.

CES 2012: The Biggest News Stories, Our Commentary and Live Video Coverage

Top 10 Videos of CES 2012
Some tech you have to see for yourself, like the Tobii Gaze Interface which, someday, will take hands-free to a whole new level by allowing you to navigate a computer screen just by looking at it. 

CES 2012: Biggest News Stories
CES doubles as a town hall for the world’s most successful tech companies to make huge announcements. This year, Microsoft embarked on its last CES keynote address and Intel announced partnerships to build smart phones with Lenova and Motorola.

SpoonFed: Top 5 Things I Learned at CES 2012
CES is too big to leave without thoughts on the long-view of tech. LAPTOP Editor-in-Chief Mark Spoonauer learned that despite Ultrabooks’  lionshare of limelight at the show, hybrid Android tablets that connect to keyboard docks could be a bigger trend. 

CES 2012: How Our Staff’s Mobile Gear Performed
We armed ourselves with some of the best gadgets of 2011 and tested them in the fast-paced halls of North American’s largest tech show. Check above to see how the MacBook Air 13, ASUS Zenbook UX31 Ultrabook, Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone and other favorite gadgets performed in action. 

LAS VEGAS — Want to put an SSD in your pocket? Victorinox wants to help you. The company’s recently announced fleet of Swiss Army-flavored solid state drives are eager to climb into your pockets, with or without complementary implements like a small blade, scissors, a nail file or a screw driver. We paid Victorinox a visit to learn about these creative solid state drive form factors.

First things first, be ready to pay for that fast-searching, durable storage on a swiveling clasp though. A 128GB version of the SSD starts at $570. The terabyte model will cost more than $2000.

The remain capacities include 256Gb for $920 and 512GB for $1700. Each drive offers 256-bit encryption and a 96 x 48 pixel monochrome e-ink display that serves as a label, content list and available storage indicator. 

Design-wise, a lot of thought went into how the SSDs will be used. In the packaging for each drive are two cases, a red one with the Swiss Army tools and travel-friendly black case that holds just the drive. Speaking of the drive, it can be clipped from the surrounding Swiss Army case. Once it’s removed, the male end of the USB/Sata port is covered with a removable plastic cab. Smooth move there. Users can carry the device without the outside case but still protect the vulnerable port end while it rides shotgun in a pocket or buried deep in a notebook bag.

As far as internal specs, Victorinox told us the drives offer read speeds as high as 220 megabytes per second and write speeds up to 120MB/s. The device supports USB 2.0 and 3.0 as well as SATA I and SATA II, so the speed of the connection depends on which port is being used and the speed of the connected system.

The Victorinox SSD will be available in the summer of this year, according to the company. The company head told us that there are still a few kinks to work out. For instance, when you plug the drive into a notebook, a small LED light on the drive lights up. The company feels the light is jarringly bright (and it was; pictured below is a version with a less intense LED), so it’s working on that. In addition, officials also shared that the plastic that permanently surrounds the drive isn’t ideal since it turns a yellowish color after time, and some of the clasps at the end of each chip don’t match up with their counterparts on the Swiss Army case. Come back this summer for the final release.

• CES 2012: Full Coverage 
• Which Solid State Drive is Fastest?
• Storage/SSD Guide

LAS VEGAS–For anyone with a sizable collection of movies and music, the limited storage capacity of smartphones and tablets can be a great disappointment. Verizon and Seagate have teamed up to fix this problem with the 4G LTE Mobile Wireless Storage Drive, the first wireless storage device with integrated 4G LTE technology, showcased at CES.

Taking advantage of the lightning-fast speeds of Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network, movies, music and photos can be downloaded directly to the Seagate 4G LTE Wireless Storage and then streamed over Wi-Fi to up to three mobile devices, similar to Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite. According to Seagate, the drive has enough storage capacity for more than 300 HD movies. It can also provide Internet connectivity for up to three Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices.

The Seagate 4G LTE Wireless Storage looks perfect for anyone who wants access to their entire multimedia library on the go — the drive boasts up to 5 hours of battery life and is compatible with all Wi-Fi- and browser-enabled iOS and Android phones and tablets via its 802.11b/g/n radio. 

Verizon and Seagate have yet to announce pricing or data plans for the drive, or when it will be released. 

• CES 2012: Full coverage
• Seagate GoFlex Satellite Review
• Top Tech Trends for 2012

The remaining price points are as follows:

• 128GB for $570
• 256GB for $920
• 512GB for $1700
• a terabyte for upwards of $2000

What can we say? It costs a lot to put a solid state drive in your pocket. Once it’s nestled there though, users can take advantage of support for both USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, and faster eSATA II port options as well. Plus, the tiny drive includes an LCD display for labeling, supports automatic backup, and comes in two configurations. The red option includes Swiss Army Knife staples like a blade, scissors, nail file, and screwdriver while a black option is designated “flight-friendly”, most likely with smaller TSA-friendly blades and other harmless implements. 

Look for more on the Victorinox SSD later this week at CES 2012. 

• CES 2012: Full Coverage 
• Which Solid State Drive is Fastest?
• Storage/SSD Guide

USB 3.0 is so 2011. During the last year, Intel partnered with Apple to develop Thunderbolt for high-speed data and video transfers. The new technology offers nearly 20 times the speeds of USB 2.0, but the benefits don’t stop there.

Essentially a combination of Mini DisplayPort and PCI Express, Thunderbolt can transfer data at a blistering 10 Gbps and port high-definition video simultaneously over the same cable. USB 3.0, found in today’s PCs, only supports 5 Gbps data transmissions.

Thunderbolt technology premiered in the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros. The first peripherals to work with this new port, such as the Promise Pegasus storage line (starting at $1,149), appeared shortly afterward. But more products are on the way. The technology will reportedly make its way to Windows PCs by April.

Why It’s Important

Sony was first to implement a variation on Thunderbolt technology with the VAIO Z. The ultraportable connected to a Power Media Dock with discrete GPU and Blu-ray burner. Acer and ASUS have committed to releasing Windows PCs with a bona fide Thunderbolt port in 2012.

Meanwhile, LaCie’s Little Big Disk (starting at $549), and the Black Magic Ultra Studio 3D video capture and playback box ($995) have hit the stage. Western Digital will release Thunderbolt storage products in mid-January. Belkin’s upcoming Thunderbolt Express Dock will feature three USB ports, Firewire, Gigabit Ethernet, and a Thunderbolt port. For its part, Intel sees increasing interest in Thunderbolt-connected external graphics cards.

How It Will Change Your Life

According to Intel, Thunderbolt lets users to transfer full-length HD movies in less than 30 seconds. A user could also back up a year’s worth of MP3s in a little more than 10 minutes. The emerging technology will enable a person to run a display with a resolution higher than 1080p while simultaneously pumping out eight audio channels. Plus, Thunderbolt will enable consumers to connect up to six devices via a process called daisy-chaining.

Outlook

Outfitting a device with Thunderbolt can be a pricey choice for a notebook maker, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. But according to Intel’s Jason Ziller, director of planning and marketing for Thunderbolt, it’s just a matter of time before prices come down. “Some OEMs may not offer Thunderbolt at [the sub-$500] price initially,” he admitted, “but eventually Thunderbolt will be available at just about every price point.”

Thunderbolt will also have to contend with USB’s strong lead and brand recognition with consumers. But Intel sees the technologies complementing one another, recommending to OEMs that new notebooks support both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt ports.

• Thunderbolt for PCs Reportedly Coming in April 2012
• LaCie Little Big Disk Review (Thunderbolt)
• CES 2012 Preview: Top 7 Trends to Watch

Yahoo today (Nov. 2) released Livestand, a free magazinelike news app that gathers your favorite Web-based sites into an attractive, easy-to-use interface.

Yahoo describes Livestand as a “digital newsstand that’s always fresh and effortlessly personalized.” This app is similar to Apple’s own Newsstand app, which also touts its ability to bring digital publications together in one interface. Where Livestand differs is that Apple’s Newsstand is largely built around paid subscriptions, while Yahoo’s contains free content from its own site and that of its partners. In that way, Livestand is more similar to apps such as Flipboard and Pulse.

[Full disclosure: TechmediaNetwork, parent company of this publication, is among the publishers featured in Livestand.]

Multiuser

Start up Livestand and you’ll see four “New User” pictures, allowing multiple users to access their account on a single iPad. You can sign in with a Yahoo or Facebook ID or bypass the login and just start using the app. If you create a login, you can also assign a photo to your account. Allowing multiple accounts is a great idea, since each person using the app will have different interests, and the app can be configured to show what you want to see.

My Library

Once logged in, you’ll see “My Library,” which is divided into two sections. The top contains “publications” you’ve subscribed to, as well as Yahoo! Today and Personal Mix. Yahoo Today contains top stories in five categories, as well as 12 featured content pages. Personal Mix highlights stories based on bookmarked content that you’ve chosen within the Livestand app. The bottom contains featured content, and the option to “Explore All Content.”

The best place to start is probably the “Explore All Content” option, where you can choose from 13 categories and scroll through free publications in each. These publications are collections of current articles from the listed site, much like a magazine form of the website. When you see one you like, tap the plus symbol to add it to your Library. Once you’ve selected your publications, use the left arrow in the navigation bar on the left edge of the screen to return home, or tap the Library button.

The Content

This app is about reading interesting content, so with your library now full of the publications you added, swipe left or right to move between them, and tap one you’d like to explore. A screen opens where the top contains a number of featured stories you can swipe left and right through, and the bottom contains links to categories you can browse through. Open any story and you can swipe up and down to move through it. The stories contain pictures, as well as ads, so the magazine analogy holds well.

Conclusion

Generally, we liked Yahoo Livestand. The interface is clean and easy to use, the graphics are appealing, and having multiple user accounts is something the iPad is sorely missing. The features are limited, which makes the app easy to use but doesn’t provide many opportunities for customization. The current list of publications included many that we enjoy, but the selection could benefit from more diversity. Ads are natural for a free app of this type, and there are ads here and there. We didn’t mind the static ads, but occasionally ads that included animation or video appeared and distracted from the reading.

• Hands-On With Zite: Flipboard Killer?
• Top 10 iPad Alternatives
• 12 Little-Known iPad Features

It’s no secret that replacing your notebook’s hard drive with a solid state disk can dramatically transform your computing experience. With even last year’s SSDs, tasks such as opening large files or starting bulky applications take mere moments to complete. And if you own a notebook powered by one of Intel’s 2nd Generation Core Series CPUs, you’re in for a whole new world of fast, courtesy of SATA III, a high-speed interface Intel included in its new chipsets starting in 2011.

While SATA II SSDs were often limited by the 3 GB/s cap imposed by their older interface, a new generation of SATA III drives takes full advantage of this increased bandwidth. For example, the SATA III-based Samsung 830 series was able to copy a 3.1GB file in just 13 seconds, nearly twice as fast as the SATA II-powered Samsung 430 series (24 seconds), which won our previous SSD round-up. That kind of data rate is also over three times as fast as a 7,200-rpm hard drive (71.7 seconds).

However, not all SATA III drives are created equal. We took four of the leading SSDs and put them through a battery of tests to determine which one belongs in your notebook.

The Contenders

Samsung 830 Series (256GB)

Featuring a triple-core Samsung controller designed to improve multitasking, the 830 series seeks to improve upon the 470 series, which was fast enough to win our previous SSD shootout in February. Like its predecessor, the 830 Series has an attractive brushed-metal case that really stands out in a crowd. It also is available with an upgrade kit that features a USB-to-SATA adapter and Norton Ghost software for easily migrating your data, OS, and apps from your old hard drive.

The 830 series carries a highly competitive MSRP of $429 for the 256GB capacity and $229 for the 128GB size. That’s a rate of $1.67 and $1.78 per GB respectively, but we expect those numbers to be even lower at retail.

Intel SSD 510 (250GB)

Since entering the SSD market in 2008, Intel has earned a strong reputation for building high-speed drivers with its own controllers. With the SSD 510, the company decided to go with a Marvell 9174 controller that’s used by other manufacturers such as Corsair and Micron, but continues to use its own firmware.

At $2.27 per GB for the 250GB size ($569) and $2.31 per GB for the 120GB capacity ($278), Intel’s drive is one of the more expensive on the market.

OCZ Vertex 3

Featuring the popular SandForce 2281 controller chip found in at least a dozen other drives, the Vertex 3 continues OCZ’s tradition of offering high-speed drives at a low cost. At $1.53 per GB for the 240GB capacity ($369) and $1.66 per GB for the 120GB size, this is one of the best deals you can score.

Patriot Wildfire

The Wildfire also features a SandForce 2281 controller, but with different NAND flash memory and firmware than the Vertex 3. At $1.99 per GB for the 120GB capacity and $1.96 per GB for the 240GB size ($469), this drive is one of the more affordable options in its class.

The Controls

To get an idea of what to expect we also compared the four SATA III drives to the Samsung 470 series, a SATA II SSD which won our previous SSD roundup, and to a 500GB 7,200 rpm hard drive.

SATA III SSD Showdown

• The Drives
• Synthetic Tests
• File Copy and Zip Tests
• Application Opens, Multitasking, and Verdict

According to the price details OCZ shared with Engadget, you’ll pay handsomely for the 1024GB SSD; $2,200 to be precise. But that much space could hold one massive library of music, music, documents, and photos, all without the hassle of plugging in external hardware (Electronista says the 400GB drive can fit into a notebook’s standard 3.5-inch drive bay). And don’t get us started on the performance boost to your system thanks to the SSD’s flashy read/write times. If 1TB and $2,200 dollars is overkill for you, there are three more options. The remainder of the OCZ Colossus line features 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB options for $300, $650, and $1,200 respectively.

OCZ tells Engadget that the new drives are “about three weeks” away from shipping. Counting down the days? So are we.

Via Engadget and Electronista 

• SSD Battle Royale: Which Drive Will Speed Up your Notebook the Most?
• How to Install an SSD in Your Notebook
• Samsung Announces 830 Series SSD, First with SATA 6Gb/s

Although no images of the tablet have leaked out (yet), Siegler said the tablet looks a great deal like RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook and will run on a forked version of Android, meaning that it will use the Google OS as a base for Amazon’s own customized user interface. The Amazon Kindle is also expected to run off of a single-core processor. Siegler confirmed what that the device will feature a full complement of Amazon apps including the Amazon Android Appstore, Amazon Instant Video player, Amazon Cloud Drive, and of course the Amazon Kindle app.

As expected, Amazon will also draw on its services to entice users into purchasing the new tablet. For instance, Siegler reports that the Kindle will come with a free one-year subscription to Amazon Prime. The service, which is available for $79.99 per year, provides users with a variety of perks including access to Amazon’s Instant Video collection, free two-day shipping on Amazon purchases, and unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows.

Perhaps the biggest advantage Amazon has, as our own Mark Spoonauer points out, is the incredible amount of exposure the tablet will receive simply by being advertised on Amazon’s website. That type of advertising could all but assure some modicum of success. Throw in the tablet’s reported $250 price point, and it looks like Amazon has a serious contender on its hands.

via TechCrunch