Smart gadgets rule at CES

Slick touchscreen tablet computers and smarter devices for the home and the car took centre stage as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which wrapped up on Sunday, writes AFP

The always connected lifestyle was on full display at the annual gadget extravaganza as Internet technology ruled at a show traditionally dominated by eye-popping new television sets. Tablet computers to rival Apple's iPad were the hot new products on display along with powerful new smartphones, ultra-thin laptops and Web-connected and 3D TV sets during the four-day event.

"The tablet wars are now launched, with everybody under the sun producing tablets," says Endpoint Technologies Associates analyst Roger Kay.

Tonnes of old TVs and computers arrive at landfills in January after people toss them in favour of the new, high-tech gadgets they got for Christmas, states The Post and Courier.

But a new state law that goes into effect in July and prohibits such items in landfills means residents will have to find ways to recycle those electronics, says the publication.

Nancy Carter, community representative for Charleston County's Environmental Management Department, says the county already offers electronics recycling at the Bees Ferry Landfill and at seven other convenience centres.

Tech visionaries have long dreamed of the day when PCs, TVs and phones can be controlled with a wave of the hand or even the blink of an eye, reports IBN Live.

"Natural user interface" technologies on display at last week's CES suggest that vision is inching closer to the mainstream - tearing down barriers between user and device, and dispensing with unwieldy keyboards and remotes, IBN Live says.

"Control everything without touching it - it's moving that way faster than ever," says Janine Kutliroff, CEO and founder of Omek Interactive, an Israeli company that makes software for gesture recognition through 3D sensors, so you can play games or manipulate a TV just by moving your hands and body.