Hasta La Gadget!

This year at CES 2013 we took on the full gamut, everything from ultra HD televisions to smartphone cases, and all things good in-between. While we’ll be presenting several CES wrap-up posts for you over the next few days so you can get caught up in a collection of nutshells, we’d like to take the opportunity here to say thank you to all of the individuals, companies, and institutions that helped us make it easy to present all the newest innovations to you, the readers.

What we’ve seen this week is a wide variety of devices, services, and events that collectively give us a basic idea of what we’ll be seeing from developers, manufacturers, and creators of all kinds over the coming set of months. CES 2013 has presented the usual undeniably intense next-generation in televisions, too massive to use, more accessories than we’ll ever have time to use, and whispers of this Spring and Summer’s mobile device offerings.

NOTE: We brought more people than the photo above suggests, but planes take off early, and it’s rare you get a minute to take a photo with the SlashGear truck!

Interestingly enough, we only saw a few devices in the mobile market that we’d not seen before. Groups like NVIDIA and Lenovo presented smart mobile devices while Samsung, LG, Nokia, and Motorola all but abstained from the “CES reveal” method. Instead they stuck to their refrigerators, software upgrades, and re-commitments to the devices they’ve already got out.

What we’re expecting from the companies that did not present (only represented) is either a big showing at Mobile World Congress (next month) or their own device reveals spattered throughout the coming weeks. We shall see soon enough!

So for now you’ll want to head to our massive CES portal for everything CES 2013 and stay tuned to SlashGear for a set of wrap-up posts you wont want to miss!

Goodbye CES 2013: It’s been fun! is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

I use IKEA Stolmen components as my library shelves, but this sweet setup makes me think that the Expedit series could be even more versatile. This convenient workstation was nested inside an Expedit bookshelf, allowing its owner to maximize the efficiency of his available space.

Space was at a premium in Jason Outlaw’s one bedroom apartment. So he decided to use his Expedit as not only his bookshelf, but as his computer workstation and a TV stand. Jason added IKEA Non-Spotlights to add a bit of light, but the cooler, energy-efficient LED Dioders could work pretty well too. A slide-out Kensington keyboard holder fit his MacBook perfectly. Because of the depth of the shelves, his radio and receiver are hidden away behind books, and speakers are used as bookends. When not in use, the TV is covered up by a removable art panel.

It’s a cool hack, though I prefer large desks to allow my clutter to spread out.

[via IKEA Hackers]

With the holiday shopping season of 2012 behind us, details are starting to surface about how good the shopping season was for retailers and manufacturers. While many products enjoyed very robust sales, such as tablets and smartphones, sales of some holiday stalwarts declined significantly. Specifically, the sales of PCs over the holiday shopping season declined.

IDC reports that computer sales during the holiday shopping season of 2012 declined for the first time in five years. According to IDC, the declining PC sales underlines the disappointing launch of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system. Microsoft and computer makers had hoped that the launch of Windows 8 in October would spur a significant amount of computer upgrades.

Consumers have turned away from Windows 8 and the upgrades Microsoft and its computer making partners hoped for simply haven’t happened. IDC says that major computer makers such as HP, Lenovo, and Dell saw the first annual decline in more than a decade for computer sales with no signs of immediate relief. Analysts for IDC warned against completely counting out Windows 8 believing that things could possibly change once consumers get comfortable with the Windows 8 tile-based interface and touch features.

IDC senior research analyst Jay Chou says that the focus on Windows 8 touch features has overwhelmed talk about other features such as a more secure, reliable, and efficient user experience for Windows 8. He also believes that sales will increase as Windows 8 matures and pricing on devices such as ultrabooks declines. Computer makers sold 89.8 million computers worldwide during Q4 2012, which is a decline of 6.4% from Q4 2011. IDC expects only 2.8% growth in the PC market for 2013.

[via Reuters]

PC sales dipped during holiday shopping season for the first time in half a decade is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Even with cheap hard drives and scanners and all this talk of moving data to the cloud, the truth is most of the world’s offices still have tons of paper documents. A company called iMicroData aims to bring the convenience of digital filesystems to physical archives with the Smart Paper Filing System.

The Smart Filing System uses RFID tags and Wi-Fi to keep tabs on physical files. iMicroData claims that their system can keep track of up to 4 billion folders, the equivalent of 40 million standard size file cabinets. The drawers in a Smart Filing System file cabinet have conductive rails on which special folders with built-in LEDs rest.

The idea is for users to enter the name of a folder on the Smart Filing System’s program, along with any relevant keywords or tags. I’m not sure if the program then automatically reserves a space in a particular filing cabinet or if the user also has to mark the folder in some way. iMicroData just says that “[t]here is a motherboard installed in the cabinet, which generates the system address of a given folder.”

But after that mysterious indexing process the user is free to forget where he placed the folder. As shown in the top picture, when a user searches from the application the drawer that houses the folder automatically unlocks while an LED on its door blinks. Inside there’s another blinking LED that points to the folder itself. There’s also another LED that shows if a folder’s tab is properly connected to the conductive rails.

Users can also tell the smart cabinets when they have moved a file by pressing a re-file button on the cabinet, which prompts the system to save the new location.

According to C|NET, iMicroData is selling a master filing cabinet for $2,000 (USD) each, while secondary linked cabinets go for $1,500 each. It sounds like a primitive version of the file system on computer operating systems doesn’t it? Plus it still leaves a lot to humans. The indexing thing is the system’s weakest link. Not only does it depend on whether the person filing a folder uses tags and titles correctly, it sounds like a massive effort for companies with lots of existing files. I can say the same thing about the whole re-filing thing. But I suppose it’s a lot better than expecting a few people to know exactly where a single document is.

[via C|NET]

If you want to game like the guys at NASA do in between important missions (yeah, right) – check out these awesome 3-Screen Mission Control Gaming Desks for sale up on Craigslist.

Now you can game like a rocket scientist. These computer workstations take up 30″ x 60″ total floor space and have a curved front and 3 monitors (“a few power up some do not”). You also get some power surge protectors and a roller ball mouse on each workstation’ssurface. The back provides access for all of your computer needs. There’s even a fancy space control logo of some sort on the side.

So if you happen to be in the Chantilly, VA area and want a cool gaming desk, give these guys a call. Each one is going for just $199(USD). It looks like there are only 3 left so you better snag one up quick – especially if you plan on launching any rockets out of your backyard.

[via Geek Crafts]