In our second roundup of the most exciting new gear on show at this week's Consumer Electronics Show, we check out some unlikely tech surprises set to make waves in 2012.
Smartphones, tablets, Ultrabooks and smart TVs were always going to dominate the headlines covering this week's Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas, but some of the most interesting and unexpected tech lurks on the sidelines to the
major draws. Here we take a whistlestop tour through the frenetic fringe of CES 2012, where big advances were on show in accessories, components, communications and ephemera.
spnKiX
Picking up where the Segway never really left off, spnKiX are rechargeable, remote-controlled motorised skates that can hit up to 10 miles per hour.
Currently open for pre-orders, they're set for release in the US in March.
Victorinox SSD
This one doesn't need too much explaining, or does it? Victorinox has brought its cultural icon Swiss Army Knife up to 2012 speeds with the inclusion of a USB 3.0-capable SSD.
And then some: with capacities up to a staggering 1TB, you'll never run out of data storage while camping again.
Tobii Gaze
Most of the excitement about the new UI possibilities in Windows 8 surrounds the upcoming OS's capacity for touch.
Kinect for Windows offers another channel, as does Tobii Gaze.
Tobii's eye-controlled Asteroids game (image: Tobii Technology)
The company's eye-tracking technology lets you control Windows just by looking at it, interpreting the object of your gaze (with a touchpad used to execute commands).
Polaroid SC1630
No, Polaroid's not entering the smartphone game: what you see here is the company's take on a "smart camera". The SC1630 is 16MP compact digital camera that runs on Android.
Designed to give the edge over traditional sub-par smartphone cameras, the SC1630 provides extended onscreen photo-editing and sharing capabilities (plus the ability to run apps from Android Market).
OnLive
The innovative online gaming service (which remotely streams high-end games to devices like smartphones, tablets and PCs) is going from strength to strength.
The company has now showed off OnLive Desktop, which brings you Microsoft Office wherever you are. Plus, OnLive is set to be installed by default in newer releases of Google TV.
Gorilla Glass 2
The toughest glass in tech just got tougher.
Strictly speaking, Gorilla Glass 2 provides the same level of damage resistance as the kind built into current smartphones and tablets, but the new version's sheeting is 20 per cent thinner than 1.0, enabling "slimmer and sleeker devices, brighter images, and greater touch sensitivity."
MakerBot Replicator
It remains to be seen whether
3D printing takes off in the mainstream or remains a niche interest for hobbyists, but MakerBot's sense of fun is hard to ignore.
The company's new Replicator model enables you to create objects "roughly the size of a loaf of bread" and print them in two colours.
