The latest and greatest gadgets will be on display beginning Tuesday for the annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and more than 35 companies from Utah will make the trek to Sin City to show off their newest technological wares.
For four days, 2,700 exhibitors will pack into several conventional halls and hotels, showing off the newest products from audio accessories to wireless devices like smartphones and tablets.
Utah's reputation as a mini tech sector will be well represented at this year's show, with local companies presenting items such as protective film for smartphones and high-end speaker cable. Here are some of the more high-profile local products that will be introduced at this week's show.
Content Watch (Midvale) • The company's Net Nanny Internet filtering software for desktop computers, which stops children's access to objectionable material on the Web, is now going mobile. The company will be introducing Net Nanny Mobile, a version for smartphones that Content Watch has been developing for nearly a year.
"CES is one of the largest trade shows for consumer electronics in the world. It is a great venue," said the company's marketing vice president, Melissa Garland. "And those 160,000 people [who attend the trade show] are also parents. So it's a way to get it out to potential users."
CoolHotNot (Provo) • CoolHotNot.com is a new website of reviews of consumer electronic gadgets from trusted technology experts such as John C. Dvorak of MarketWatch and tech blogger Chris Pirillo.
This week the company will also introduce a new feature in which regular readers can contribute to the site with crowd-sourced reviews.
The first public beta of the site was introduced at last year's CES, said chief executive Dave Whittle.
"It's much easier to meet the important people who can make things happen for you at CES than any other place we know of," he said. "We're essentially a product of CES."
Goal Zero (Bluffdale) • This company produces solar-powered batteries for electronics and will be introducing a solar-powered generator.
The Yeti 1250 is "the first noiseless, gas-less, indoor generator," said company president Joe Atkin. "You can power everything from it that you can power off of a wall plug. It's great for emergency backup or tailgating."
LOKSAK (Park City) • The most low-tech product at the show might be this air-, dust- and water-tight bag for smartphones and computer tablets that keeps electronics safe from the outdoors while still allowing you to use the touchscreen.
Milleniata (American Fork) • This company is introducing new technology for optical discs such as DVDs and Blu-rays in which the information is written using new synthetic material inside the platter that makes it impervious to decay.
So the data last much longer than regular discs, which can be subject to deterioration.
ZAGG (Salt Lake County) • The worldwide manufacturer of protective film for electronic devices (called InvisibleShield) as well as other accessories for gadgets will also be at the show.
Competitor Clear Protector out of Draper will also be at CES.
Other companies that design and produce accessories for mobile devices will have booths as well, including iStabilizer, which makes a flexible tripod and camera stabilizer for smartphones, and iCat out of Logan, which makes lanyards and leashes for the iPhone.
Twitter: @ohmytech
Google+: +Vincent Horiuchi
