The annual Consumer Electronics Show is about to start in Las Vegas.  Many companies anounce their latest and greatest products at the CES.  Indeed, there have already been several announcements over the last few days.

The netbook / notebook distinction continues to blur.   Netbooks have sold in large numbers – mainly because of their price – but their performance was not stellar.  We are now seeing new netbooks using an updated Atom processor (there is even a dual core version) that will improve performance.    And we will see more thin and light notebooks using ULV (ultra low voltage) processors that will be priced just above netbooks.  

This results in compact, light, portable computers running Windows 7, with long battery life, for a few hundred dollars.  Even if they are not powerful enough, or have the screen size for one’s main computer – they might be perfect for a student, or for a second office computer.

Many are expecting 2010 to be the year of the tablet / e-reader.  There is speculation everywhere about what Apple and others might announce either at the CES or later this year.   Done right, this could be game changing.  The Amazon Kindle has been a huge success.  It just needs to be taken to the next level with colour and the ability to read content from various sources.  If you don’t believe me, take a look at this video that shows what magazines might look like. 

Coverage of the CES can be found on various tech sites such as Wired, Engadget, and CNET