Next week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is, as the name implies, targeted at consumers, yet there are plenty of products that will end up in enterprises as well. This enterprise-focused preview of CES includes everything from new HP laptops and touchscreen technology to Android tablet PCs from Cisco and Technicolor to iPont 3D TV technology.

As usual, the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show, due to run Jan. 6-9 in Las Vegas, promises to be loaded with interesting and innovative new products — mostly for consumers, of course. There will be only a modest amount of enterprise-type IT also on display, and it won't be in the spotlight.

Still, enterprises must be aware of CES because so many devices that started out being aimed strictly at consumers have made their way into business duty, largely because: a) they are now capable of handling heavier workloads, b) are much more reliable, and c) are often more fun to use.

Naturally, we're talking about devices such as Cisco's Flip video cameras, Apple's iPhones and iPads, Samsung's Android-based Galaxy Tab tablets and new Galaxy Player (pictured at right), Iomega and Seagate high-capacity pocket storage devices — the list is long.

New tablet PCs from a number of companies, wholesale improvements in 3D television and video, vastly upgraded touchscreen technology, and a ton of new automotive IT options are among the innovations that will get a lot of attention from conference attendees.

Here, in short form and random order, are several of the new items CES-goers will see in Las Vegas that will have an impact on enterprises — either now or over the next few years.

• Hewlett-Packard will be showing a set of new laptop and desktop PCs along with some impressive new touchscreen technology that nobody else has. eWEEK will publish all the details right before the show opens.
• iPont will let attendees watch 3D TV without glasses — and from a 120-degree viewing angle — at the iPont International booth (#25304/25305 in South Hall 2, Home Theater Section). The Hungary-based startup will showcase its glasses-free 3D technology for all four days of the show.

  

• Ford Motor Co., which is certainly one of the most advanced carmakers in the world for integrating IT into its vehicles, is announcing Sync Destinations, a free smartphone app for users of the Windows CE-based Sync TDI (Traffic, Directions, and Information) system. The app will give them mobile access to search and save destinations to retrieve once in their car. Drivers can use their smartphones with Sync Destinations to plan ahead, send destination locations to their cars. Ford will show a lot of related new features, such as its voice-enabled Sync AppLink feature, which will first appear in the Ford 2011 Fiesta (pictured above).
• Mitsubishi (Booth 9021) will introduce a new 3D home theater projector.
• Samsung will unveil its answer to Apple's iPod Touch at the show. The Android-based Galaxy Player (pictured farther above) will feature a four-inch LCD display, a 1GHz processor, Wi-Fi connectivity, and a front-facing camera that could be used for videoconferencing.
• Diskeeper will be announcing the availability of ExpressCache, a performance technology designed to speed up PC boot times by as much as 10x and application load/start times by as much as 2x.
• Blackfire Research (Booth 25306) will demonstrate an audio system that plays music from PCs, Macs, tablets, and smartphones wirelessly. The Blackfire Research system offers universal play from most music services (iTunes, WMP, Rhapsody, Pandora, Spotify, etc.) in what the company describes as "better-than-SD-quality" sound. It also contains a rack full of high-end components and a network processor in each speaker, and needs no wires, docks, adapters, or central components. It doesn't even need connecting wires between the speakers themselves.

  

• Cisco Systems will be demonstrating its new Android-based Cius Tablet PC (pictured), which is one of the few Android products aimed squarely at the corporate user.
• Personal Computing Devices (South Hall, Booth 30306) will be showing a series of 4G LTE devices and is officially launching Bigstream, a portable device that enables users to stream audio and video content from an iPad, iPhone, or iPod to a TV. Supported applications include Netflix, YouTube, Keynote (for business presentations) and all native Apple applications.
• Fitness Technologies, which makes waterproof audio products, will demonstrate what it claims is the world's smallest waterproof MP3 player, the UWaterG2, at Booth 3130. The micro-sized UWaterG2 MP3 player (0.4 x 1.25 x 1.75 inches) comes with 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB of memory, and is certified to work as deep as 10 feet (three meters) underwater.
• Yahoo will detail its new Connected TV Store for iPhone apps, which will launch in March 2011. Among the first featured apps will be Virtual Nerd, which offers video-based, interactive math and science tutorials for students in grades 7-12. Families will now be able to get access to this service right from their TV.
• Technicolor will demonstrate a new Android OS media tablet called the Media Touch 2.0 TVA200 Android Tablet, designed to manage all digital home entertainment.
• USB-IF will show a spate of new SuperSpeed USB devices.
• The CES Robotics TechZone will showcase cutting-edge robotics, with daily demonstrations and booth presentations.

As we look ahead to CES and the new year, eWEEK also speculates in slide show fashion on "10 Tech Industry Predictions That Will Shape 2011". A second slide show examination is entitled "10 Smartphone, Tablet Flaws That Must Disappear In 2011".

(Or else we'll hold our breath until we turn blue.)

Chris Preimesberger is a writer for our sister publication eWEEK.

This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.