CES 2011: 6 cool new products, coming soon

At the Consumer Electronics Show, companies make a lot of new product announcements; actually, "a lot" is an understatement. Often, though, the products on display are still in the prototype stage, and consumers won't see them on retail shelves and sites until much later in the year—if the products even make it to market.

So now that the dust has settled on the 2011 CES, which of the myriad enticing devices displayed there will we actually be able to get our hands on in the near future—within the next couple of months, or even sooner? Here's a list of very covetable products that are promised to be coming our way shortly.

Vizio's "passive" 3D TV. Maybe you've wanted a 3D TV, but the bulky and costly glasses have held you back. Here's good news: Vizio is offering the industry's first "passive" 3D TV models, which use the kind of inexpensive, lightweight 3D glasses you get in movie theaters. The company's first model, a 65-inch XVT3D-series set (XVT3D650SV), should be available right now, at a suggested price of about $3,700.

Sony HDR-PJ50V camcorder
Photo: Sony

Sony's HD camcorders with built-in projectors. Sony unveiled three very intriguing high-def camcorders: Each includes a tiny projector embedded on the back of the flip-out LCD, which Sony says will be able to project a 60-inch diagonal image onto any flat surface.

The camcorders include other nice features: The PJ50V (which includes a 220GB hard drive) and the PJ30V (32GB of Flash memory) each has a 12x optical zoom lens and includes a built-in GPS receiver for geo-tagging content. The PJ10 has 16GB of built-in Flash memory and includes a 30x optical zoom lens. And all three camcorders will include a 3-inch touchscreen LCD. The PJ30V and PJ10 will be available in March, and the PJ50V will be available in April.

Olympus's Tough cameras. Are you tough on your cameras? At CES this year, Olympus introduced the TG-310 and TG-610, the latest additions to the company's waterproof, freeze-proof, and shockproof line of cameras. Both cameras feature a 14-megapixel sensor, dual-image stabilization, and HDMI connections and can record 720p resolution high-def video. Although pricing wasn't disclosed, Olympus says both cameras should be available in the U.S. in the "first quarter of 2011."

The AT&T Motorola Atrix
Photo: AT&T

Motorola's 4G phone for AT&T. AT&T claims that the Motorola Atrix 4G, an Android 2.2 phone that features a 1GHz dual-core processor (just like LG's recently announced Optimus 2X), will be the world's most powerful phone. Even better, it will run on the network's fast HSPA+ network.

The Atrix has a high-resolution HD display and includes a revolutionary, super-thin laptop dock for which ATRIX 4G is the "engine," as well as an HD media dock that will "enable a revolutionary browsing, application and media experience." It will be available in the first quarter of 2011.

The Nintendo 3DS
Photo: Nintendo

Nintendo's 3D portable gaming. We had a chance to play around with the venerable company's next entry into portable gaming, the Nintendo 3DS: No glasses are required to view its 3D display. The graphics were clear, and the 3D effects added a new dimension—pun intended—to the gameplay.

A slider on the 3DS lets you lessen the 3D effect, all the way down to 2D. Two cameras on the back of the system let you take 3D photos. You can import your Mii characters from your Nintendo Wii system, or automatically create new ones by taking a photo of yourself with the built-in camera. The 3DS will ship in the U.S. in March, for around $300.

Asus's first of four tablet computers. Tablet computers were a huge story at CES this year, and Asus started the show off with a bang, launching four tablets. The first one to ship will be the Eee Slate EP121, the largest tablet we've seen, at 12.1 inches. It will use an Intel Core i5 processor and run Windows 7 Home Premium.

The Slate's widescreen display is a capacitive touchscreen that's LED-backlit and has a resolution of 1280 by 800. You can choose between 32GB and 64GB of SSD storage and up to 4GB of memory. It will be available this month for $1,000 to $1,100.

—Carol Mangis

—Carol Mangis