CES Comeback Company of the Year Award: Polaroid

An AudioBoo preview:

For generations, Polaroid was regarded as one of the most trusted, well-respected and recognizable brands when it comes to instant photography. The Polaroid story began more than 70 years ago with polarized sunglasses, which then evolved into instant film, cameras, and camera accessories, marking the beginning of the well recognized Polaroid Classic Border Logo. In recent years, the brand has expanded into other consumer electronics categories as the name Polaroid has been rebranded and reintroduced into the public's consciousness.

I became acquainted with Polaraid again on Christmas Day, 2010.  My wife's 13-year old cousin was showing off his new Polaroid PoGo printer.  The PoGo is a hand-held mini printer that lets you print from your camera cell phone or digital camera with ZINK Zero Ink Printing Technology from ZINK Imaging.  Yes, that's right, no ink!  The pictures you print are small and aren't that sharp in resolution, but the technology here is fantastic. 

What else was Polaroid up to as CES 2011?  Actually, quite a lot.

Lady Gaga. 

Polaroid's selection of pop icon Lady Gaga as their new creative director last year has now borne fruit, and at least a third of the product line is every bit as weird as you might expect. The Polarez GL20 sunglasses contain a built-in camera and two 1.7" OLED screens that can immediately display the photos you're taking — smack dab in the middle of your poker face.

You will be able to upload photos to the web right from the glasses, which will be available during the 2011 holiday season. In the video above it looks like the two screens might potentially obscure your actual vision while wearing the glasses, but Polaroid says they actually sit just below your usual field of view.

The other two announced products from Gaga's new Polaroid Grey Label are actually rather inspired: a completely re-invented Polaroid instant camera experience with the GL30, and an instant mobile printer dubbed the Polaprinter GL10. Using an inkless technology called ZINK, the GL10 connects to almost any device you can throw at it either directly or via Bluetooth to create prints on the go.

Tablet.

Polaroid is also getting ready to release a tablet.  The Polaroid tablet is 9.7 inches and looks to be staying away from the trend of black rectangular tablets, by being closer to a 4:3 ratio, than the more common 16:9 ratio form factor that we’ve been seeing throughout the show, though it is still black. Here are the specs:

Cortex A8 1GHz processor
4GB internal storage
2 megapixel camera
6800 mAH battery

If this does come out, I expect it to be an inexpensive tablet, and it may be ore of a hit overseas than in North America.

Quotes from the show:

"As we introduce a line of revolutionary new products, we're excited to give our old and new fans around the world multiple ways to connect with the Made In Polaroid movement here at CES," said Scott W. Hardy, President of Polaroid. "Our CES lineup reflects Polaroid's rich 73-year legacy as the innovator of instant photography and celebrates the global community that's supporting Polaroid's incredible cultural resurgence. Nothing can compare to the originality and relevance of the Polaroid instant experience. Our mission is to inject that Polaroid experience across the digital and physical worlds."

“These glasses can be worn in public, you can walk around, you can take them to a club, take them to a show or mine, take pictures while I sing on stage,” Gaga joked as she talked about her new Polaroidline to the engaged audience.

Polaroid CEO Bobby Sager said about Gaga's glasses, “this product is absolutely and completely inspired by [Lady Gaga].”

"Lady Gaga's GL30: it actually looks something like an old-fashioned Polaroid camera, with its boxy, tapered shape. It is, of course, a digital camera that also prints 3x4 inch prints using Polaroid's ZINK technology. Pictures can be reviewed on a screen near the viewfinder before they are printed (only 10 blank pictures come in each pack). Best part: you can add in white border around you image to give it that vintage Polaroid look, when printed."

Polaroid's products may not be the most highend gadgets you see at CES, but they are different, and it's good to see this company still churning out some gadgets for us to enjoy.

What Will the Story Be at CES 2011?

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will descend on Las Vegas next week as 100,000+  attendees will get a glimpse at some of the new gadgets and gizmos that companies like LG, Sony, Motorola and Samsung plan to offer later this year or in the future.

Each year, certain products garner more attention than others and draw the biggest crowds, clogging up the narrow convention center aisles.  I've been to CES seven-times and have seen all sorts of products that became staples of our lives and even more that we never saw again.

Here's what to expect this year.

Tablets, tablets, and more tablets.  With the success of Apple's iPad, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, look for a HP-Palm product running webOS, RIM’s PlayBook, the much talked about Droid Xoom and countless other pretenders to the throne.

3D TVs and Content.   Prepare yourself for much lower cost active-shutter 3D glasses, big drops in 3D TV prices and lots of stunning content for both.  Customers main complain about 3D televisions has been the lack of content to watch.  We might even see how we can convert out regular DVDs to #D capable DVDs.  That sounds interesting.

Superphone Smartphones.   Smartphones are all going multi-tasking while improving both single- and multi-threaded application performance. These phones will offer 4G as well, providing what may be the biggest single bump in performance ever, and giving us an early look at what might be in the fifth-generation iPhone.  Mobile phones are where it is all happening and handset makers are racing to showcase the latest innovations.

Smart TVs.  Hoping to steal some of the attention from smartphones, Smart TVs will be at the show this year, in full force.  The vast majority of which will be DLNA compliant. These TVs have been quietly getting better all this year, and advance press materials I've received have me impressed.  Watch for them to be wrapped with products like Skifta, which allow you to seamlessly move your content from any source to any player, be it a DLNA-compliant TV or stereo.  Ease of use will be a key for this product.

Auto innovations.  Head on over to the automotive pavillion this year and you'll see what you may soon be doing in your car.  Expect to see  in-car hotspots, and some incredible sound systems ane touch screens that will allow you to control your life from the dash of your car.

More e-book readers.  Thought you saw it all last year when it comes to e-book readers?  Think again.  Will the next generation of e-book readers offer video, or also act as tablets?  E-book readers continue to be a popular category of consumer electronics.

Who knows, maybe something we've never herd of will steal the show this year.  By this time next week well be on electronics overload, but we'll have some idea of what to expect in the coming months.