Sony roared right out of the gate from day one of CES 2012, making a slew of announcements from celebrities and online content, to Crystal LED and displaying the re-born Walkman. 

It will only be a matter of a couple years when the term "sound dock" will join the retired electronics world of Beta, laserdisc and Atari, and become obsolete. Wifi and Bluetooth - "Airplay" in particular are making remote music playing a reality. 

Did you know the average family household does six loads of laundry each week? That's 312 loads a year. To make life easier in the wonderful world of cleaning, both LG and Samsung unveiled new washer and dryer pairs at CES 2012.

Gibson is synonymous with guitars. Since 1894, the American guitar maker has been making beautiful guitars relied on music lovers of all levels. The company is keeping up with the connected world we live in through recent acquisitions of pro audio market leaders, Stanton Group and Onkyo. 

A smart move, given the age where making music, mixing and uploading immediately to Youtube matters. So, seeing them with a sizeable booth at CES was no surprise.

A closer look at what Lenovo is doing, and one might think the company is going through something of a makeover. Lenovo has traditionally been viewed as a business and enterprise-oriented company that didn’t play the game of fancy design and colours consumers love so much. That’s been changing the last few years with a more well-rounded focus that culminated with a pretty good lineup at CES this year.

Do a search on coverage from last year’s CES and you’ll no doubt find tons of stuff on tablets, the device category that was the theme of the show. Manufacturers flooded the show floor with ‘me too’ devices meant to take on the iPad and vie for a piece of a still nascent market. A year later, tablets were often talked about, and there were plenty on the show floor, but they weren’t the focus this time around.

This year’s CES is Microsoft’s last, and instead of going out with a bang, their swan song at the show has looked like more of a whimper. Behind closed doors, there may have been more shown under private auspices, but out on the floor, it was a lot of ‘been there, done that’. Windows 8? Nope. Windows Phone with Nokia and other handset makers? Nada. New and unique software or apps? Not really.

Except for the company’s vision of Kinect working with Windows PCs, it looks increasingly likely that Microsoft opted to hold back on making any kind of noise as they bow out of the show.

Anyone who attended this year's CES 2012 can attest battery life for your mobile devices are critical. Among all the Tweeting, blogging, texting, phone calls and apps used on the show floor, smartphone batteries take a quick dive south.

Digital imaging is playing a slightly bigger role at this year’s CES for those who follow those trends, and Wi-Fi connectivity is one of those underlying ones that seems to be a focus for some manufacturers. Canon introduced a Wi-Fi-enabled camcorder under its VIXIA line that will be out in the in the next few months. YouTube uploading, wireless transfer and iPhone/iPad compatibility are just a few of the perks Canon’s pushing.

Sure there is the big show floor of the Consumer Electronics Show that is packed with booths, demos, celebs and official announcements, but there are other ways to get your gadget on at CES. 

Just wander and you'll see new ideas everywhere.

Future Shop chased Banks down and scored a one-on-one interview with the NFL champion and all-star to see what his latest ventures in his retirement from the gridiron.

The Samsung Galaxy Note is drawing-in crowds at the company's massive booth. By smartphones standards, it's a whopping 5.3” operating on a Gingerbread (Android 2.3) platform and serves a mini tablet. It comes equipped with a stylus pen, dubbed the “S Pen.”

The third day on the floor at CES saw us checking out Pioneer's AppRadio, playing with the most gorgeous laptop (that's not a Macbook) visiting with the president of Sennheiser and playing with the best phone on the show floor (that's not an iPhone).

Here are the stories, photos and gadgets we found on day 3:

How would you like to unpack your perishable groceries into fridge, track the inventory, receive reminders when things are about to expire, then obtain popular recipe recommendations with how to use it? And how about adding another layer by having your oven pre-heat when you're ready to cook the recipe?

This is now a reality thanks to the innovators at LG.

Heading into CES 2012 a lot of hyped swirled on theindustry is labeling "ultrabooks." So what is this? Simply consider it a super-thin laptop with the high-end specifications. In the tech era were thinner, lighter and faster is better, ultrabooks are ultra cool and practical.

For Nokia, this year’s CES could be the makings of a comeback. A company that saw a huge market share dive considerably in just a few years at the hands of Apple and Google has been looking to make a splash to become relevant again in the smartphone realm. Nokia’s Lumia 700 and 800 were recently shown off in Toronto before the holidays, and are expected to market in the next two months, but on the show floor, it was the bigger 900 model that stole the show.

Michigan State University legend. Former first-round draft pick in the National Football League. NFL all-star. Two Super Bowl championships. Former linebacker standout of the New York Giants, Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns, Carl Banks took some time-out from the Consumer Electronics Show floor to give a shout-out to Future Shop fans.

Belkin returned to the show floor at CES for the first time in a few years, and showcased some interesting products that might help you watch TV wirelessly. The Screencast line looks to be the company’s foray into wireless projection from one device to another, be it to a TV or from a TV.

It all started with Nicole Polizzi, aka "Snooki" from MTV's Jersey Shore. Then came 50 Cent and Ludacris announcing their companies would be showcasing their headphones at the largest electronics show on earth. Yes, CES is chalk full of celebrities, some of who are there after jumping in the headphones category, and the show is overflowing with headphones. 

Sonos may not have been on the show floor with all the other booths at CES 2012, but the company appears poised to continue a steady push into Canada that started in the fall. The Play:3 and Play:5 units have already launched in the Great White North, but it’s possible that the wide range of music services and access currently available will only grow wider. 

The $18 million pilot of HBO's Boardwalk Empire sure set the tone for what has become a must-see TV series about gangsters in the Prohibition era.  Season One has just arrived on Blu-ray and DVD and to help me understand what it means to become a made man, I sat down with Vincent Piazza who plays the up-and-coming gangster Lucky Luciano.

It was Bieber Day at CES today as the re-bobbed Justin showed up to endorse mRobo from TOSY.  It's a personal speaker that has 2GB of internal memory and dances to the beat of your playlist.  It's still a prototype.  It doesn't come out until fall.  It costs $200. 

Still, TOSY got what they wanted, everyone talking about their booth and Bieber.

Here's what else my crew was chasing on the show floor today:

Embracing Android probably makes a lot of sense for Philips. Like other manufacturers that have flocked to Google’s popular operating system, Philips is creating hardware products that complement the software. These include an MP4 player, headsets and speaker systems.

If you’ve got a Samsung SH100, released in the spring of 2011, then you probably know about the Wi-Fi features it came with. These included being able to control the shutter and a few other things from a Samsung Android smartphone. The new WB850 will be coming to Canada and it continues the company’s trend of going wireless.

Last year, IK Multimedia released a ton of music-inspired iOS compatible apps and gadgets that seemed to peak everyone's interests.  While fairly inexpensive, products like the iRig MIDI, iRig Mic, or the iKlip Mini wowed us with their high quality and ease of use.  To kick off 2012, IK has announced a whole slew of new products and apps worth checking out. Here they are: 

“OLED” is one of the popular buzz words tossed repeatedly at the Consumer Electronics Show 2012 (CES). What does organic light-emitting diode mean? A familiar face I’ve been working with at CES for three years in a row now (wow, time flies), Jeffrey Ingram from Samsung Canada shares OLED offer individual pixels having their own sub-pixel, and each sub-pixel has its own colour.

Apparently size continues to matter when it comes to TVs, as one of the underlying themes at CES 2012 is that bigger is better. Sharp’s new 80-inch AQUOS 3D LED TV is basically a step up from the existing 60 and 70-inch models, only the extra 10 inches is actually more screen space than you might think.

The Walkman may have been iconic once upon a time, but the most recent attempt to give it a boost in the digital age a few years ago fell flat. This year at CES 2012, Sony is banking that a mix of audio excellence and a full Android experience is enough to make an impact.

It was a busy day for the video crew on the floor of CES 2012.

Here the highlights from what we saw on our first day on the show floor.

I've been sick, guys. Really sick with the flu. That's why there hasn't been too many updates from me recently... and it's also why we've missed SO MUCH game news. So here we go with another top crop.

Today marks the official opening of the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Approximately 150,000 global attendees will descend the show in droves when the doors open at 10:00 a.m. PST. Some argue CES could be re-named "Celebrity Electronics Show" given the huge names that help market the latest gadgets to appear at the show. 

Looking back at yesterday's CES press day, the celebrity turnouts didn't disappoint. 

If you’re curious to know what a Future Shop blogger needs to survive an action-packed week of gadgetry, here’s my 2012 top 10 list of items critical to survive the biggest electronics show on earth.

Last year, NetherRealm Studios did a spot-on job retelling the outrageous and all-too epic fighting series, Mortal Kombat.  After receiving tons of positive buzz and add-ons to boot, Warner Bros. is taking everything we loved about last year's installment and packed it into one lovingly gory collection, Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition.  

Today I am boarding a flight from Calgary to Las Vegas.  It's for the annual Consumer Electronics Show.  I will be carrying my iPhone, Macbook and iPad and soon after I board I will pull out of the above to self entertain over the next 4 hours until I land in Vegas.

Well, most of the 4 hours.  There will be that time when I'll be reminded by the flight crew to turn off my device and remove my headphones.  I hate that part.  So does Alec Baldwin, and you know what? He has a point.

If you recall, the last season of Sony's exclusive PlayStation Network reality show, The Tester, was an absolute dream come true for winner Matthew Brown.  Not only did he win a PS3 and a 42" 3D Bravia TV, but also a lucrative $5,000 signing bonus and a job offer as a PlayStation tester.  Capitalizing on the success from last season, Sony Computer Entertainment America have announced new details regarding the much-anticipated third season.  Among them is that this year's winner will be getting a lot more than what previous winners, including Matthew, have received.

Just in time for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Acer has announced the S5 Ultrabook, the "world's thinnest ultrabook" measuring 15mm (0.59 inches) at its thickest point and weighing less than 1.35 kg (less than 3 lbs.)! The S5 Ultrabook is an impressive piece of technology, definitely one worth keep your eyes on. 

Valve has announced that their popular Steam client, the world's largest digital distribution platform for PC & Mac video games, has achieved record results in 2011.  For the seventh straight year, year-over-year unit sales have increased by more than 100%, and over the holidays the service achieved its highest concurrent user number with in excess of 5 million gamers online.

With Star Wars: The Old Republic released just weeks ago, Bioware has recently announced that the MMO has received its first major game update, Version 1.1. The update will fix several bugs and includes lots of new content.