The votes are in and the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced the ten finalists for the 6th annual Best of CES 2011 Awards. Our beloved Samsung Galaxy Tab is one of ten finalists, let’s find out who else will be joining the tablet.
For those new to the SIG Best of CES Awards, the program is divided into three categories — Now, Next and New. The clear focus is bluetooth, products currently on the market such as mobile phones, tablets and automobiles, that support bluetooth technology.
The Now category includes the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Plantronics BackBeat 903+, LG HMB-810 Bluetooth enabled solar headset and speakerphone and the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. The New category consists of the Vizio 65-inch 3D Edge lit Razor LED TV, an unnamed Samsung product, iGrill and Zii Sound T6. The last category, Next, includes the ZOMM Wireless Leash and the BodyMedia FIT Armband BW.
We’re not exactly sure what the “unnamed Samsung product” from the New category will be, but if we had to guess, maybe the new Google Nexus S or a dual-core tablet? This year’s SIG Best of CES Awards featured a record number of device submission from all three levels of SIG membership.
According to the panel, bonus points were awarded to those products that included Experience Icons on the product packaging or product website, and also products featuring the newly adopted bluetooth 4.0 spec.
When asked about the the success of bluetooth, Michael Foley, Ph.D. and executive director of bluetooth SIG said, “with over three billion Bluetooth enabled devices available worldwide, we expect to see the permeation of Bluetooth technology increase in the coming years. Product designers, and consumers alike, are going to want to connect all of their devices – and Bluetooth technology is the proven, successful, secure way to do just that”.
Now that we’ve laid out the list of finalists, who do you think is going to win the award at CES 2011? We’d like to think it could be the Samsung Galaxy Tab or the unannounced Samsung product, but judging by the buzz on the Chevrolet Volt, we wouldn’t be shocked if it it took top honors.
via Bluetooth SIG
