2011 Gadget Calendar – when can you buy that new gadget from CES
CES has packed up for another year, so now you know all about the new gadgets that are on the way. But when will you actually be able to get your mitts on them? We’ve put together a list of all the launch dates that we know about to save you scrabbling around on the Internet.
We’ve only included products that we’ve been given a rough (or exact) launch date for, so if we don’t yet know when or if it will be available, you won’t find it on this list. We’ve also given prices where we have them – US launches are given in dollars.
Some launch dates and prices are approximate and could well change before the products actually arrive. Don’t blame us if these things don’t turn up on time. It’ll be the manufacturers running into a few unforeseen issues. So use this list as a guide, but keep your eyes peeled and we’ll bring you updates when we have them.
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1st Quarter
It’s a common ploy from manufacturers that are still working on their products not to give a specific date, but a suggested quarter. It means they can launch a product within a 3-month window giving them plenty of time to get all the pieces in place.?
Highlights of the quarter include the Parrot Asteroid, a couple of Garmin GPS units and the MSI G Series. So, we’re talking car audio, car navigation and some high powered gaming laptops. We advise you don’t use the latter in the car but then, so long as you’re not driving, it’s your call really.
January
CES has only just finished and we’re nearly half-way through January already, so the manufacturers in this section haven’t got much time to get their skates on and their products out. There’s a fairly long list of gadgets due for a January release with the roll call being largely made up of cameras. Highlights for the month include several models from Fujifilm, along with two compacts from Olympus.
Other big releases will include the HTC Evo Shift 4G in the US, along with the first of a range of tablets from Asus, in the form of the Eee Slate EP121. You should also be able to get your hands on Alienware’s M17x R3 range of high-end gaming laptops. With time ticking away, we wouldn’t be surprised if at least a couple of these get pushed back to February.
February
There are plenty of products due to land on the shelves in February and with all the new year’s resolutions about not spending so much money on gadgets now a mere memory, it’s time to get stuck in. As with January, cameras feature quite heavily again, with both the Kodak Easyshare Touch and Mini due for release along with several models from Samsung, as well as the Korean brand’s 2011 camcorder line-up.
Dell will be releasing the first of its new products in February, including its Streak 7 tablet while the LG Optimus 2X dual-core processor phone should be hitting this month too.?If you’re thinking about investing in a new laptop then you might want to cool your heels and wait for the Sony Vaio F Series of 3D-capable models to hit the shops. As we said before, it would be a surprise if a few of the products pencilled in for January didn’t in fact make their first appearances in February.
March
As we move into March, we’re approaching the cut-off point for all those products that have been promised for the first quarter. Once again, this month will be big for camera launches. Not only will we see four new models from Casio, but we’ll also get Sony’s new Cyber-Shot range hitting the stores. Add to that several Samsung cameras and the brand’s HMX-Q10 ambidextrous camcorder and you’ve got a lot of imaging kit to choose from.
And if three-dimensional video capture is your thing then you’ll be pleased to hear that JVC’s GS-TD1 3D will hit the shops. The product highlight of March is almost certainly the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc phone – a launch that plenty of gadget aficionados will be looking forward to. The geek fraternity will also get its first glimpse of the ViewSonic 10s tablet when it goes on sale.
2nd Quarter
When a company says that its products will launch in the 2nd quarter, this can mean any time from April until June, and it usually tends to be later in that window, rather than sooner. As we move from the spring into summer we can expect to see lots of goodies arriving in the shops, including Panasonic’s Viera TV lineup and Sharp’s gigantic 70-inch LC-70LE732 TV.
Before summer, you should also be able to get your hands on the iRiver Story HD and the Samsung RMC30D Touch Control. If you’re in the US, then you’ll also be treated to the Motorola Xoom, Philips’ BP9001 portable Blu-ray player and Sony’s 3D Bloggie camcorder complete with its 2.4-inch glasses-free 3D screen, so you can get a decent idea of what you’re footage looks like with added depth.?
April
With the 1st quarter complete, our release schedule beings to slow down somewhat in April. In the UK, this months brings with it plenty of bank holidays (including an extra one for the Royal wedding) so you’ve got no excuse not to get down the shops for a healthy dose of gadget shopping. In April you can expect to see the next product from 2011 Asus line-up in the form of the Eee Pad Transformer – an Android tablet with a bolt-on keyboard.
You’ll also have the chance to buy the colourful Acer Liquidmini Froyo handset, along with Kodak’s shockproof Playsport and Playfull pocket camcorders. Casio’s innovative TRYX camera will also be making its retail debut. And for sporty types, there’s the Nike+ SportWatch GPS which also happens to look rather swish.
May
Gadget launches continue to get quieter still as we approach the end of spring and the beginning of what will hopefully be a warm and sunny summer. May will see yet another product from the comprehensive 2011 line-up from Asus, this time it’s the turn of the Eee Pad Slider – a tablet device that slides back to reveal a hidden keyboard underneath.
This is also the month when you’ll get the chance to get your paws on one of the models from Lenovo’s IdeaPad Y Series. Hopefully, we’ll see some of the products labelled as “second quarter” making their debuts in the shops in May, else it’s a pretty lean month as the gadget calendar goes.
June
This month marks the end of the 2nd quarter and as there’s plenty pencilled in for this period, we can certainly expect to see some of those products seeing daylight in June. Once again, we’ll be seeing another Asus product hitting the shelves, with June being the set launch month for the Eee Pad MeMo tablet – a product that could give the Samsung Galaxy Tab a run for its money.
June will also be the month that Microsoft’s new Touch Mouse scuttles onto the scene. You may think it looks rather like the Arc Mouse but this one?has multi-touch capabilities and can differentiate between one, two or three fingers so?offers?up advanced controls and a more natural way of using a mouse. That’s the idea, anyway.
3rd Quarter
July, August and September tend to be relatively quiet months in the gadget world’s calendar as not only is everyone on holiday, but also, most of the big brands are saving up their product announcements for the IFA tech show in Berlin that takes place during the first week in September. However, we are due to see a couple of big launches during the 3rd quarter including the release of Toshiba’s tablet and the US retail debut of the BlackBerry PlayBook 4G.
What’s more, there’s usually a big Apple event in September, so we can expects to see some new products from Steve Jobs and his posse around that time. Whether the iPad 2 and iPhone 5 will have turned up already, we don’t know but there’s bound to be a new take on the iPods.
4th Quarter
There’s sure to be a lot of gadget releases around the 4th quarter, just in time for the all-important Christmas market, it’s just that we don’t know about all of them yet. What we do know is that 2011 continues to be a good year for Apple refuseniks who want an alternative to the all-powerful iPad. The closing months of the year will see Sharp’s Galapagos E-Media Tablet getting its general release, along with the Panasonic Viera Tablet.
If you can’t afford a tablet just yet, then perhaps Mattel’s cool Hot Wheels Racer – a webcam-quipped toy car – will float your boat. Your other alternative is a psi-battle with a friend or family member as Mindflex goes two player.
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