Enterprise Mobility: 10 CES Gadgets Perfect for Small Businesses

By Nathan Eddy on 2012-01-12

The 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show may have an obvious bent toward showcasing gadgets aimed at the consumer market, but with the deluge of new technology on display, there is certainly no lack of products that could also appeal to small-business owners. Ultrabooks and tablets, which made a big splash at this year’s show, are fast replacing smaller, less powerful netbooks as the go-to device for road warriors and mobile workforces. Compact digital cameras with networking capabilities can give small businesses new opportunities to share product information via social-networking sites, while IP cameras allow for improved unified communications. Products like Netgear’s WiFi range extender can also bring benefits to small business and home office workers, as can more offbeat items like a power outlet adaptor, which allows users to charge USB devices and standard electronics.

Toshiba Portege Z830 Series

Toshiba's 13-inch Portege Z830 typifies ultrabooks: It weighs less than 2.5 pounds, is 0.63 inches thick and incorporates under-the-hood features, such as a solid-state drive (SSD).

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 LTE

Samsung will launch a version of the Galaxy Tab that supports Verizon's 4G Long-Term Evolution network. It will feature a 1.4GHz dual-core processor and a Super AMOLED (active-matrix organic LED) Plus screen.

QNAP Turbo NAS Server

The servers in the new NAS series, available in 2-, 4-, 5-, 6-, or 8-drive versions, are powered by a high-performance dual-core Intel Atom processor.

Netgear Universal Dual-Band WiFi Range Extender

The device extends the coverage of both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi signals from an existing wireless router or gateway.

Nokia Lumia 900

The Lumia 900, which will make its debut on AT&T in the coming months, features a 4.3-inch AMOLED display (with 800-by-400 resolution) and 4G LTE support, along with a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

Canon PowerShot ELPH 520 HS

The camera features a 10.1-megapixel high-sensitivity CMOS sensor along with a 12X optical zoom lens, ISO range of up to 3,200 and wide-angle capabilities.

ViewSonic E70 Tablet

The compact Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich tablet ships with a 1GHz processor and 4GB memory storage. Other features include a front-facing camera, WiFi support and microSD expandable storage up to 32GB.

RCA USB Wall Plate Charger

This CES Best of Innovations Honoree for 2012 converts an ordinary dual AC power outlet into a USB plus AC power outlet.

Verizon Jetpack

The Jetpack, developed by ZTE, allows users to share fast Internet connectivity with up to 10 WiFi-enabled devices.

TrendNet IP Cameras

Eight of the 12 cameras feature megapixel image resolution and advanced image compression technology; half feature high-speed 802.11n, and the other half offer Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology.