Las Vegas, NV, United States – The Consumer Electronics, the largest conference and trade show dedicated to consumer electronics and technology, just wrapped in Las Vegas. I attended the show, keeping an eye out for this years’ trends in technology.

First, about the show. This years’ CES had fewer big companies involve. Industry stalwarts such as Microsoft, Blackberry, Nokia and HP didn’t have booths. With many announcements happening outside of CES, it didn’t make sense for these huge companies to have a booth and the costs associated with it.

This was welcome news for smaller companies – who had the opportunity to show off the wares and products being developed and unveiled at CES.

Let’s take a look at some interesting devices for travelers – along with some quirkly new offerings trying to make waves in the tech world.

HAPIfork

HAPIfork – Who doesn’t love eating? It should be a joy to sit down with your friends and family to enjoy a meal, however, some eat to fast and as a result, we gain weight. HAPIfork is a buzzing utiensil that senses how fast you’re eating and buzzes to let you know so. Sync it with your smartphone or computer via a cable and it gives you intelligence on how to eat smarter and in time, lose weight.

The product counts each bite you take and tracks your average meal time, the number of bites per serving, and the number of bites per meal where you were “overspeeding,” or bringing the fork to your mouth too quickly.

Pricing is unknown at this point – along when the product will be available for sale.  Another unknown – how HAPIfork will tell you if you’re eating pizza or french fies too fast – maybe there’s a HAPIFinger product in the making 🙂

Trakdot is a kit that goes in your luggage and tells you where it is, at all times. It’s cellular enabled and reports which city your luggage is in – perfect for when your bags arrive when you don’t.

The Trakdot Luggage device costs $49.95, one-time activation is $8.99, and there’s an annual service fee of $12.99.

Otterbox – a company we’ve discussed before, make protective iPhone cases. They now have an Armor case that makes it waterproof for up to 30 minutes and able to withstand 2,000 pounds of force. Pretty cool if you want your phone to withstand the stress of travel, even extreme travel!