CES 2012: Following the new startups

Whenever I go to a large show such as CES, I always try to make time to look around on the fringes of the show, where the small and (hopefully) up-and-coming companies are. This year, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) pointed directly at some very early startups with its Eureka area, which featured companies and products which (at least most of them) aren't quite ready for prime time, but which show potential for the future.

Many of the companies seemed to be approaching tech from a for-fun point of view. For example, a company called Modular Robotics was showing electronic building blocks it calls Cubelets, which it is marketing as a toy for children but which I think not a few adults wouldn't mind spending some time with -- you attach power blocks, sensor blocks and action blocks together to make small robots that move, light up or perform other actions.

Another company was creating small robotic vehicles that used smartphones as the driving intelligence. Romotive lets you either preprogram your smartphone -- Android or iOS -- to drive a small wheeled device in a preprogrammed pattern, or you can use your tablet to direct its movements. According to one of its representatives, Phu Nguyen, kits are now being sold to developers, and they hope to come out with a consumer-ready product in another year or so.

Another not-quite-ready startup showing at the Eureka area was nVolutions, which was developing cases that would power up your mobile phones using a small wheel attached to the back of the case that powers it via a spinning motion. It's an interesting idea, certainly; one of several companies trying to figure out how people can keep their smartphone batteries going without having to constantly search for a power source.

Whether nVolutions, or any of the other startups showing this year, will make it will be interesting to follow. I'm glad that, despite the overwhelming presence of large companies at CES, there are still tiny, ambitious developers out there ready to enter the fray.

Barbara Krasnoff is reviews editor at Computerworld. When she isn't either editing or reviewing, she blogs at The Interesting Bits ... and Bytes; you can also follow her on Twitter (@BarbaraKrasnoff).