But I’ve got terrible news for all those companies: there is only one Apple. Tempting as it may be to start up your own ecosystem of apps and content, you need something truly compelling to make people sign up to it in the same way that tens of millions of people have signed their lives away to Apple.

Apple customers sign up to a brand with values they believe in, to a name that they will be happy to associate themselves with.

For a start, you need trust. Apple customers sign up to a brand with values they believe in, to a name that they will be happy to associate themselves with. You also need staggering amounts of content: from apps to movies to TV shows to music, Apple has this sewn up.

You need sexiness: if I’m going to buy your phone, it needs to look damn good. Finally, you need phenomenal ease of use. If you have to spend a minute explaining what your service does, or how you connect to it using your devices, then you’ve lost three-quarters of your potential customers.

Like them or loathe them, no other company can match Apple in these areas.

So when I look back at CES, despite all the excellent technology on show, I do so with a mix of fear and despondency.

The issue is typified by the likes of Samsung and Sony. Both made big plays at CES that suggest they think they could be an all-encompassing rival to Apple, whether it’s Samsung talking about the fact you can play Angry Birds on their TVs or Sony pointing out that its customers can watch movies a month earlier on their movie-download service. Sorry Sony, sorry Samsung: but it’s not enough.

Instead, we need either open standards or a compelling play by a company that can work with different partners. Obvious examples of the latter are Microsoft and Google, but even this has hints of idealism: think how difficult Microsoft has found it to make anyone else sign up to services such as Passport.

Nevertheless, I can’t see any alternative. Sony and Samsung both produce great hardware, and Sony – through its subsidiaries such as Sony Entertainment – own some phenomenal content. But they are light years away from the position where a critical mass of consumers sign up to the Sony or Samsung ecosystem in the same way that Apple customers do.

So, please, stop trying and start working with Google, Microsoft and Amazon to ensure that the products we buy from you work with all the different content providers. Focus on what your company is good at, not what Apple is good at.

Tablets have come in many shape and forms at this year’s CES, but there’s only one that’s made us go “wow”. And that tablet is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7.

It is, quite simply, drop dead gorgeous. Of course we can reel off the specs – it’s 7.9mm thin and weighs 340g  – but that doesn’t do it justice. When you pick it up for the first time your arm jumps up too quickly; it expects to be lifting something heavier.

The Tab’s 7.9mm thickness is truly remarkable too. If anything, it looks even thinner in the flesh.

This might lead cynics to think the Tab 7.7 is too fragile, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. A firm backing gives it a solid feel, and that’s backed up by a high quality finish; every bit as good as the iPad.

That lightness also means you can hold it for long periods without your arms growing tired (one of the iPad’s few flaws), and that you can chuck it into a bag without worrying about the extra weight.

Battery life sounds respectable too: Samsung claims ten hours of continuous video playback. Obviously we’d like more, but compromises have to be made to keep the weight and size down.

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 also boasts a terrific screen. Sony may have fallen out of love with OLED technology, but Samsung’s AMOLED screens produce eye-popping colours compared to the LCDs most people will be used to.

Then there’s the resolution. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised to see 1,280 x 800 pixels in a 7.7in screen when seemingly all the phones announced at CES boast “HD” displays, but it works beautifully at this size. That means the interface is crisp and detailed, and helps photos and videos look great.

Naturally it’s quick to respond to commands. There is, after all, a 1.4GHz dual-core processor inside, and 1GB of RAM helps keep the OS flying along.

But this is one of the disappointments: Android OS 3.2 powers the Tab, and while we can hope/expect an Android 4 update, bitter experience has taught us never to assume.

One of the reasons for using 3.2 is that Samsung has heavily customised the interface with its “TouchWiz” design (and yes, the person who came up with the name TouchWiz should indeed be shot).

The only aspect of it we prefer over vanilla Android 3.2 Honeycomb is the “Mini Apps” tray, which gives quick access to “background” apps such as the task manager, calendar and music player.

We also like Samsung Apps. This is a so-called recommendation engine that essentially filters apps suitable for Honeycomb. Admittedly this feels like a kludge – surely such filtering should be Google’s job – but it’s very useful until the Android Market becomes easier to browse for tablet users.

We don’t think many people will be dumping their cameras and camcorders for the Tab’s built-in 3-megapixel camera, but it’s there with an LED flash and does support 720p recording. A 2-megapixel camera on the front is present for video calls too.

On the subject of calls, this first version of the Tab is going to be released in tandem with Verizon Wireless in the US, and there’s a 4G chip inside. There are no details for a similar 3G partnership in the UK yet, but we’re pretty confident discussions will be taking place.

Nor do we know how much the Galaxy Tab 7.7 will cost, but it’s notable that this first release only includes 16GB of storage; no doubt this is to keep a lid on the price. You can add up to 32GB more via the microSD card slot.

The final neat feature we should mention is the infrared port. This turns the Tab into a universal remote control, which may sound frivolous but is exactly the sort of thing people will end up using every day.

With Samsung already releasing some nice extra accessories – a keyboard dock, multimedia dock, a USB adapter that allows you to connect printers/mice/keyboards, and an HDMI adapter – it should be obvious why we think the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is the pick of the CES tablets.

Let’s just hope it lives up to our expectations when we eventually get one to test for ourselves.

The compact camera market is fascinating: on one side it’s being savagely attacked by smartphones and their ever-improving cameras, and on the other by affordable DSLRs and hybrids.

But there’s still a place for compacts – taking snaps indoors in low light being one obvious example – and companies such as Samsung continue to deliver fresh ideas.

For example, there’s Mobile Link: a way to wirelessly transmit photos from your camera to any Wi-Fi equipped phone, tablet or computer.

Admittedly, wireless in itself isn’t new. We saw this in the SH100, which I blogged about from last year’s CES. However, Samsung says that it’s “doubling down” on wireless, and there are now five wireless-enabled cameras and camcorders in its line-up.

What else can you do with them? Here’s a video from a Samsung spokesperson who I spoke to at CES:

So, you don’t need to upload photos to your PC and then to Facebook (and other social-networking sites); you do it straight from the camera. That’s convenient if you’re at home, but even better if you’re abroad and at a wireless hotspot.

There’s also a nice little feature where you can use your Android smartphone or tablet as a viewfinder for the camera; with a remote control shutter, that could be a real boon.

Then there’s the capability of backing up to SkyDrive; with 25GB of free storage, it’s a potentially brilliant feature.

I’m less convinced by the ability to wirelessly back up photos to your PC – it’s simpler to remove the card and place it in your computer’s media slot, surely – and the idea of emailing photos to friends directly from a phone seems an unnecessary hassle.

But that’s just me. I’m curious what other people think. Will your next camera be wireless, or will you simply cut out the middle man – and accept some loss of quality – and use your smartphone’s camera instead?

I played the piano, lost a strange game involving multiplying insects (don’t ask) and then showed my considerable skill at losing by being heavily defeated at an excellent multiplayer game in the mould of Guitar Hero. Who needs dancing girls, cocktails or casinos?

The reason is a piece of innovation that’s bound to be copied quicker than the speed of my colleagues’ ears pricking up at the sound of dancing girls: a folding arm.

In this instance, a video is worth at least a thousand words:

The rest of the spec is almost irrelevant. Yes, it’s got a 27in display, an Intel Core processor, Nvidia GeForce graphics and up to 1TB of storage – but what matters is that arm!

Perhaps that simplifies it a little bit. Another key technical inclusion is support for ten-point multitouch. That means you can play sophisticated games with multiple players, plus any number of other applications: photo and video editing, maps, music creation to name but a few.

And it isn’t just for home use: the A720 would be absolutely perfect as a “front of office” PC for a trendy company. The A720 will be released with Windows 7, but the version I played with was running Windows 8 Developer, and it’s undoubtedly the best showpiece yet for Microsoft’s forthcoming OS.

Then we come to the Android TV

Now this one is a little more of a concept piece; it’s a 55in TV that will be released in China this year, along with a 42in version, and it looks terrific.

Its headline feature is that it runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich, and Lenovo has done some clever interface work – as seen by the photo.

Nor is it just a pretty face, with some equally clever work going into the remote. Want to perform a search? Then speak into it. Want to swipe left or right? Then sweep away with your finger using the remote’s built-in touch-sensitive area.

There’s also a 5-megapixel camera to bring in some interaction, and the inevitable tickbox of 3D.

Unfortunately the Lenovo rep was guarding the remote quite closely, so I couldn’t actually play with this one. But if and when this machine arrives in the PC Pro Labs, I’ll be asking for first dibs.

You might ask, “so what?” And that’s a fair argument. I’ve never heard an iPhone 4 owner moan about the speed of the interface, or anyone who’s bought a recent Android phone for that matter.

But there is something psychologically satisfying about using a phone that jumps in response to commands; going back to my usual phone afterwards, things seemed to be in slow motion.

There are practical benefits too. Watch the clip below and you’ll see how well the K800 copes with complicated HD video.

HD here means 720p, with the 4.5in display having a 1,280 x 720 resolution. This makes the video look crisp, but with the addition of an Intel Wireless Display adapter (WiDi for short) you can even watch movies directly on your TV; no wires required.

This phone also includes an 8-megapixel camera capable of shooting HD footage, but the limitations of the small lens and sensor were obvious in my test shots; then again, light conditions in the Lenovo stand at CES weren’t exactly favourable.

Other things to note about the K800 itself: it’s not the world’s most attractive design, with a square-jawed black finish and none of the slimness we’ve come to expect from modern phones, and it includes all the wireless radios you could ever hope for – including WCDMA HSPA+ for 21Mbits/sec downloads.

To a large extent, this is all moot: unless you happen to live in China, you won’t be able to buy the K800 (and even then you’ll have to wait until sometime between April and June). It should be seen, more than anything, as proof of the ability to squeeze an Intel Atom processor into such a tiny chassis.

So let’s get to the specs. Inside there’s a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460 CPU with 512KB of Level 2 cache; this is Intel’s Medfield smartphone platform, which has been long talked about but never previously seen in a proper product.

Note there’s just a single core inside the Z2460, with dual-core Medfield chips likely to debut in Motorola phones later this year. Nevertheless, according to benchmarks performed by Anandtech, this is a darn quick phone: a third quicker than the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, and almost 20% faster in BrowserMark.

To put that into perspective, the Galaxy Nexus was previously the fastest phone Anandtech had tested, including the Apple iPhone 4S.

According to Intel, it’s also highly competitive when it comes to power consumption:

If those power graphs are to be believed (and we’ll hold off on that until we see some Medfield-based phones that we can actually battery test), the K800 is a definite victory for Intel, and a signal to ARM that it won’t have things all its own way in the coming years.

And going back to the question I asked right at the start – why does this matter? Because it opens up big possibilities for phones of the future, as they edge closer and closer to being what we used to call computers.

“Just put your signature there,” said the ioSafe rep. “It’s nothing to worry about. Oh, but one thing. Whatever Dr Megavolt says, do it.”

I didn’t argue, merely noted from the indemnity document I was about to sign that it would be a very, very bad idea to place my fingers outside the Faraday cage I was stepping into.

A few minutes earlier Dr Megavolt had explained what was going to happen: a million volts would be sent through an ioSafe Thunderbolt external hard drive, which was protected by a titanium cover.

Everything would be fine, right? Well, as we were about to discover, things weren’t necessarily that straightforward.

The existing Series 9 customers wanted something bigger, and this undeniably is. It shares much in common with the 13.3in variant: the keyboard feels very similar to type on, with the main benefit being slightly more space for keys such as Home, Page Up and Down, and End.

The touchpad is even larger: it almost feels like a graphic tablet in terms of its size, and if Microsoft can add better gesture support in Windows 8 this could lend the 15in Series 9 a real advantage.

The screen shares some of the same characteristics as its 13.3in brother, most notably a slight hue as you move off-centre, but there’s no graininess here. With 1,600 x 900 pixels, we’d be very happy to use this as our everyday machine.

Samsung packs enough power in, too, with a Core i7 processor inside (hopefully Ivy Bridge when it arrives). Note that Samsung has not yet confirmed specs, prices or any release date.

One potential annoyance is the reliance on adapters for connecting to Ethernet and VGA; also note it’s a micro-HDMI slot rather than full-size. We’re pleased to see a full-size SD card slot, two USB 3 slots on the right-hand side, plus USB 2 on the left. There’s no Thunderbolt, though.

As with the 13.3in Series 9, the battery is designed to last for 1,500 lifecycles; that means it should still have 80% of its capacity even after four or five years, by which time it will definitely be time to give this laptop to someone else anyway.

Samsung claims a ten-and-a-half hour battery life, too, but as with the 13.3in version we’ll have to wait for the review samples to put this to the test.

The Series 9 is no such laptop. It looks and feels beautiful, with what Samsung terms as a “mineral matt-finish”. The end result is no fingerprints on the lid, which was one of the big complaints consumers had with the original Series 9.

And it’s helped along by an ultra-sleek chassis, with Samsung going all-out with its marketing hype: this, folks, is the world’s slimmest laptop. Or to be more precise, the 13.3in version of the Series 9 is, measuring a ridiculous 12.9mm thick. (See our preview of the 15in Series 9 here.)

Unlike so many laptops, as can be seen from the photo above, that claim this kind of girth it doesn’t gain much extra towards the back.

Then there’s the weight of 1.16kg. We’re now used to high-powered laptops being featherlight, but even so the Series 9 is exceptional.

The payback comes with the ports. This 13.3in model has one USB 3 port on the right and a USB 2 port on the left, plus a full-size SD slot neatly tucked into the side of the chassis, but aside from this you’re slipping into the world of micro and adapters: there’s a micro-HDMI port on the left, an adapter for Ethernet and VGA, plus one 3.5mm socket (usable for either a microphone or headphones).

Samsung doesn’t make too many compromises with the keyboard. Naturally there isn’t a massive amount of travel on the keys, but we got up to a decent speed (this review is actually being typed directly onto a showfloor Series 9) and didn’t notice much clatter. Yes, the Enter key is single-height, but it’s also nice and large – as is the excellent touchpad.

We’re a little less enamoured by the screen. This uses a Samsung LED panel that’s been custom-made by Samsung itself, and it suffers from a very slight grain. If you go a little off-centre, it also develops a slight yellow hue.

In practice, though, we don’t think we’d complain. For a start there’s minimal glare from the screen’s matte finish; and second, it’s very bright at full whack: 400cd/m² according to our man on the stand.

Perhaps even more important is the resolution: Samsung packs in 1,600 x 900 pixels into this 13.3in display, yet it doesn’t feel squashed or cramped.

This gives it a full notebook feel, and it’s helped further by a Core i7 processor – the exact spec has yet to be confirmed. Samsung is making bold claims about wake times too: 1.8 seconds from sleep, 9.8 seconds from off. Our tests didn’t quite bear this out, with the pre-production sample on show taking around 13 seconds (see the video below).

The final thing to note is the battery. Being a unibody chassis, sculpted from aluminium, the battery is built-in and there’s no option for replacement.

If Samsung is to be believed, however, this shouldn’t be an issue, because the battery is designed to last for 1,500 recharges before it loses 20% of its capacity. This compares, Samsung claims, to 300 recharges for a typical laptop.

Hopefully that means you’ll still have at least 80% of the original capacity after five years; Samsung claims the 13.3in Series 9 lasts for six-and-a-half hours.

It adds up to a laptop with a lot of promise, and we look forward to Samsung confirming the launch date – and price – in the coming weeks.

The phone watch is an idea that just isn’t going away, with a different spin of the concept produced pretty much every year at CES. But this time, Sony assures us, it’s really going to happen and it’s really going to be fabulous.

The video above shows some of the obvious limitations: if you’ve only got a tiny surface area on which to drag your fingers then it’s difficult to fit too much information on at any one time, and it’s also tricky to hit a tiny 60 x 60 pixel area on something as inherently unstable as your wrist.

Nevertheless, it does kind of work, and it’s worth noting that this screen is multitouch-enabled: press two fingers and it will go back one step. And we’re also pleased to see that it won’t only work with Sony phones (if you missed the news, Sony Ericsson phones are no more, having been sucked into Sony as a subsiduary); all you need is an Android phone with the appropriate app downloaded onto it.

Which leaves us with just one question: does anyone out there want one?

CES Unveiled is the traditional curtain raiser for CES, allowing a limited number of companies access to journalists for three hours on the Sunday evening before the show starts proper. Autonomy, the company that reportedly cost HP a cool $11.7 billion back in August 2011, was one such company, and we caught a demo of its augmented reality technology.

The video is streamed directly to the app once it recognises the image, and then saved locally so that it can be viewed without eating up your data on subsequent occasions. For people like me, who can’t recognise faces almost a minute after I’ve been introduced to someone, the business card application looks particularly interesting.