CES 2012: Tosy’s mRobo ‘Bieberbot’, 3D Systems Cube printer, Yurbud custom earbuds, Razer gaming tablet turn heads

At the end of the day, the Consumer Electronics Show is all about the gadgets. And while there haven’t been any real breakouts, there have been several great surprises. Here are 15 gadgets that made heads turn at this year’s show.

1) 3D Systems Cube printer: 3D printing is one of those areas of tech that really does seem like it could change our lives...if only it could catch on. For those unfamiliar with the idea, a 3D printer spits out plastic instead of ink to make small, functional items for the home such as cookie cutters, chess pieces and even shoes. The Cube 3D printer is one of the first to flirt with a somewhat consumer-friendly price range, starting at $1,299. While they’re unlikely to be in every home any time soon, this is a step toward making 3D printing more commonplace.

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 We’ve rounded up the devices, events and ideas that journalists, analysts and industry insiders say will be big the tech world in 2012.

2) HP Envy 14 Spectre: This stunning Gorilla Glass-covered ultrabook is HP’s first ultrabook for non-business consumers. It weighs in at just 3.9 pounds and measures just under 0.8 inches thick. With a good display and Beats-brand speakers, the ultrabook is sure to be popular with the fashion-forward — just watch out for fingerprints.

3) Sharp Aquos Smart Board: White boards are yesterday’s news, if Sharp has anything to say about it. The idea of a smart classroom is another idea that’s failed to really catch on, though there are smatterings of smartboards in colleges and universities across the country. With the Sharp Aquos Smart Board, business executives and professors can really take the point home with 80-, 70- or 60-inch screens.

4) Dell XPS 13: While not as visually stunning as HP’s latest ultrabook, the Dell XPS 13 has been getting high praise from tech watchers for its i5- (or i7-) powered insides and its edge-to-edge display. Starting at $999, this super-slim computer is competitive with the MacBook Air in form and price.

5) Parrot Quadricopter Air Drone: Our Day 1 Mystery Gadget, this hovering camera can be controlled though an iPad or smartphone and lets you record aerial video from a front or vertical camera. A gimmick? Sure. But you can bet it’s a whole lot of fun.

6) Waterproof tablets: Pantech and Fujitsu have shown off “waterproof” tablets at the show this year, aimed at tablet users who take their computing on the road such as salespeople who do on-site visits. Or, you know, for Web surfing in the bathtub.

7) Lenovo IdeaTab Yoga: Running the latest Android operating system — that’d be Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich — this tablet from Lenovo has a detachable keyboard dock, further blurring the lines between tablets and laptops. The 10-inch tablet weighs just over a pound and is supposed to have 20 hours of battery life.

8) Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7: Jumping into the mini-tablet game, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 has been a known entity for a while, but got an official unveiling at the Samsung booth at CES. With the same slim profile as its older and bigger 10.1-inch sibling, the tablet has front- and rear-facing cameras, a microSD card slot, a SIM card slot and a 1.4 GHz dual-core processor.