With the end of December just around the corner, it can only mean one thing - it’s nearly CES! Yes, the annual Las Vegas tech binge will be taking place from 6-9 January 2011 and, as ever, Pocket-lint will be there to bring back the sights and sounds of the show in all its glory.

But before we get there, there’s Christmas to drudge our way through. So, to give you something to think about as you stare blankly at your plate of dry turkey slices, we’re going to spend a few days bringing you thoughts of the techno-gadgetry to come on that famous Nevada desert show floor.

The sensible place to start it all off is with the facts. So, here are five things that we know we’ll be seeing at CES 2011.

Microsoft Tablets

Yes, not one but the amount associated with the number that we’ll be seeing is “a slew”. So says the New York Times. The report says that there’ll be several demoed when Steve Ballmer takes the stage, but just how many will be available as launch products, we don’t yet know. Word is of a Samsung model that may or may not have a slide out QWERTY, whilst Dell seems to be another sure-fire bet.

We’re told that the sell is that they’re great devices for consuming content through a special UI when in portrait mode, but when you swing them down to landscape they go to straight Windows 7 and are just as good at spreadsheets and docs as a laptop. Someone may have missed the point here. If that’s not enough, there’s also a bit of a rumour that we might see something of Windows 8 as well.

Pocketbook colour ebook reader

A leaked document back in September let the world know that we’d be seeing a CES 2011 launch for one of Pocketbook’s ebook readers. Perhaps not such a big surprise but it got all the more exciting when it turned out that it would be coming with Qualcomm’s Mirasol colour screen as part of it. We were lucky enough to get up close to the technology earlier in 2010, which lends itself not only to a great picture but also incredible battery life as it needs just 1mW to run.

'The world’s most powerful laptop' from MSI

According to Ubergizmo, MSI has been pretty candid about what it’ll have on the stand in Vegas. As you might expect, there’ll be additions to all their F, G, C and X-slim ranges as well as a couple of tablets too - one Android, one Windows. The big claim, though, is the highlight of the lot which is set to be the MSI GT680 gaming laptop - said to be the world’s most powerful laptop. It features a quad-core Intel CPU, Nvidia graphics, up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM, dual HDD configurations and an MSI Turbo Drive Engine+ to throttle the CPU and GPU speeds. Expect a great deal of pomp to be cut short by a similar claim from another part of the show floor.

LG's premium 3D glasses

3D has, of course, been one of the major themes of trade shows throughout 2010 and we're all expecting more of the same from the latest tech craze into 2011 as well. While most people are focusing on the panels and players, LG has promised to launch a set of premium 3D glasses to entice would-be viewers with a more fashionable and comfortable fit. The glasses, have a cushioned nose rest, spring-hinged arms and a weight ratio designed to help minimise fatigue over longer periods of time. Presuming the photo is accurate, they also look pretty good too. Will this mean an end to one of the biggest criticisms levelled at 3D?

OLPC tablet

The tech scheme for the good, that is One Laptop Per Child, has confirmed that it will be unveiling the XO-3 tablet computer at CES 2011 as planned. According to the CEO, the project is 2 years ahead of its target, but there are one or two areas where its device is going to fall short of original expectation. It will not be made of all plastic parts for added durability, it isn't going to be waterproof and there won't be a reflective low-power display - at least not in January's incarnation, anyway. On the plus side, thanks to a deal with chip maker Marvell, the XO-3 will have a 1GHz CPU rather than one running at just 0.8. Finger's crossed they can still keep the device at below $100 on arrival.

What products do you think will be nailed on debutants at CES 2011? Let us know in the comments.