With all the data available about you online, consumers are starting to look to ways to help reduce the amount of information companies can gather from their web browsing habits.

I had a chance to speak to Bill Wills on Cleveland’s WTAM 1100 Newsradio about how websites can track you, what cookie files are and why some are good and some not so much, as well as a few free “do-not-track” programs to help reduce the information about your online behavior that is available.

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn spoke to CEA’s Gary Shapiro in an on-stage interview at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. It really brought home how Best Buy is taking on all the changes in consumer electronics and forging a path to the future.

My personal highlight is at 44 minutes into the interview, when I got a personal shout out from the CEO for my work with Best Buy’s Twelpforce project. That was unexpected, but completely made my week!

At the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), you’ll see tons of must-have devices. But what about all the accessories that can tie those together? I call those technological glue, and there were plenty of examples at CES.

See more at BestBuyOn.com.

Automobile makers are showing up in greater numbers at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. They’re here to show how they are making their cars smarter with touchscreen interfaces and voice controls to make your car easier and safer to drive.

See more at BestBuyOn.com.

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), it was clear that smart TVs were getting smarter as manufacturers add voice and gesture controls to their TVs.

See more at BestBuyOn.com.

The New Year brings new resolutions to get into shape. I shared some fitness tech tips with Bill Wills of the Wills & Snyder Show on Cleveland’s WTAM 1100 Newsradio today.

CES 2012 will run from January 10th through the 13th and will bring together an estimated 140,000 people from throughout the consumer electronics industry. Retailers, manufacturers, software developers, even a few celebrities, and more will be there to show or be shown their current and upcoming technology. For Geek Squad, this means we get to take a look at all the gadgets and electronics we’ll be setting up for you over the next year.

Some of this year’s highlights include “ultrabooks” from a variety of computer makers. The term was created by computer chip-maker Intel to describe higher end ultraportable laptops. These ultrabooks differ from netbooks in that they don’t sacrifice performance and features as they become smaller and lighter. Ultrabooks, with a higher base price than a netbook, are designed for owners who want access to the same power as a regular laptop but with the portability of a netbook.

Another item that I expect to see many makers showing off are Windows 8 devices. Although Microsoft has not officially announced an official release date for this next version of the Windows operating system, but 3rd party hardware development has been underway for some time. Any Windows 8 tablets being shown are sure to capture attention. Windows 8’s cross-platform capabilities will interest consumers hoping to share more of their programs and data across their PCs, tablets and even smartphones and gaming systems. In Geek Squad, we love the idea of the connected world, where our tech talks to each other automatically for our benefit.

In 2011, “the cloud” became a mainstream term among tech consumers, and CES promises to show how the electronics market hopes to make your everyday gadgets make better use of it. Of course, not all data storage will be on the Internet, so I expect we’ll also see more devices coming with solid-state drives (SSD) to reduce weight and improve response times when accessing data.

In the home theater world, I expect we’ll see continued improvements with 3D and smart TVs, but I also am hoping to see some of the large screen OLED (organic light-emitting diode) HDTVs that have recently been talked about. OLED screens can display deeper blacks than an LCD resulting in huge contrast benefits and better overall picture quality. They’re also thinner, helping to make HDTVs lighter. Up to this point, however, OLED screen creation has not cost effective for the sizes you need for that big screen TV you’d want in your living room. 2012 may start to see that change, and our Geek Squad Home Theater Installers can’t wait.

Finally, I can’t wait to see all unexpected technology that shows up every year at CES. Whether it’s the seat designed to allow you feel the rumble of NASCAR racing, or robot pets designed for hospital waiting rooms, past shows have taught us to never cease to be amazed at how amazing tech makers can be.

Whatever it is, I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months of tech looks like at CES 2012.