Truly, madly, deeply personal!

We filter out the hyped and the hopeless, from the flood of announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, to point you at four cool personal technologies are poised to reach you this year.

Ditch those connectors!

A revolutionary new technology promises that you can soon do away with all manner of connectors -- USB, HDMI, display, audio.... replacing them with a wireless receiver-transmitter pair of devices that connect at dizzying speeds. The SiBEAM Snap wireless connector can replace physical connectors on smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras, even on phone chargers, making all such connections completely wireless, thinner, lighter and better protected from damage caused by water, mud, and dust.

The first Snap solution launched last week will replace any USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 connector and deliver up to 12Gbps of bi-directional throughput ... enough bandwidth for high-speed video and data transfer. The solution is entirely software-free.

3-D Webcam on your PC

Gaming laptops and some all-in-one PCs will offer 3-D webcams this year. Lenovo has just unveiled the B50 3D camera, the first all-in-one Windows 8.1 PC. The camera enhances video chats, using depth-sensing capabilities to remove background images from your video. What you’re left with, is just you! When used with games, the 3D technology puts your body inside the game.

  

Acer has also launched a 3-D cam-enhanced computer at CES 15 -- the Acer V17 Nitro gaming laptop. Both these computers harness Intel's RealSense -- the world's first integrated 3D depth and 2D camera module that helps devices 'see' depth much like the human eye and takes gesture-based commands to a whole new level.

Tap-to-connect in your car

A new chip from Broadcom -- BCM89095 --harnesses Near Field Communication ( NFC) technology to simplify connecting to devices like navigators, music systems or browsers in the car -- always a hassle when you're driving.

Now drivers can pair a mobile device by simply tapping it against the dashboard, rather than navigating a menu. What's more, you can open the car or enter a restricted parking space with a simple tap. Vehicle makers can be expected to incorporate NFC so that toll payments too are wireless -- and fast.

You are the password!

Hassled by having to remember multiple passwords for email, Facebook and Twitter, Etc? You may never have to memorize a password again. Why? Because your face is your password!

Intel has just launched a tool called True Key, which allows you to securely store and retrieve the passwords, on your Windows, Mac, Android, iOS devices and across Chrome and Internet Explorer web browsers. You need to let your PC or phone camera scan your face once. TrueKey will then remember all your passwords and provide them to the application, after it 'recognizes' your face. You can sign up at https://www.truekey.com/. The first 15 passwords are stored for free. For more, there is a charge.