Utah companies display their goods at Consumer Electronics Show

Xi3 Corp. certainly knows the value of going to the gigantic electronics trade event, the International Consumer Electronics Show, also known as CES.

Last year, the Salt Lake City computer company came into the annual Las Vegas show as a little-known firm that was designing home computers. But several days later, it emerged from CES with one of the most talked-about products from the show, its Piston gaming machine.

"I conducted close to 250 interviews in a 4½-day period," said David Politis, Xi3's spokesman. "We won over a half a dozen major industry awards … and probably generated north of 5,000 media stories in a three-week period. It was insane."

Beginning today, 43 Utah technology companies are showing off their wares at this year's CES in hopes of cashing in on that same media magic. The International Consumer Electronics Show will be held through Friday and is the largest consumer electronics trade event in the world. More than 3,200 exhibitors will be on hand to display their goods, and the trade show lures more than 150,000 attendees every year, including some 6,000 international journalists.

This year, Xi3 will be back at CES to show off its Piston gaming computer again, which is a modular PC geared as a video gaming and entertainment box for the home. The company also is planning on displaying its other modular computers and will introduce a new optimization program for Piston that allows gamers to automatically set the graphics settings on their favorite video games. It also plans to announce a new product for the medical field that Xi3 has designed in partnership with Intermountain Health Care.

"Trade shows are the best bang for the buck that any company can spend," Politis said of CES and other similar events. "It's because there are more journalists in one place and in one short period of time so you can leverage your marketing dollars."

Here is a list of some of the Utah companies expected to be in Las Vegas this week at the show.

iFit • This Logan company develops fitness programs for exercise equipment such as treadmills. It includes tracking and workout tools, mobile apps and the ability to use Google Maps with a treadmill to simulate the road conditions of anywhere in the world.

ZAGG • This Salt Lake County-based company is a staple at CES. It produces mobile accessories such as cases and headphones for devices like the iPhone and iPad. It began with its most popular product, the invisibleSHIELD, a plastic film for mobile devices that protects the screens from nicks and scratches.

iStabilizer • This small, Kamas-based operation designs and sells camera tripods, dollies and mounts for smartphones.

Jigabot • The Highland company produces hardware that automatically frames smartphone cameras and action cameras so the users doesn't have to think about operating them while involved in sports.

Lightforge • The Logan company is one of two from Utah that will display their 3D printing technology at CES.

PhoneSoap • Germaphobes will like what this Orem company produces. It's a portable phone charger that uses ultraviolet light to exterminate bacteria on the device while it charges.

Mozaex • The Salt Lake City company designs high-end media servers for home entertainment systems that can store and play Blu-ray movies, music and pictures.

Skydrop • This Alpine-based company is introducing a new lawn sprinkler controller that works in the cloud. It can control when and how much you water your yard with either the controller or a mobile device.

HzO • This young Draper company made a big splash at CES a couple of years ago when it introduced new technology for mobile devices that protects them from water damage. It's a method of coating the inside and outside of an electronic device with a microscopic layer of coating. With the protection, a device can be dropped in a bowl of water and still operate while fully submerged.

vince@sltrib.com

Twitter: @ohmytech