By Kurt Scherf, Contributor

Although there was much derisive press focused on the “smart fork” (the HAPIfork that can tell you if you’re eating too fast), there were many health and fitness applications that received very popular attention at the show.

Companies such as AliveCor, FitBit, and iHealth continued the theme of how smartphones are impacting all facets of the digital lifestyle, as they showcased monitoring and tracking solutions for heart health, sleeping, and other fitness and health activities. This is expected to be a major trend.

Kurt Scherf, Contributor, has attended 13 out of the last 14 Consumer Electronics Shows in Las Vegas and tracked the news and developments remotely this year. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, the 2013 CES was the largest in terms of physical space (1.92 million square feet), with attendance of more than 150,000, with 35,000 people from 170 countries outside the U.S. While plenty of column space was dedicated to the companies that weren’t in attendance in an official capacity (Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Research In Motion, to name a few), there is always enough excitement in the new year about consumer electronics developments to cover.