Washington: Each year in an effort to keep its finger on the pulse of emerging technologies, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), comprising over 2,000 tech companies, releases a list of trends for the upcoming calendar year. The latest list released this week gives tech enthusiasts a preview of what trends experts say will become mainstream in 2013.

3D Printing

Three-dimensional printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is heading straight for the mainstream, CEA analysts say. Common products created via 3D printing include jewelry, figurines and cell phone cases.

Rather than creating a detailed object by sculpting it from materials, computer savvy consumers can create designs online and download them turning them into physical objects, creating them layer by layer.

While the technology has been around for decades, prices are dropping and the CEA predicts the technology will become commonplace in consumers' homes. There is a potential for future concerns surrounding the creation of counterfeit goods. Current intellectual property laws do not cover items created with a 3D printer, so there may be a grey area for 3D printing and physical replication analysts say. When it comes to the future of televisions, picture quality is everything.