Is the Canon G1 X the real surprise of the CES show?

I am catching up with one news I wanted to post a week ago: Last year I posted a news about Canon launching a camera with 4:3 sensor. I got the rumor from a new source and of course I didn’t really believe it but at the CES show Canon launched the Canon G1 X camera that has a 4:3 ratio sensor which is just a tiny bit bigger then the Micro Four Thirds sensor (See sensor size comparison at Dpreview). There are many previews at ePhotozine, Techradar, ISO test at Focus Numerique, ThePhoBlographer.

While the Fuji X PRO 1 has been the real star of the show the Canon G1X is the first attempt from Canon to offer “something” against the mirrorless systems. It’s not exactly tiny (a GF3 with 14-42mm X is smaller), it is not exactly cheap $800 at Amazon and it has not that nice design and hybrid viewfinder of the Fuji X100 (now $1120). Anyway it’s still a surprise that Canon made such a camera. And I want to ask you if you think this could be seen as a strong m43 competitor!