CES gets under way, and Microsoft begins to bow out

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Usually, trade shows are all about playing with prototypes and spotting future trends. But at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which opened Tuesday in Las Vegas, what’s creating the most buzz is what’s not there.

Of course, there are thousands of devices being introduced this week in the desert.

Nokia is back with Windows-based smart phones and is vowing to slay the Android giant. There are connected cars and smart refrigerators (yes, again). And computers. Ultra laptops–small, svelte, near-instant-on computers–are being pushed with several manufacturers announcing slick devices.

But what’s not at the show are two components that could stifle the ultra yawns: Intel’s new mobile processors, which won’t appear until the spring, and Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system with touch features, which wasn’t ready in time for a CES debut.

Instead, the big Microsoft news has been that it’s abandoning CES. This will be its final appearance at the trade show, and CEO Steve Ballmer’s desultory final CES keynote didn’t exactly inspire the technorati. The Kinect gesture and voice recognition game controller will now (officially) work with PCs, and Windows 8 will be out later this year, according to Ballmer. The CEO also promised that current Windows 7 PCs will be able to run the new Window 8 software (translation: if it works on existing hardware, it’s not much of an upgrade).

Also failing to make an appearance are new gaming console models, updates to Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3, or Nintendo’s Wii. Nintendo has promised a new model, and Microsoft and Sony are rumored to be preparing announcements for this summer.

However, it may be too little, too late as televisions continue to offer more features and power–including casual games and online entertainment.