• by Dave Morgan , Featured Contributor, January 7, 2010

I'm in Las Vegas today, attending the Consumer Electronics Show. The city is crawling with folks fascinated with the latest in consumer devices, from gadget geeks that hang on every word of the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, to the digitirati trying to find the next big thing. The show officially kicked off last night with a keynote from Steve Ballmer touting Microsoft's tablet PC software -- and it will be in high gear for the next several days, starting with the opening of the exhibit floor this morning. It's still early to know what big stories will come from this year's show, but here are some of the themes that have been buzzing around so far:

Slate/Tablet PCs - Everyone wants to know what Apple's rumored tablet is going to look like. With Ballmer unveiling HP's new entry into the space here, the topic is already front and center. Many are looking to the devices and their capacity as e-readers to also breathe new life into some of our analog media, like magazines, newspapers and books.

Networked TV - The coming together of the Internet, Web services and TV's sight, sound and motion in the living room is part of virtually every television manufacturer's booth here. We are finally going to see TVs shipped that are truly "Internet-ready" and can run Web apps and services like Skype.

3D TVs - "Avatar"'s success at the box office is translating into extra prominence for several new 3D TVs. I personally don't know  how many folks want to wear special glasses to use their TVs -- excluding gamers, of course -- but the new TVs are here, and they're cool.

Networked Devices - It's not just TVs that are getting connected to the Web, it's cars and clock radios, too. This morning Alan Mulally of Ford announced that the company is building in-car communication services into new vehicles that will support Web wervices like Twitter. Sony yesterday announced the Sony Dash, a networked, touch -screen device for the bedroom and living room to replaces the clock radios of old.

Digital Ad Folks in Front - After being relegated to eating scraps at the "kids' table" for many years, and then getting lousy seats at the adults' table for a number of years more, this year it is clear that the digital advertising folks are taking charge. No longer is it about TV vs. Internet or print vs. Internet. Now everyone wants to know how all of the other media are going to work with their company's digital strategies. It's the digital folks that are the most popular at the parties here this year, and the elevation this week of digital marketing guru (and all-around great guy) Rob Norman to run Group M North America says it better than anything else.

Chinese Innovation - The exhibit floor is filled with extraordinary devices from companies with hard-to-pronounce names from provinces across China. Anyone who believes that China is just about manufacturing, and that the U.S. and other western economies dominate innovation, hasn't been to CES lately. It is something to see.

In my mind, the products at CES this year are actually matching the hype. I don't know that it's happened in the past, but it seems to be the case this year. Happy New Year to everyone. Now I'm off to see more cool stuff.