If you find yourself pulling up to the Microsoft booth – so large it has its own parking lot! – be sure to schmooze your way into the private upper level, where they’re showcasing cool stuff including the Pegatron “slate” PC (Steve Ballmer introduced several Slate PCs from different manufacturers during his keynote). The 11.6-inch diagonal screen Pegatron tablet runs Windows 7, has a 30GB hard drive, an SD slot, HDMI in/out and a USB port, powered by a 1GB Intel Atom processor. Though it operates by touch it also has a stylus port.
Other cool items “upstairs” include the dual-screen laptop from Onkyo and the Microsoft Surface (which though not new, is super cool, turning table tops into oversized touch screens designed for a retail/commercial environment. LG, Samsung and Kodak are actually using the Surface in booth displays).
Meanwhile, one of the hottest items in the main floor display is the HTC HD2 Windows Mobile Smart Phone, which makes its US debut in March. The 3G phone has a sleek 4.74-inch diagonal screen, 512MB of storage, a 5-megapixel camera and of course plays back HD video, among other goodies.