CES 2012 will be Microsoft’s final booth, keynote speech

Earlier this week, Microsoft stated that it would be unceremoniously pulling out of the spotlight at the Las Vegas CES. The mastermind behind Windows 7 said that it prefers to interact with key industry players off-stage. It will still, however, maintain a product booth.

The 2012 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) will also be the final time Microsoft makes its presence known at the States’ premier gadget fair.

Microsoft vice president of corporate communications Frank Show explained the decision, saying: “We won’t have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don’t align with the show’s January timing. We’ll continue to participate in CES as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC (personal computer), phone and entertainment industries.”

Shaw explains that social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have become the “new methods of message delivery”. Microsoft also notes that its brick-and-mortar will be used to inform the public of its latest product offerings.

“Our industry moves fast and changes faster, and so the way we communicate with our customers must change in equally speedy ways,” Shaw added.

Expectations from the 2012 Keynote speech include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announcing an unknown Windows 8-powered tablet. Accordingly, Balmer says that the next version of Windows will support System-on-a-chip or SoC architecture. In other words, the full Windows experience could run on mobile phone chipsets.

During the CES event in January, users are expecting to see the début of Windows 8 tablets. It is also expected that Microsoft will show off further (and as yet unknown) devices running the latest Windows Phone OS. Outside of this, further enhancements to the Xbox in terms of software and hardware are expected.