Now that I'm home and rested, here are my last thoughts on the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show.

First, all my spotty CES photography is posted on my CES Flickr page. Next year: better camera, more batteries, less shame.

There was a big showing in the home A/V neighborhood for brackets, mounts and furniture to slap behind your brand new flat panel. One company was showcasing a fake gilded frame, like you'd find on the biggest and ugliest paintings in a pile at Goodwill, that rotated to reveal the TV on the other side. Ick. My understanding is that most people, myself included, just stand their flat panels up on a table, using the foot that's included in the box. Seems like a lot of R&D was wasted finding new and clever ways to strap them to your wall or chair. One product that stood out was this robotic arm that slides out from under your bed, stands up, and displays your TV right where there'll always be a pair of feet in your way. Maybe not practical, but definitely unique.

There were two companies obviously competing for most outrageous home theater sound system. Pure Acoustics, the winner and HiVi, the loosingest. With such a stunning visual display, why would it need to sound good...?

A technology I saw in a couple of booths (LG and Samsung, I think?) that seemed overdue was this USB display management that lets you link a mess o' displays together to bring out the evil genius in all of us. Maybe things like this have been around, but I'm definitely interested.

At the Intel-sponsored bloggers' party (where I won an Intel flight suit!), I spent a chunk of time talking to Ty from deal4it.com. They have a neat idea for helping internet idiots use ebay, and I think the little guys talking on the website might really help my mother figure out how to buy a 79¢ toaster from China with a $158 shipping charge. Anyway, you should spread the word - I saw Ty drop and destroy his laptop later that night. Also, I took a picture with one of their actresses. She was nice.

My favorite booth babe, however, has to be from Sonoro. I think their product is so-so, but she had me mezmerized. I would have taken a picture, but I couldn't think straight.

For some reason the Motorola booth was always packed, in spite of the fact that Motorola hasn't made a popular phone since the RAZR, and hasn't made a good phone since EVER. I did see Wyclef Jean there, just hanging out at a table, but it was packed even before he showed up. I tried to figure out what they had that was so great, but nothing popped out at me. I can't explain it. And that was sort of the story of the whole CES show floor. Most people I talked to seemed to agree - there was no breakthrough, no blockbuster announcement, not even that much schwag to be collected and carried home as a useless trophy of victory in the face of marketing. Each booth had something novel, or a cute solution for a pseudo-problem I've never worried about, but nothing jumped out as the next killer. I think my search for the perfect UMPC typifies it exactly - there wasn't a perfect UMPC at the show, and there isn't a perfect smartphone (bless you, Apple fanboys, but I'm not the least bit interested in a wireless device without 3G), or a perfect DVR. I didn't see a single product on the show floor I thought was simple, elegant or innovative enough that I wanted to snatch it off the display, hold it high above my head, and sing its praise as the gadget messiah. Even talking to real bloggers, who got invited to press announcements and the like, there was no one who was biting his lip, restraining himself from spilling his guts about the product he'd signed an NDA to be allowed to see. It was a huge disappoinment for me. I went there hoping for the gadget holy grail, and left exhausted, hungover and emptyhanded.

Las Vegas itself reminds me of Blade Runner's Los Angeles - every surface is a moving, talking flashing advertisement, the landscape is concrete and the mobs of people were relentless. I stayed in a hotel way downtown, that looked like it was probably mediocre in 1979. I spent as little time there as possible. If you decide to go, and you're looking for advice, you should start by asking someone who knows anything about it. But if for some reason you actually want my advice - bring cash. Loads of cash. No one wants your credit card. And spend the extra money for a room on The Strip. Nothing smells worse the morning after drinking yourself blind than 30 years of stale casino smoke and burnt bacon. I'm serious, stay at a nice hotel.

Finally, I owe my best times at CES to PodTech and Seagate for hosting the BlogHaus and setting me up to meet a ton of people, get shuttled around Vegas, hang out in an amazing suite in the Bellagio, and drink enough liquor to more than compensate me for this plug. Everyone there was great, especially our bartender, Karl. I hope I get to go back next year.