Yup! Still in Vegas, still big, the annual consumer electronics bonanza we fondly refer to as CES drew to an end yesterday.

First off, although more crowed compared to last year, the popular trade show giant still seemed somewhat off from its previous record attendance. But hey, who’s counting, or not happy about the lack of past years’ never-ending cab and bus lines in front of hotels.

Instead, relative to previous years anyway, CES 2010 seemed much about “quality before quantity”, with some really interesting and innovative nuggets across a still impressive line-up of exhibitors.

So, what are my primary take-aways?

Overall, get ready for your future consumer eletronics to getting thinner, smaller, and much lighter. And if these form factor changes are not enough, the inside of most devices just got a whole lot smarter, too:

• South Korea’s LG introduced the first flat screen TV screen at just under 7 millimeters thick. The super-thin device is expected to roll out commercial later this year. Who knew they could make a TV as thin as cardboard and still deliver outstanding picture quality.
• China-based Lenovo seemed to have gained early lead with its new hybrid IdeaPad U1 laptop-tablet. Once available, the device will ship as a single unit, with a detachable screen that functions by itself as a wireless, touchscreen Web tablet. Cool!
• Taiwan-based ASUS delivered an impressive 14 hours of battery time for its new Eee NetBook (enough uninterrupted computer time to fly roundtrip US - Europe twice!), while Yukyung introduced its Viliv P3, the first personal multimedia player double-boosting a dual Android and Windows OS environment. This comes in handy when you want the utility of Microsoft applications plus the fun of Android apps all rolled into one.

Then there was Google, although without its own branded presence at CES, with Android clearly leaving its mark on this year’s show:

This past week, Google launched its Nexus One smartphone, selling it online unlocked or via T-Mobile with a two-year contract.

• At the show itself, MIPS, along with DTV system maker Western Mediabridge and chip maker Sigma Designs, showed off an Android-based set-top box.
• All based on Android, Motorola unveiled the Backflip smartphone; Lenovo announced LePhone (coming to China later this year), and Dell showed off a tablet prototype.
• Of course, AT&T pledged to launch five new Android devices from Dell, HTC and Motorola in the first half of 2010.
• Then there was HP’s announcement of an Android-powered netbook, as part of HP’s exiting Slate line of devices, and a number of other Android tablets are on the way as well, including from Archos and Notion Ink.

To put these Android-powered device announcements into perspective, US mobile ad network AdMob said it received over 1 billion ad requests from Android devices in December alone, showing Android phones could well become viable ad distribution vehicles, with netbooks likely to follow suit.

The one Google-related question still looking for an answer, though - what about Chrome? For now Android clearly seems center-stage, at least until the Chrome Netbooks and Tablets are ready for the market. Let’s see.

Other observations straight from the show floors?

• Get ready, your next flat screen TV could be completely without cabling - yes, even without the much dreaded power cable - which is very nice especially for those new and super chique, extra thin high-resolution flat screens mounted to a wall at home.
• Your next remote control might (finally!) come with the much desired simplicity of a single tracking ball and be more akin to a Wii-like magic wand ruling over all your channels, or even better, you might find yourself flipping through programing simply with the waive of your own hand.
• If you believe most major CE television OEMs, of course tomorrow’s HD TV experience will soon be all in 3D, if you can stomach wearing the corresponding 3D glasses, that is, and are willing to deal with (a still to be improved) gesture -controlled 3D remote control. But hey. James Cameron’s Avatar might just get you to do that, too. After all, the movies 3D cinematography is simply stunning. If anything, I can see how at least the gaming / MMOG community could take to 3D in a snap! The benefits are compelling as, all of the sudden, in-game characters become alive and real, nothing like their 2D counterparts.

Of course, as always when it comes to CES, don’t expect most of the above to be available in stores tomorrow morning, and, once they do ship, be prepared to pay a premium if you think you have an “early adopter” inside of you that needs instant gratification.

So much for this year’s #1 consumer electronics hoopla.

Looking forward to seeing you again at CES 2011.