CEA estimates that about 140,000 people attended CES, and the state of the industry is showing strength. Gary Shapiro predicts that consumer electronics spending will show a 6% increase for 2010, to $180 billion, and will rise an additional 3% this year, to more than $186 billion. The predominant themes this year were tablets, apps, 3D, 4G, gestural interfaces, and ‘smart’ connected devices. We saw a great deal in terms of sharing content across multiple CE platforms – and the high-speed networks required to do so. ETC will have a post show analysis with details of the major themes and trends available by next week.

LG presented a new approach to television and board controls with its LG Pen Touch Multi Board, essentially a widescreen TV with stylus touch controls. The board is distinct from similar computer-driven boards in that it allows image manipulation via multiple controls and supports more than one user at a time. Imagine using two stylus controls to manipulate the screen, similar to how you’d use two fingers on the touchscreen of an iPad. This advancement enables multiple simultaneous users, which really opens up new possibilities.

Pocket projectors are making great strides in brightness every year while still maintaining surprisingly low power requirements. Appotronics, Optoma and Microvision continue to drive incremental but promising improvements in this market, hopefully guiding it ever closer to a more mass market product category instead of the (micro) niche category it is now.

NEC introduces the LT-W Cloud Communicator, a prototype slate with two full color screens and special two screen software for home and school use. The prototype device features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. NEC reps say the tablet will be introduced in Japan, possibly in the next six months.

Qualcomm’s full-motion Mirasol Display uses a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) to manipulate the amount of space between two conductive plates to reflect ambient light in full-color. This gives the screen many of the same benefits of E-Ink displays, including the ability to operate with extremely low-power consumption in full-sunlight.

Aiming to make it easier for consumers, Samsung has introduced AllShare, their software platform that uses DLNA to move content around a user’s home network. AllShare will allow many of Samsung new products such as the Galaxy Tab, the Galaxy smartphone, Blu-ray players, TVs, and home router to move content around the network seamlessly.

Samsung is showing a prototype of an ultra-thin 75-inch Full HD 3D LED TV, playing stunning 1080p footage. The display is Internet-enabled, supports 3D, and includes a touchscreen remote. Samsung also explained it is power efficient since it features LED backlighting.

Haier is soon to debut a new range of LED displays powered by Yahoo!’s Connected TV platform. These Net Connect displays also feature Wi-Fi and boast a Netflix button on their remote control. Haier is also demonstrating Yahoo! Connected TV’s new broadcast interactivity feature and has plans to participate in the pilot program.

Panasonic has changed the name of its IPTV service from VIERA CAST to VIERA Connect and installed it on 15 new TVs and a new tablet. VIERA Connect is an open platform, available to developers of third-party content. The company expects to drive its IPTV sales up to 70% of its total television sales in the global market by 2012.

On its Bravia LCD HDTV line, Sony is highlighting its 3D-capable KDL-HX820 series with 1080p resolution. This series uses Sony’s X-Reality PRO Engine, a two-chip digital processor. In all, the 2011 Bravia line includes 16 new 3D-capable and 22 Internet-connected models.