The big story from the Consumer Electronics Show this year may be Microsoft, as much for what they did as what they won’t be doing. At his keynote speech, CEO Steve Balmer talked about applying their Metro interface to the new Windows 8 platform due out later this year. It will be not only for PC’s but also tablets and phones. Hands-on experience at the show says this will be a nice improvement over Windows 7. Nokia announced their new Lumia 900 phone will use Win 8. However, the jury is out on whether the platform can make serious inroads against Apple and Google-based phones.

Most disappointing was Balmer’s announcement that Microsoft will not have a booth at future CES events. He cited the same reasons as other majors in the consumer electronics arena: Too much pressure to work their production calendar around this event because everyone expects major announcements at CES. Their presence will be missed.

Elsewhere, Samsung is offering a new smartphone with a huge 5.3″ screen, sized between a standard phone and a 7″ tablet. It comes with a stylus, which is handy if you are a graphics artist or designer or just someone who loves to write or draw on a phone. These handwritten notes can even be sent as text messages. So who would buy such a large phone? Some women may enjoy the larger size because it will still fit in a handbag easily. Those who mostly use their phones for games or video definitely will enjoy the larger, brighter images. Perhaps some seniors also will appreciate the easy reading from a larger screen. The phone will be coming to AT&T shortly.

Samsung also used CES to introduce their line of “ultrabooks”. The 13-14″ screen size may be the sweet spot for most travelers, and the 1 TB hard drive should be sufficient for nearly everyone. On the downside, the inclusion of such a large drive brings the weight to over 4 lbs. They’re beautifully designed, but not “ultra” light weight.

Other vendors were showing ultrabooks (a term coined by Intel) which are far more practical for travelers. Most have screen sizes around 13″ but use the lighter (and smaller capacity) SSD instead of the traditional hard drives. Also, they eliminate the DVD drive to bring the weight down to a very appealing 3 lbs or less. Look for them to arrive later this year loaded with Windows newest operating system. Expect prices generally higher than current laptops.

Next week: More from CES 2012 featuring handy travel products.

To receive a free copy of our ebook, 70 Secrets to Safe Travel — Because Your Life Can Change in a Heartbeat, and for more travel savvy info to help you travel smarter, safer and with more enjoyment, visit SmartWomenTravelers.com and PearlsofTravelWisdom.com. Watch for my new book, Business Travel Success – How to Reduce Stress, Be More Productive and Travel with Confidence, being published by Morgan James in early 2012.

High quality noise-isolating (different from noise canceling) headphones, or noise canceling headphones are preferred by travelers. They can make a world of difference by reducing the plane noise to a mere background hum and allow you to fall asleep to your music in a quiet environment.

Headphones are also great for discouraging a talking seat mate. Whether you’re actually listening to music or not, put the headphones on to look like you are.

I love my noise-cancelling headphones. When I’m ready to doze off, I tune my iPod to Enya or soft classical music and the sounds in the plane fly out the window.

For a recent report on the 5 Best Headphones read http://reviews.cnet.com/best-headphones.

Objective: Looking for a first-class leadership position where I can utilize my well-rounded skills learned as a frequent flier.

Experience: Have flown on countless flights, both coach and first class.  Have slept in an incalculable number of beds, mostly alone.  Have driven a myriad of cars, primarily on the right-hand side of the road.  1985-present.

Skills:

Flexible:

• Able to maneuver a suitcase, laptop bag and coat into a tiny airport bathroom stall in seconds!

• Can figure out all the buttons and knobs in a rental car faster than a speeding bullet.

• Able to sleep just about anywhere — on a plane, on a rental car bus, on a airport chapel pew.

Can-Do Attitude:

• Expert at finding the last open space in a plane’s overhead bins for luggage. There is always room for one more bag!

• Go-getter in finding the least expensive airfares and hotel rates.

• Determined to accrue air miles or hotel points for every purchase made.

• Tenacious in filling 3 oz. bottles with favorite shampoo and conditioner.

Team Player:

• Gets out of the aisle quickly upon boarding to allow fellow passengers to get to their seats.

• Follows the rules for arm-rest sharing in coach class.

• Helps window-seat passengers pass the trash to flight attendants.

• Never slams back seat back into knees of passenger in next row; shares the precious few inches equally.

Prepared:

• Has enough food, reading material and music to survive several hours on the tarmac.

• Always has ID, credit card and boarding pass ready for quick entry into airline lounges.

• Ready to unload laptop, liquids, shoes and jacket into plastic bins to keep the security line moving.

• Always has $1’s and $5’s for tipping maids, porters, bell desk.

Communicator:

• Knows how to ask for a better seat or a better room.

• Always friendly to gate agents, security, hotel and car rental personnel.

• Skilled at asking parents to have their kids stop kicking the airline seat in front of them.

Organized:

• Expert at selecting a week’s worth of clothes, coordinating jewelry and shoes in 15 minutes or less and get it all in one carry-one bag.

• Maintains an up-to-date accounting of air miles, hotel points, car rental awards, credit card points.

Works Well Independently:

• Comfortable eating alone in a restaurant

• Can drive through cities and towns for hours on end  with only a GPS for companionship.

Intelligent:

• Knows the signs of a slow moving security line and is sometimes smart enough to avert it.

• Understands what the ‘ding-ding’ near the end of the flight indicates.

• Can whip out the perfect credit card for the situation to get the best award points.

• Knows to look for where the little arrow is pointing on a rental car’s fuel gauge before pulling up to a gas pump.

Tech Savvy:

• Expert on the best iPhone and Blackberry apps for travel

• Can Skype across the world

• Expert at online banking, online check-in and online everything.

Hobbies:  Staying home.  Enjoying time with family and friends.  Reading a great book that doesn’t have a ‘boarding pass’ bookmark.