Every January, tech journalists resist the beckoning buffets and the call of the craps tables long enough to get neck-deep in a pile of gadgets so enormous that its almost like its own ecosystem. Trends can emerge and then dissipate over the course of just one week; a week in which we learn about which gadgets we'll be lusting after for the next 365 days or so. This is a look back at all the things that were both loved and hated at last year's show and how much has changed since then.

Touch screens Last year: We have the iPhone to thank for much of the touch screen mania that's permeating a growing number of segments in the electronics market at the moment. Sure, there were plenty of touch screens around before, but 2008 may have been the first year for CES where the number of new products increased, while the number of tactile buttons decreased. Phones, media players....hell even refrigerators know how to respond to your fingertips. This year: Our lust for things we can control with our pointer fingers hasn't subsided and we're expecting to see even more button-free devices. But, one finger doesn't cut it anymore. It's all about multi-touch. Microsoft's finger-friendly interactive table, Surface, has gone from something you'd see in one of the booths, to something you'll rest your drink on at the restaurant after the show has closed up for the night. Even Palm is probably getting in all-touch action with their upcoming announcement.

Rally around Blu-ray...sort-of Last year: Walking past HD-DVD's booth at last year's show brought about a variety of emotions. There was the initial "Hey look, a Transformer!" moment, which was quickly diminished by the realization that their enormous (and obviously very expensive) booth stood as nothing more than a memorial for a format that had just bitten the dust. Various companies still showed off their now hilariously obsolete combo players, but the overall climate was best described as, well, confused. Blu-ray had won, but no one was quite sure what was going to happen next. This year: While Blu-ray players still haven't hit the $100 mark like HD-DVD players did as they raced toward uselessness, significant price drops (mostly on players, which leaves the movies still too expensive) and better market penetration for the PS3 have helped bolster a little confidence in early adopters who got burned by the format war, as well as casual users who hardly knew there was a format war in the first place. This year that little blue "b" is going to be everywhere, showing off proudly, while trying to convince everyone that it will be around longer than five years.

The UMPC Last year: Form factor has always been one of the biggest obstacles for mobile computing. Last year, it seemed like the UMPC might be taking hold. Many of them, like Samsung's Q1 Ultra and Fujitsu's Lifebook U series were awkward and, more importantly, very expensive. It was Asus, though that screwed everything up for fans of thumb typing. The original Eee PC showed up wearing only its Linux OS and $400 price tag making the idea of carrying around a $2,000 brick that was likely to choke on Windows Vista seem kind of silly. The dawn of the netbook age was upon us. Ths year: By now, almost every company that you'd expect to make a netbook has one and those who don't (like Sony) are expected to drop one during this year's show. You can still find UMPCs, but you're going to have to dig through a huge pile of Linux-toting, SSD-sporting lappies to get to them.