First, apologies for not live-blogging Ballmer's speech; my laptop experienced the always-dreaded "technical difficulties" that basically turned it into a glorified word processor for much of the Microsoft CEO's keynote address to Consumer Electronics Show attendees. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I was using my 2-year-old MacBook running Mac OS X 10.5.8, and I'm not sure why its wireless decided to temporarily brick--maybe the fact that a couple thousand wireless devices were also operating within 100 feet of me.)

Speaking of Apple, I joked in my previous blog post that Ballmer could very well take the stage dressed in sneakers and a black turtleneck, Steve Jobs-style, if he planned on announcing a much-rumored Microsoft tablet PC. After all, January's big tablet-related announcement was supposed to be Apple's "iSlate," or "iTablet," or "iBrick" or whatever the blogosphere has decided to call that much-rumored piece of vaporware today; for Microsoft to announce such a device weeks ahead of Apple would smack of deliberate one-upmanship.

Indeed, in the hours before the keynote address, New York Times blogger Ashlee Vance reported based on unnamed sources that "Mr. Ballmer will show the as-yet-unnamed [Hewlett-Packard] device, which will be touted as a multimedia whiz with e-reader and multitouch functions."

But first, Microsoft had to deal with a power outage. After several torturous minutes of flickering lights, rebooting stage computers and thoroughly annoying pop music from the overhead speakers, Ballmer stepped onstage in a bright red sweater.

Ballmer first seemed duty-bound to run through Microsoft's history in 2009, focusing in particular on the launches of Bing and Windows 7. Every time he mentioned the words "HP," though, the audience seemed to shift a little in its seat.

Then, near the end of the presentation, Ballmer finally revealed the HP tablet PC. With its featureless face and white border, the device actually reminded me most of an e-reader, especially since Microsoft had set the screen to display the cover of the novel "Twilight." (The less I say about that particular work of "literature," the better, because I have no urge to be beaten to a pulp by tearful 13-year-old girls.)

Ballmer described the device as "portable as a phone, but powerful as a PC running Windows 7," and suggested that it would be able to not only display e-books, but also access the Web and display video. He declined to offer the device's name or its price point.

In truth, the audience seemed a bit underwhelmed. The tablet may be a kind-of-interesting sideshow (based on conversations I've had, it seems that everyone thinks they're mildly fascinating, but nobody seems willing yet to shell out the cash for one), but Microsoft's true fortunes for 2010 and beyond are riding on a wide variety of other products.

Bing was mentioned; and Yahoo-Microsoft search and advertising agreement or not, Microsoft needs it to keep gaining market share in 2010 if it wants even a remote chance against Google. Mobile 7 was not mentioned, although Microsoft needs it to be a game-changer if it wants to stay viable in the mobile operating system space (and not resort to doing something possibly ill-advised, such as purchasing Palm). Windows 7 was widely touted, and its early sales numbers are good, but Microsoft has previously acknowledged that the operating system's ultimate success will be largely dependent on whether PC sales pick up in the aftermath of the recession.

Those issues are truly important for those who watch Microsoft. Tablets may be one of the hot discussion topics at CES, but they also seem a novelty in light of those weightier issues.