According to the San Francisco Chronicle, lately showing signs of losing quality reporters in cutback after cutback, CES 2010 is “bouncing back,” after significant year over year declines in both foot traffic and exhibitors. Oddly, the article states that attendance continues to drop, which is not signs of a bounce, but perhaps a sign of the continuing decline of lookie-loo traffic that was there to see and not to do business.

While the number of exhibitors is unclear, a record number of new exhibitors will be at the show, evidence that during the recession, many companies quietly continued to innovate. From what I can see, this innovation has been focused on mobile technology and various display technologies, ranging from touch sensitive to 3D, and a lot of media interest is on tablets and e-readers, which really are mobile devices on steroids, not a new class of devices.

While I am excited to see so many new companies at CES, I remain concerned about the reality distortion field effect, that too many companies will be promoting products or features that are either far too early for market or have no real world consumer interest, now or later. What I hope to hear are companies engaging in dialogs, together, about what the industry can do to shape consumer adoption of new technologies, rather than fighting over meaningless standards or through promoting unneeded features.

Eternally optimistic, I’m packing my bags and heading out soon.

[Note: I will be continuing my series of podcasts of entrepreneurs when at CES, with an emphasis on European entrepreneurs. If you would like to be interviewed about your experiences, and have your product or services reviewed here on SiliconANGLE, please contact me at idarose@siliconvalleylink.com ASAP, and we will meet up.]