Gathering 140,000 people across 1.8 million square feet in Las Vegas, CES . This year, the largest conference of the technology industry was punctuated by the ending of an era as Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates gave his 11th and final CES keynote speech and ushered in what he called the next digital decade, as technology becomes more user-friendly, personal and ubiquitous.

"What ends up happening is the scenario gets bigger so it always feels like there's more to do," said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division. "It's a moving target. As technology becomes better and you open up new opportunities, new scenarios appear."

As usual, gadgets got smaller and adopted more interactive features. Flat-screen televisions became thinner and bigger, with Panasonic taking home the prize for its 150-inch screen. Some TV sets started connecting to the Internet, at least in part, to supply information and entertainment from the Web.

Apple's presence was felt even though the company does not appear at the show. Following in the footsteps of the iPhone, unveiled at this time last year at Macworld, manufacturers displayed an assortment of Internet-enabled mobile devices.

There was a lot of talk about green technology and adopting green practices, but it was mostly just that - talk. A tiny, hidden corner was carved out on the show floor to showcase sustainable technology, but it amounted to not much more than a few booths.

Voltaic promoted its solar bags, including a new one with a solar panel that produces enough wattage to charge a laptop from a day of direct sunlight. Horizon and Millennium Cell demonstrated a water-activated power generator that could take the place of a traditional battery backup generator. And Dell encouraged attendees to brainstorm the meaning of green on a glass whiteboard. One of the frequent comments scribbled down? That being green equals money.

Many of the major consumer electronics companies did pledge to be more environmentally friendly, including Hewlett-Packard, which announced it would reduce the energy consumption of desktop and notebook PCs by 25 percent by 2010.

Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba said they are forming the Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Co., which will manage the companies' recycling efforts. The company also will handle future collection and recycling for Hitachi, JVC, Mitsubishi, Philips, Pioneer, Sanyo and Olevia.

Intel showed off its latest chip, Silverthorne, which will require a tenth of the power of existing chips. Marvell also demonstrated a power factor correction controller that will decrease energy use in laptop power adapters and desktop power supplies by up to 50 percent.

Dell said it is evaluating how to cut back on waste and be more Earth-friendly during the entire life of a product, from its conception to disposal by the customer.

"We hate the nine-month life cycle," said Ed Boyd, vice president of design for consumer products for Dell. "If we do a great design, it will last a long time."

And Fujitsu exhibited a laptop made from corn. That is, it's an ordinary computer with a casing made in part from plant-based plastics.

CES highlighted how being green could become a strategy for consumer electronics companies to stand out from the crowd.

"At a certain point, we've hit the largest screens we can hit. We've hit the largest resolutions we can hit," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director for Jupiter Research. "People need some differentiation."

Another trend was the drive to create more natural gesture-based interfaces and controls. 3DV Systems, an Israeli company, showed off a new depth-sensing camera that allows people to play games or navigate menus through body movements and hand gestures.

"We think it's the next step," said Zvika Klier, CEO of 3DV Systems. "This takes an immersive experience further."

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Sony demonstrated the Z555 Sony Ericsson mobile phone, which lets users silence calls or turn off an alarm by simply waving a hand over the phone. Panasonic showed off a Life Wall, a huge wall-size screen that allows people to control the screen, interact with it and customize it by using hand motions. And Gates highlighted Microsoft's touch-screen tabletop computer, Microsoft Surface, during his speech.

In the format war for next-generation high-definition DVD players, people at the show also talked about the fallout from Warner Bros. Entertainment's decision last week to exclusively support Sony's Blu-ray next-generation DVD standard later this year.

It took the wind out of the sails of the rival HD DVD camp, especially for Toshiba, which has led the HD DVD charge. But while many predicted this was the beginning of the end of the format war, Toshiba and other HD DVD manufacturing partners said they will continue to make HD DVD players.