Microsoft downplays its CES 2014 participation

On Wednesday, Gary Shapiro, the president of the Consumer Electronics Association trade group that owns the Consumer Electronics Show, seemed to suggest that Microsoft was making a big "return" to the trade show with the 2014 edition in January. He was quoted as saying that Microsoft was " ... taking out significant space in meeting rooms - it's actually a larger presence than I believe they have ever had."

Now it appears that Microsoft is trying to downplay its CES 2014 presence. The Verge reported they received a statement from the company saying, "We remain good partners with CEA, and as we did last year [January 2013] have reserved a substantial set of rooms for meetings with partners." The report adds that while Microsoft is perhaps reserving more meeting rooms than it did in January, it still won't have a keynote address of its own, nor will it have an exhibit booth on the show floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Still, Microsoft will likely have some things to show off to partners and members of the press in its meeting rooms, including possibly new smaller versions of its Surface tablets along with an LTE version of the Surface 2.

Source: The Verge | Image via CEA