(CNN) -- Like a stereotypical beauty pageant, it looks like thin will be in at the world's largest annual gadget convention next week in Las Vegas. At the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show, computer makers will be pushing a new breed of ultra-thin, ultra-light laptops amid a sea of razor-thin smartphones and tablets. Last year, 140,000 people in the technology industry convened at the Las Vegas Convention Center to mingle and gawk at cutting-edge hardware. The organizers expect to welcome at least that many people next week. Electronics makers use CES as a platform to show the types of products they plan to release in the coming year. The compact disc player, high-definition television and Blu-ray each debuted at past conventions. Decades since its formation, the yearly six-day event is a spectacle.
@highlight
The Consumer Electronics Show brings a slew of new gadgets
@highlight
Tablets running Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows 8 will debut
@highlight
Ultrabooks, a new type of thinner laptop, are expected to make a splash
@highlight
But some of the largest players in the consumer electronics industry are shunning CES
And Microsoft, which will deliver its 14th @placeholder presentation Monday, announced recently it will not have a booth or participate in the keynotes after this year's event.
Not to get left out of the party it started about a decade ago, @placeholder is stepping up its tablet efforts.