CES 2012 marked the first time I had ever gone to a trade show of any kind. Having watched coverage of the show as an Android fan for the last few years I didn’t quite know what to expect for Windows Phone. I knew there was no way anyone could match the amount of Android handsets that would be present at CES, but I was confident that this show would be big for Windows Phone. For the most part I was not disappointed.

The first big event for Windows Phone was the AT&T conference. But since this was our first event and we were a little disorganized we missed it. As you now know the HTC Titan II was announced at that event, and it’s a shame that we weren’t there because we never could find a Titan II the rest of the week.

The next, and what we considered most important, event was the Nokia press conference. The event was scheduled for 3pm, and yours truly was among the first to line up almost 2 hours before hand. Of all the events we attended at CES the Nokia conference was the most star studded. We saw members of all the prominent tech websites, even Android websites, waiting in line. It was awesome to see so much anticipation for Nokia and Windows Phone. Once we got in we sat right up front and waited for the announcement of the Lumia 900. Of course once it was announced our WiFi connection crapped out and we ended up being late to the party with the article. Live and learn, right?

Later that day we were lucky enough to get hands-on video of the Lumia 900 at Pepcom at the MGM Grand. We also learned afterwards that the Titan II was at Pepcom. D’oh!

On that same day we attended the Microsoft keynote. Ballmer and Ryan Seacrest chatted about Windows Phone, Ultrabooks, Windows 8, and it was all capped off by a choir singing Tweets. I can’t make that up. The keynote was fun and entertaining, but ultimately nothing new came from it.

The rest of the week we were on the show floor, mainly the Microsoft and Nokia booths. Microsoft had a nice big section of Windows Phones that included the Acer Allegro and ZTE Tania which we got hands-on videos with. The Nokia booth was filled with Lumia 710’s, 800’s, and a few people were showing off Lumia 900’s. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to touch the 900, but we did get some nice pictures of the device. Nokia also had some delicious square lollipops at their booth which we, um, tested for you guys. They were good.

It really wasn’t too hard to stay on top of the Windows Phone news at CES. It definitly wasn’t the choas that I was used to from Android, but that’s a good thing. Instead of seeing dozens of crappy knockoffs we got to see a few really high quality devices. Many people are even claiming the Lumia 900 as “best of show.” This was a great CES for a first timer like me, and also great for Microsoft and Windows Phone.