Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sports a new look at CES

The Consumer Electronics Show is all about the flash, form, and function of electronics for our near future. Personal style took center stage with a new look from Microsoft’s CEO.

Steve Ballmer is now sporting a clean-shaven head, looking a little like Amazon.com’s CEO Jeff Bezos.

Ballmer made a surprise appearance at CES, reporting that the number of applications for new Windows tablets has increased fivefold since late October.

He was at the Qualcomm keynote highlighting Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and new capabilities such as Xbox SmartGlass which lets users control their TVs with Windows Phones and the Surface tablet.

The buzz of CES, which began in 1967, is TVs. Big TVs.

LG is unveiling a 55-inch TV that sports “ultrahigh-definition” resolution with more than 8 million pixels, kicking off what is likely to be a mini-obsession with the latest super-clear format at the International CES gadget show in Las Vegas.

The model announced Monday is the smallest in a lineup that includes 65-inch and 84-inch versions. But the smaller size – and likely smaller price tag – begins the parade of TV makers that are seeking to bring ultra-HD to the masses.

For a few years, there won’t likely be a mainstream standard for getting native ultra-HD movies and TV shows to the screen either by disc or broadcast. But the Korean electronics maker says it has upscaling technology that takes images of lesser quality and renders them in high detail.

By LINDA THOMAS

AP contributed to this report