LAS VEGAS -- Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer will give his CES keynote at 6:30 p.m. today. I will be livetweeting the speech, which will be in the Hilton Theater. To hear the latest, check out my tweets in the upper right corner of this blog or follow me at www.twitter.com/sharonpianchan. Reply with your reaction if the mood strikes you.

Ballmer is expected to talk about Microsoft's consumer strategy for the year, including possible announcements about Xbox, Natal and how Windows 7 fits in.

The New York Times Bits blog reported last night he will show off a new tablet PC in his speech. Some speculation is that it could be a project called Courier, which has two touchscreens instead of a keyboard and a touchscreen. But Kara Swisher at AllThingsD is reporting this morning that Ballmer will say nothing of the sort, and everyone is swimming in unnamed sources. Microsoft itself is not commenting.

Rowr! Catfight!

Either way, I am buying NYT writer Ashlee Vance a big fat drink if I find him in the sea of humanity here at CES.