CeBIT America, Part 2: A Tour Of The Show Floor [Archive]

Janak Parekh

07-14-2003, 08:00 PM

Note to self: make sure never to start an article series the week before Pocket PC 2003 launches and two weeks before subscriber services launch. :lol: Sorry for the delay, but I've included almost 40 pictures over three pages in this second installment of the CeBIT America report, so hopefully that'll make up for it somewhat. ;) Let the eye candy begin! <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/Keynote-Stage.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/Keynote-Stage.jpg" /></a><!> This is what the CeBIT keynote stage looked like. Those hardcore lava lamps were shifting around. A very neat effect. An Administrative Note... In case you're curious, we (that is, my colleague <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=4625">Suhit Gupta</a> and myself) took these pictures with two cameras: a fairly pedestrian <a href="http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/s230/index.html">Canon PowerShot S230</a> (which I used) and a seriously powerful <a href="http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/EOS10D/">Canon EOS 10D</a> (which Suhit is the very happy owner of). The S230 is a very decent three megapixel camera with macro mode, 2X zoom, but there is no comparing the superpower that the 10D represents. It's seven megapixel digital SLR, supports standard EF mount lenses, has insane battery life, and the manual takes about a week to read :lol: If you want to see what it's truly capable of, check out these hi-res shots of the <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/big/IMG_0222.JPG">Treo 600</a> and a <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/big/IMG_0251.JPG">NTT DoCoMo next-gen phone</a>. (The Treo 600 was in a glass case, which made it a bit more complicated to shoot.) You've been warned -- the files are huge and break some browsers' image-scaling routines! Most of the other images are scaled-down to 1280x1024 (click on the thumbnails to see the full pictures). Thoughts On The Floor As I mentioned in <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,13758">Part 1</a>, CeBIT was not heavily attended, and we were able to do a more-or-less full traversal of the floor in a few hours. If you've been never to Javits, it has an <a href="http://www.javitscenter.com/content/managers/floor/main.htm">utterly bizarre and asymmetric layout</a>. There are four parts to the main convention floor (level three), and I'd estimate that CeBIT took up about 60-70% of the entire third floor. The rest was just curtained away. It's a bit sad, as I remember the good old PC Expo days when the floor was completely filled to the edges. (We'll see what happens in <a href="http://www.javitscenter.com/content/managers/floor/main.htm">PC Expo</a> this fall, but that's a different story for another time.) Productwise, CeBIT closely mirrors PC Expo: business-oriented technology solutions. About 30-40% of the booths have "interesting" technology items; many of the others are hawking software of various shapes and sizes. It's worth mentioning that Pocket PCs were virtually invisible in the show; if anything, it felt to me like Microsoft deliberately snubbed CeBIT by announcing Windows Mobile 2003 the week after instead of right at CeBIT, which might have given it more media coverage and made a nice counterpoint to David Nagel's PalmSource keynote. As a result, I have a few pictures of Pocket PCs (in particular, the new Hitachi Pocket PC Phone), but that's about it. However, I had the opportunity to interview Mike Wehrs, Director of Standards for MS's Mobility Division, which will make up part three of this feature, so at least I didn't walk out completely empty-handed Pocket PC-wise. :) Anyway, enough descriptions... on to the pictures! Phones! Mobile phone solutions are absolutely one of the hottest market industries right now, and it was therefore not all that surprising to see several booths hawking wireless technologies. We stopped in two in particular: the Sprint booth and the NTT DoCoMo booth. Sprint PCS <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/Sprint-phone-comparison.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/Sprint-phone-comparison.jpg" /></a> Sprint's prime PDA phone lineup. From left to right, the Samsung SPH-i500, the Handspring Treo 270, and the new Hitachi G1000. The Toshiba 2032 and Samsung N400 are to the left. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/Sprint-phone-comparison-2.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/Sprint-phone-comparison-2.jpg" /></a> A closer view of the Sprint PDA phones. The Hitachi G1000 is a large device, no doubt about it -- and, despite how it looks, I didn't see a screen cover of any sort on it. However, it feels pretty nice in the hand, is surprisingly light given the size, and can be pocketed as long as you have a totally empty pocket -- and the idea of having an all-in-one device is tempting. Unfortunately, I lamely forgot to take a picture of the unit on (they had pulled the unit out from under the desk at the last minute), but the screen looked like standard transflective fare. On the other extreme, the Samsung i500 Palm OS phone is small. It is very, very small. It is really close to the size of a Motorola StarTAC. While it won't satisfy my needs (a 160x160 display, no expansion or multimedia of any kind), I could easily see this become a mass-market PDA phone. I would love to see flip Pocket PC Phones, perhaps with a slightly smaller screen -- I think that's currently a missed opportunity, although the <a href="http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?id=186">Samsung SCH-i600 Smartphone</a> might be a worthy competitor, and perhaps more durable as well. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/Samsung-SPHi500.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/Samsung-SPHi500.jpg" /></a> The SPH-i500 in my hand. It is extremely comfortable and light. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/Sprint-phone-comparison-3.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/Sprint-phone-comparison-3.jpg" /></a> At the Palm booth, they had the SPH-i500 next to the Kyocera 7135. No size contest here! NTT DoCoMo And then, there was the NTT DoCoMo booth. Gaudy-colored in bright green... with phones to match. It's clear why they're so far ahead of us -- their phones are insane. Too bad none of them will work here, yet :cry: <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/NTT-DoCoMo-1.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/NTT-DoCoMo-1.jpg" /></a> Japanese phones are heavy on the twist; and this one has a digital camera in the spindle. I believe Samsung is developing some twist phones, but they're still rare in the US. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/NTT-DoCoMo-2.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/NTT-DoCoMo-2.jpg" /></a> This sleek phone... <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/NTT-DoCoMo-2a.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/NTT-DoCoMo-2a.jpg" /></a> ...rotates down to a very compact PDA shape. I love this form factor. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/NTT-DoCoMo-3.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/NTT-DoCoMo-3.jpg" /></a> This phone has a huge screen... <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/NTT-DoCoMo-3a.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/NTT-DoCoMo-3a.jpg" /></a> ...and yet, it flips down into such a compact size. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/NTT-DoCoMo-4.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/NTT-DoCoMo-4.jpg" /></a> This is better known as the drool display. :lol: <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/NTT-DoCoMo-5.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/NTT-DoCoMo-5.jpg" /></a> Check out the FOMA SH2101V. Since the device itself is very HPC-like and would be awkward to talk on, they bundle a very sleek Bluetooth headset that works with the device -- complete with a display and control so you don't have to whip out the main device. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/NTT-DoCoMo-6.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/NTT-DoCoMo-6.jpg" /></a> The Sigmarion III CE .Net wireless device, which we <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11602">recently mentioned</a>. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/NTT-DoCoMo-6a.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2003-2/small/NTT-DoCoMo-6a.jpg" /></a> A closer look at its specs, in case you're curious. But wait! We're not finished! <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,14876">Continue on to the next page...</a>