We present you the first installment of a major IT-Year Events - International trade fair CeBIT-2005, held annually in Hanover, Germany. Over the past few years computing world has changed dramatically. The industry experienced a rise, decline and stagnation. Desktop computers have reached a critical level of performance for which consumers lose interest in a permanent upgrade. Laptops are light, thin and powerful, the idea of burying the ersatz subnotebook with a truncated functionality. Mobile phones have experienced several revolutions. First, the population lucidly explained that a person without a mobile phone - it's not cool, then started SMS-brainwashing. Trace arrived, GPRS, multimedia services and Bluetooth. On the way UMTS, video phones, ultrawideband rival Bluetooth - UWB. The line between smartphones and "normal" phones are almost indistinguishable. Handhelds from an expensive toy almost turned into a mass commodity, but have been unable to attract the attention of the mass consumer, not allowing him to answer the question: "Why do I need this thing for $ 500?" As a result, some have degraded to the organizer of MP3-player, some merged in the ecstasy of mobile phones, and some found a completely new application to car navigation. Such authority and trendsetter of the past, like Sony, Casio, TRG and Handspring (not to mention the founder of mass PDAs - Psion and Apple), seems to be retired. Symbian (EPOC), driven by Nokia and Sony-Ericsson has become the leading global operating system for smartphones and communicators. Best and most popular former Palm OS, losing most of the major licensees, became a private affair of his parents (who are now for some reason two) and the risk of repeating the path MacOS second half of the 90's with an unclear ending. Microsoft - perhaps the only one who does not change the policy and moving forward in the usual style of the bulldozer. Behind him in tow rattles fan mowing machines, reapers and other snopovyazalok, collecting bountiful harvest eared buyer. Before you go to the delicious, let me one more remark. For several years before the exhibition site www.cebit.de can download the Mobile Fair Guide for Palm and Pocket PC. This visitor's guide with a list of exhibitors and pavilions schemes, program activities, etc. I downloaded both versions, with the option for the Palm OS was three times more compact than analogue for Windows Mobile. On Mitac Mio 168 program will simply not work (that is not enough memory, or something else, but after 20 minutes of unpacking standby database I interrupted the process resets). But on an old Palm Tungsten E Mobile Fair Guide has earned easily. So megabytes, megahertz, and all ultimately depends on the person.
What is CeBIT, and why there need to go
Each spring, the city of West Hanover, Lower Saxony attracts hundreds of thousands of people. From around the world on planes, trains and cars, they travel the world exhibition of information technologies and telecommunications - CeBIT (Center for Business and Information Technologies).
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Only at CeBIT can be in one place to see virtually every company that has something to offer the world market in computer electronics, communications and software. At the same time you can witness the supercomputer, the latest mobile phone with a 7-megapixel camera, clock radio, laptop thinner than PDAs, "Bugatti" with the navigation system, as well as to communicate with the developer of software that makes us work all this wealth, etc. etc. True, in one place - it's a little inaccurate. In 2005, the show took 27 huge pavilions Deutsche Messe AG (including one of the largest exhibition halls in the world - Halle 1). Rented exhibition area amounted to 309 thousand square meters. In any of these halls, you can probably put all of the domestic "Communication-Expocom" (about "Softuly" and other "Comtek" do not even speak).Participation in CeBIT 2005 were 6,270 exhibiting companies, saw the exhibit about 480 thousand visitors (accounted for, apparently, not all as there is the practice of buying a purse and resale of reusable tickets). About 140 thousand - foreign visitors. Everyone who comes to the exhibition - has its own task. Gloomy gamers at twilight to come off the stand ATI 3D simulators, arcade and futbolyalkah.
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Someone should. In the queue in tehsupport.
Someone is sitting. On the Internet.
Someone is lying. In this bed. Where is this lucky?
But most visitors come here to meet with colleagues, find new partners, establish contacts, learn people's opinions on issues of interest. Site www.messe.de given an eloquent statement of Michael Hsu, marketing manager of the company MiTAC: «Even before the mid-show, we met with all our business partners and distributors from different countries. Thus, the aim of the exhibition is made for us. " Finally, CeBIT can feel the pulse of the industry to understand the current state of the market and c decide what to do in the next year or two. But go to the exhibits, exhibiting and general mood of the exhibition.
Handhelds
Alas! What we already knew, once again confirmed. Classical CCP remained not so much, and their existence is far from success and idleness. Rather, it is a struggle for life. Bad? .. Judge: According to IDC, in 2004 the supply of CPC distribution channels totaled 9.2 million units, up 13% less than the previous year. Such a sharp decline due to withdrawal of Sony and Toshiba, as well as increased competition from smartphones. There was a strange situation: the CCP as it hovered in the air, deprived of their consumers. Business users prefer a smartphone with PIM, organizer and e-mail. For everything else, they have a laptop. Gamers will also turn away from the PDA receiving mobile console (from Sony and Nokia and ending nameless Chinese manufacturers) and mobile phones with Java-games. MP3-players, too, suddenly appeared everywhere, even in glasses, pens and toothbrushes. The situation could be even sadder if it were not appeared in time car navigation, but this - a little later. In the meantime, look for staff who have something to show. The most impressive exhibition of the CCP revealed on the stand of Microsoft - as a green avtomobilchiki Windows Mobile.
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He seemed to be driven in a translucent body three dozen diverse devaysov based on the eponymous OS: PDAs, smartphones, media players: HP, Fujitsu-Siemens, Samsung, T-Mobile, Motorola, Creative, iRiver, etc. Even in this collection of smart phones, communicators and media Soup beat many classic PDA.
Continuing the automotive theme, Microsoft set up the booth for the semi-column - "Filling by software for mobile devices. The people enthusiastically poking into touch screens.
HP's expected to demonstrate Communicator iPAQ hw6500. But they hid it well, and in my eyes, he never got caught. A look at what is - a square screen with an unusual for the Pocket PC resolution - 240x240.
Here he is, iPAQ 6500 Mobile Messenger, however, the photo is taken from the news from our site. With respect to other devices all have long and well known. Toshiba showed up at the stand still e830, but one, surrounded by cards. At the request of the show closer to me politely replied that "these computers are not sold, so the stand is not displayed.
But on the stand Toshiba had a lot of football. In one of his many corners of the few respectable friends recklessly drove a virtual ball on the big screen.
A little further you could kick it real leather analogue of completely realistic goal and get a prize after scoring a goal in one of the holes in the shield behind the gate.
Fujitsu-Siemens, true to himself, offers a full range of "professional computer products" - from PDAs to workstations. Near demonstrates server racks and racks of data storage. Stand in shades of green, solid. Perimeter decorated sand dunes.
There is even an elevator. But alas - no new products in our industry. It is interesting to look "pills» Stylistic.
The only pity is that it is difficult to come up with actual use, except the sitting-room Internet. According to IDC, in 2004 jointly by all manufacturers in the world could vparit consumer less than 1 million Tablet PC, for a total of less than 0.5% of total sales of computers in the world. Hopes pinned on these laptops keyboardless two or three years ago, vanished like smoke. Perhaps, Tablet PC come back (for example, in the guise of e-books - and why not), but it will not tomorrow. ASUS shows two attendants Pocket PC and Smartphone line MyPal P505. To them was allotted a disproportionate stand which looked pustovato. Feeling that they wanted to show something else, but at the last minute change of heart and filled the space with the same devices, if only the hole was not there.
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On the stand Sony could see that the terms "mobile computer" the corporation. From the perspective of Japanese developers, this is where full-featured notebook with a normal keyboard when folded is a bit thicker Palma:)
Hard to believe, yet he did not see. Although why it is difficult - it's a Sony. Mobile office, according to Sony - a laptop VAIO + Smartphone Sony-Ericsson. Nothing to argue. Nearby you can test your digital camera. To do this on the table is arranged genre scene from the microscopic figures.
- See what our cameras macro mode! Silk - get a photograph from the printer! Stand Acer was in the zone Reseller Planet. This is such a special zagonchik a high wall, which, according to the organizers, should not penetrate ordinary shoppers and other freeloader. What is the meaning of the Wall and the nepuschaniya "- I do not understand. Usually such "affiliate" zone is organized vertically, on the second floor of the large stendov.Govoryat, such a zone Reseller Planet is organized for the third year. Recently I had never been there. MIO Technology (European front-office Taiwanese company MiTAC) held a modest booth in the corner of Hall 2.
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Modest, if correlated with the resounding success of his little-known Taiwanese company by the European PDA market. Due to the extremely successful model, Mio 168, combining robust full-featured PDA and a GPS-receiver, the sale of MIO in the second half of 2004 grew to such an extent that allowed the company just a year after entering the market (January 2004) enter the top five major vendors of CPC Europe, the Middle East. Mio 168 - is that rare case when a small amount of money you can get a good navigational computer, plus a full-featured PDA with a standard operating system. Quality, reliability, design and attractive price MIO rated as practical, European consumers and many companies are focused on OEM-cooperation. According to its brand, this PDA sell Yakumo (Delta Navigator), Falk (MyGuide 3500), Medion (PPC 150) and others. In Russia, the MIO 168 is known by its original name, as well as Pocket Navigator PN-168, the company will offer "MakTsentr.
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Top - a clone from the bottom - original. Find the ten differences.
A few words to say about Casio. Everyone knows that the pioneer of the market (the first PDA on Windows CE 1.0 - Cassiopeia A-10, the first Palm-Size PC with a color screen Cassiopeia E-100), popular in our country PDA vendor (remember the bestsellers of all time Cassiopeia A- 11, Cassiopeia E-125 and the latest hit - Cassiopeia BE-300) took, and gave up two years ago. But! Refusing to sell PDAs to ordinary users, Casio, however, retains the line industrial terminals, among which there are very nice designs, made in the traditional for this vendor "design of brick."
Who remembers how it all started, he will appreciate. Casio IT-10 - neubivaemy, moisture-and dust-proof, with the processor PXA270 (416 MHz) running Windows Mobile 2003 SE, with a transflective screen under a thick glass in a metal casing, CF, SD, MMC, SDIO, BT, Wi- Fi on board - in short, an ideal "Cassiopeia".
The rest of Casio now - it's digital cameras, electronic dictionaries level notebooks, watches and stuff like that ...
Communications
Capital developments CeBIT 2005 in communications have become, without doubt, two: presentation of the spectrum of devices that support wireless broadband UMTS (aka: 3G, it is the same: 3GSM) and heightened interest in the Voice IP. About the UMTS conversations were already a few years. Incredible data transfer speed, video telephony, interactive TV on mobile phones ... In the opinion of the German operators, the development of UMTS was to do three things: service in the form of high-speed Internet for business users with laptops, there are more mobile terminals - smartphones and communicators, also targeted at the corporate client. Only in the third stage the price of services and equipment is reduced, and it begins to connect the mass subscriber. In February 2004, Vodafone became the first German UMTS-operator, releasing the first adapter Mobile Connect Card UMTS in the format of PCMCIA. It was followed by T-Mobile with the same adapter.
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Interest in the topic is great. Over the past year the number of subscribers of Vodafone UMTS-grown to 100 thousand, and this despite the fact that the user devices in the smartphone form factor is almost not there. CeBIT came just at the beginning of the second phase of the life cycle of the standard. Several vendors offered their UMTS-handset. Nokia began shipping the smartphone-6680 videophone on Symbian OS with two video cameras. Sony-Ericsson Z800 and prepared a model K600, Motorola - A1000. East also does not sleep: NEC introduced the model 338, Samsung has up its sleeve already three clamshell-perevertushki »: SGH-Z500 (at the request of Samsung,« is the smallest UMTS-phone in the world »), SGH-Z300, SGH-Z130 (at photo - top-down).
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| Samsung SGH-Z500 |
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| Samsung SGH-Z300 |
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| Samsung SGH-Z130 |
"Supplier of the courtyard of their Majesties Carrier» HTC developed the concept of Universal, which Vodafon and T-Mobile readily demonstrated under the brands of VPA IV and MDA IV, respectively (as the original, however).
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| Vodafon VPA IV - the first VGA-communicator |
Universal unfolds like a laptop keyboard is QWERTY, rotating display and two cameras, supports GSM, UMTS, Wi-Fi, BT, working under the direction of Windows Mobile, is equipped with all kinds of multimedia software, and clearly aims to compete with the Nokia Communicator 9300/9500. To the state of the commercial product concept dorastet to fly, while the stands CeBITa demonstrate the engineering models.
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| Vodafon VPA IV and the Palm Tungsten E |
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| Vodafon VPA IV and the Palm Tungsten E (cverhu) |
German (more precisely, the already world), giant Deutsche Telecom (better known under our brand name T-Mobile) in 2004 increased the sales of smartphones and communicators under its own brand (mainly MDA II / III and the RIM BlackBerry) in 2,5 times, having sold 210 thousand pieces. In the coming year, plans to sell no less than 500 thousand pieces, which range smart phone, T-Mobile is greatly extended: already sold the new BlackBerry 7100 and 7290, on the approach communicator MDA IV, Smartphone SDA II and SDA II Music (all based on Windows Mobile) , internet device Sidekick II. Now completes the set of UMTS-phones known vendors, as mentioned above. In addition to UMTS, Deutsche Telecom plans to further develop a network of hot spots (points of access to the Internet via Wi-Fi). In late 2004, under the wing of an operator in Germany was already 10 thousand such points by the end of this year, their number should double. With regard to VoIP, it is only at first glance it is not related to smartphones. But the introduction of affordable broadband data transmission channels (such as UMTS) very soon mobile calls via the Internet will become extremely popular, just as the now popular long-distance calls on IP-telephone cards. "Large" Operators realize this and reluctantly beginning to respond. Now the most interesting devices for communication (communicators and smartphones), which managed to find at the show.
palmOne. No going back?
PalmOne booth was hard to find. Guide led me to a tent house next to the pavilion 26. Went nasty autumn rain. Is no place inside? But duty - above all else. Shivering, I reached the semi-dark house, and began to harass an employee with a strange question something to show and tell. They are a little surprised and explained that the main stand palmOne is still inside the pavilion, where I went gladly.
That's what the conversation was held me with the employees of the exposure of ex-leader of the PDA industry.
- Tell me why I should buy a Palm? Everywhere around the Pocket PC.
- Why? Because it's Palm. (Thought to himself: a clear nostalgia for the end of 90 years - buy Macs because it's Mac. Hardly reassures).
- Well, after all? Why?
- Stable operating system that runs faster ... (Well, it's better, the more that I myself use Palm, but still not convincing).
- And when there will be more stable system? Sixth, that is? A seventh, on Linux?
- I can not say. While we have 5.4.
- And as far as the battery in the new Treo?
- It's hard to say. It is this we will charge at the beginning of the first day of the exhibition. (Now 17.30 the second day of the exhibition. Excellent result, if true.)
- Is it possible to hold the Treo in the hands of ...?
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| palmOne Treo 600 (left) and Treo 650 |
The "new" model of the Treo 650 is different from the 600-th predecessor of the updated exterior, an expanded set of buttons (which acquired a more convenient form, and lighting) and a much better screen. For the quality of the screen I generally would put modern Palma solid top five. And anyway, for my taste, the device has turned out very stylish and beautiful. I even thought, is not whether to do an upgrade of its TE. But here is shining a Treo place under the European sun? Not sure. German (ie, the largest European) operators do not offer solutions based on Palm OS to its customers. And suppose that the mass European subscribers will buy the smart phone for 400-500 euros separately from the contract without the operator's discounts - at least, naive. Fans, of course, there are, but they will be a minority.
RIM BlackBerry: less is better
Canadian firm Research in Motion, a couple of years ago, a rare visitor in Europe today has become one of the dominant suppliers of hardware and software into the smartphone market. As you probably know, the competitive advantage of devices RIM BlackBerry (passed from the pager to a multi-standard communicator) is a simple but very effective work with corporate systems such as Lotus Notes, Exchange Server, etc. In fact, any company that uses such a server for managing contacts, actions and correspondence, can distribute BlackBerry as a mobile client with its own staff instead of a regular mobile phone. Advantages of such solutions are obvious: the device is simple, inexpensive (with a contract it can be bought for 80 euros) and does not imply "left" of the software (ie, employee will not put on him to stick with toys and silly questions and glitches to the sysadmin). Very interestingly arranged keyboard telefonopodobnyh BlackBerry. This - an interim solution between a digital mobile phone keyboard and the usual keyboard QWERTY. On each key is 2 letters and additional symbols introduced with preliminary pressing Shift. Letters are entered, or single / double clicking, or similar systems T9.
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| Tungsten E and the BlackBerry 7100v from Italian operator TIM |
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| Tungsten E and the BlackBerry 7100t from German T-Mobile |
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| Tungsten E and the BlackBerry 7290 from O2 UK |
On the stand RIM took an interesting conversation. At first I tried to explain to a nice girl, speak perfect English, which is Cyrillic. She could not believe that in Europe there are countries that write the words some other flourishes. Fortunately, I remembered lying in the pocket Mio 168 and proudly showed her colorful Russified keyboard. Amazement, it was not a limit.
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The second part of the conversation, which was attended by a manager from RIM, has been reduced to the topic: "Why do not you try to sell the BlackBerry in Russia?". - And we tried. Even some operators have signed agreements with. Yes, with Beeline and MTS, it seems. The problems began at the stage of certification. You do not acknowledge the European certificates and be certified in Russia is problematic (I nodded). Your small firms, of course, may carry and sell without a major certification, but do not want to mess with. And our business is built on sales through the operators or on very close cooperation with them. After all, we sell service. Girl with perfect English, pulling from his pocket a BlackBerry, with astonishment asked: - And what if I come to Russia, I have taken away my BlackBerry? Because they can not use it? Here we are two voices began to explain to her that does not take away that, for any employee of any Russian authorities - an ordinary cell phone, which, thank God, have a paper with a seal for several years as not necessary. - By the way, if you come with the BlackBerry to Russia, all of the services it should work. Roaming agreements there. But now it turns out quite expensive. I've noticed that talking on the phone abroad - even more expensive, but in Russia it does not stop anyone. I'd add that the Soup RIM is very, how shall I say, handy. That is handy in all, ranging from the "landing" in the hand and ending with the menus and control apparatus. Not surprisingly, they have become so popular.
Samsung: "Yes, a little more, the doctor, more ..."
Prolific Samsung shows a whole heap of new hardware: GPS-receiver with an accelerometer and a compass, a video camera with hard disk drives, satellite minitelevizor, mnogomillionopikselnye cameras, media players, etc. In addition, each of these marvels of technology has a keyboard and for some reason called the telephone. An interesting technical innovations - the use of memory cards TransFlash and finally, it seems, the orientation of Samsung's Windows Mobile. With the latter a funny situation. I have a few minutes racked up phone SGH-i300 (more precisely, the camcorder media player with a 3-gigabyte HDD and access to television), unsuccessfully trying to leave the Samsung Media Player application and go to system information. To remove the battery in front of the stand staff I did not want, but without it does not work. After going through all the options that come to mind, I prayed for help.A black employee of Samsung told me that these phones will be a new version of firmware (the Second version, as he called it. Maybe it's Windows Mobile 2005?), And by agreement with Microsoft, they can not show us anything from this new version. Samsung Media Pleer like as is their own crafts, and so his show. But you can not get out of it, even "dangerous" in this regard, the hardware buttons covered with caps and are not pressed.
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| Tot is the Samsung SGH-i300 with a 3-gigabyte HDD! .. |
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| Built-in "digit" resolution of 1.3 megapixels |
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| Samsung SGH-i300 and combat Tungsten E (from bottom) |
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| An interesting technical innovation model - using a memory card TransFlash |
Here are a few fun devices with stand Samsung. CHS-B100. Satellite TV with DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting). Actually, the transmission of TV programs on mobile networks already operating in Southeast Asia, but now it turns out quite expensive for subscribers. Watch a football match on the mobile phone in South Korea would cost about $ 250.
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| CHS-B100 - cпутниковый TV:) |
DMB idea is to run a satellite, transmitting up to 40 TV programs, taken a special chip in the mobile phone. This will allow the switch from hourly billing to the normal subscription fee. CPH-5400. Portable video camera with a 1.5 gigabyte disk and exit to the TV. Can record in MPEG4 and many more in that. It, too, for some reason, embedded phone.
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| CPH-5400 - a portable video camera with built-in phone |
Nokia and Symbian: "Our locomotive, forward fly!"
Symbian in the best of mates compensates for scrap from South-East Asia in the sector of low-cost handsets.
In 2004, concern Symbian, driven by Nokia (she is undoubtedly the leading position and has a major influence on the development platform), sold about 14.4 million smartphones, winning more than half of the market and is far ahead of closest rivals - PalmSource and Microsoft. Enthusiasts can for the interest to compare this figure with the sales of PDAs at the beginning of this article. Now the world is sold around 200 models of different devices on the platform of Symbian, a significant proportion of which are the smart phones and communicators Nokia. Guess which platform works UMTS-smartphone Sony-Ericsson, Motorola (I'm not talking about Nokia).
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| Nokia 6680 |
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| Sony-Ericsson Z800 |
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| Sony-Ericsson K600 |
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| Motorola A1000 |
Nokia on the stand could be seen a few novelties, but for me the greatest interest was 9300 Communicator. This - the development of the legendary 9210, the founder of platform Symbian.
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| Nokia Communicator 9300 |
Now, inside the communicator Symbian 7.0 (all 7 more ...), GUI Series 80, 80 MB of internal memory, EGPRS (EDGE), Bluetooth, USB 2.0, and everything else that put modern communicators in business class. Of course, comfortable QWERTY keyboard and large, bright display in their places. From Communicator 9500 to differ mainly the lack of camera and Wi-Fi. But the apparent lack of functionality is compensated by ease and smaller sizes 9300 - it weighs only 167 grams. If I chose the device, it would give preference to 9300.
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| Nokia Communicator 9500 |
Faces 9500 and 9300 virtually the same (in Germany you can buy them at an average price of about EUR 600 - without connecting, and in Russia about $ 740 and $ 680 respec-tively).In general, all new Nokia, Sony-Ericsson and Symbian in general quickly reach the shops, where you can see them, touch and even buy the property. To be continued ... The authors, translation:
Johannes Fuchs
