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.
