Gadgets on parade at CeBit

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In the storage sector, the Blu-Ray group will hold a press conference in which it will probably announce details of new drives, and possibly alliances with media companies too. You can count on seeing something similar from the HD-DVD camp, as well. At the high end, Hitachi Data Systems will be demonstrating storage virtualization, while Plasmon will have new archiving and RAID products on display.

Regular visitors to the Hannover show will tell you that prototype fuel cells have been a staple item on the CeBit menu for many, many years. The mantra is always the same: "Commercial deployment is about two years away." This year, though, may be different. The word from Hannover is that Antig Technology and AVC will be showing a "production-ready fuel-cell unit for notebooks." Exactly what counts as "production-ready" is open to question, but there are whispers that some Taiwanese manufacturers are planning to use this technology in commercial notebooks later this year. Again, we'll know more once we've had a chance to get our hands on the device.

Mobility is also generally a central theme at CeBit. The area devoted to the mobile industry has steadily grown over the last few years, and several big product launches are expected this year.

Fujitsi-Siemens should launch a 3G smart phone, the Pocket Loox T Pocket PC, which will run on Windows Mobile.

As well as Microsoft's Origami, Samsung is expected to have several mobile devices on display at CeBit. This will include the SGH-i310, which is a phone with an 8GB hard drive, and the SPH-B1300, a clamshell phone that can be flipped two different ways for portrait or landscape viewing.

Toshiba is expected to exhibit some new phones. At the moment, it only offers a small selection of low-spec phones in Europe, but some insiders have speculated that it could announce a move into high-end smart phones.

Radio-frequency tagging will also be featured at CeBit. The Metro Group Future Store Initiative will be demonstrating the use of RFID tags in commerce, logistics, the leisure industry and private households. But there are also privacy and civil liberty implications surrounding RFID tagging, which will be addressed by European Commission Commissioner Viviane Reding. Reding plans to hold a press conference on Thursday morning on "The revolution of RFID--challenges and options for action."

The automotive industry has a track record of using the CeBit show to show off its latest innovations. This year, BMW will be demonstrating a new in-car navigation system that transmits a map straight to a driver's phone, and TomTom is expected to launch an enterprise version of its GPS (Global Positioning System) product.

Lighter side of CeBit
CeBit also has its lighter side, and there should be an array of concept devices and gadgets on display. This will include a gold-plated, diamond-encrusted USB memory stick costing around $3,500. White Lake, the maker of the extravagant thumb drive, hasn't yet revealed the device's capacity, but we do know that the exterior will be made of 14-carat gold and have five polished diamonds.

With the World Cyber Games 2006 Euro Championship also kicking off in Hannover on Thursday, CeBit really will have something to offer everyone. It's still the world's largest IT show, and it's the place to watch this week if you want a good understanding of the direction the technology world will take in 2006 and beyond. Keep checking back this week to see all the top news and previews.

Graeme Wearden of ZDNet UK reported from London.

[MikeEvans]

Preview the cool new phones at CeBIT 2006

There seems to be a mixed bag of mobile phone news prior to CeBIT. Samsung will display the SGH-310, a mobile phone with an 8 Gigabyte hard disk capable fo storing 2,000 tunes; Giga-Byte will show off a series of flashy Korean phones, including a 7 megapixel cameraphone and a GPS mobile phone; and Vodafone will be showing off a series of new services, including mobile TV, a new mobile radio service, and HSDPA.

No big announcements from the major mobile phone maunfacturers yet, though. You can see a preview of the CeBIT 2006 mobile phone news and pictures here:

http://mobilementalism.com/2006/03/07/cebit-2006-preview/

[Pop4]

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