Cebit 2006 roundup

Cebit is the showcase for future industry trends and technologies. Everything you need to know.

Highlights of this year's Cebit included new hardware, delivery methods and concepts -- both for and by -- the technology industry. Over 30,000 attendees took in all the latest and greatest upcoming technology that is set to power the devices we use, all of which was on display, giving an insight into where the industry is heading.

700 vendor stands were competing to showcase new trends in technology. 3G, VoIP and miniaturization were the standouts, as were the networking technologies that have to be in place to deliver the content that these devices promise. All these and more were covered at the show.

As always, amidst the genuine trade visitors sneaky consumers were out in force, walking around the stands with fake business names on their lanyards, dropping hastily cut wafers of paper printed with hotmail addresses into competition bowls. Unfortunately for them, this year saw Cebit's return to its authentic role as a trade show. Even stands geared at consumers were still centered around products that were early revisions or engineering samples. Panasonic was showcasing an imported Blue Ray disc player, for example.

The 3 day event at Darling Harbor’s Exhibition Centre was host to 700 exhibitors. This year's thrust was networking technologies, telecommunication and data management. The overarching nature of Cebit provides those who attend with a sense for where the technology industry as a whole is heading and what is available for specific applications. While examining the specifications on some micro form factor mainboards we overheard the throwaway line: "That's exactly what I want, a small LCD."  This was in reference not to tiny laptop screens but instead to tiny 3 inch panels intended for use in home automation systems, car displays and whatever else can imagined by visitors keen to produce their own products from the new components on display.

Highlights
3G mobile network systems are finally getting some traction in Australia. We saw new, smaller base stations provide 1.5Mbps links to phones and laptop cards which were showcasing streaming video. The developers were promising a minimum transfer rate of 1Mbps due to advanced load balancing, which is enough to stream new Disney content through the Optus 3G network. Disney are providing all forms of media except movies in the upcoming months, and refused to elaborate or disclose pricing. Hutchinson's 3 were promoting the Blackberry-like functionality that they are introducing through Nokia handsets for small to medium businesses and are looking at lowering the entry cost barrier for consumers.

Netgear has focused on convergence for years now, so it is no surprise to see their new product line has included most devices used in home networks combines into a single device. The DG834 series including ADSL 2 modem, 802.11g Wi-Fi, VPN functionality, 4 port switch and a long list of security functions. There is no MIMO functionality yet, but we were told to expect it eventually.  Ethernet over power is planned, but Austel checks stand in the way of its distribution.  The price point is $329, and we were told that consumers would be willing to pay the premium for the increased functionality being provided by dedicated Hardware.

The CSIRO exhibit was hugely popular, as they were demonstrating the many practical (and a few whimsical) applications devised for their research into remote links, interoperability and data collection. The highlight was two halves of an air-hockey table on opposite sides of their stand, connected wirelessly, with a video feed from each half completing the illusion of playing at a full table.  The simulation of the full table was made possible with the use of cameras, projectors and screens, and a series of sensors relaying information about the trajectory of the puck from one half of the table to the other. Some basic mechanics used the data to spit the puck out onto the same path it had when it left the first table. Voila, air hockey separated by mere distance. The icing on the cake was the fact that it was controlled by different operating systems at each terminal.

Remote air hockey turned so many heads that it was possible to overlook the distributed data acquisition devices being planned. In about the same size as two stacked 20c coins, a wireless monitoring system and control device has been developed. The plan is for them to be installed into homes to save money and energy by aggregating its collective use, and to then control high drain devices such as air conditioners. The sensors report back to a base station through Wi-Fi and P2P Java code, and should be implemented within 5 to 7 years.

We were told that wireless internet is capable of reaching better than cable and ADSL speeds by Sky Pilot, the provider of the networking infrastructure used by Unwired. On display was its range of omni-directional antennas with cases cut away to underscore the units high-volume capacity with a maximum throughput of 20Mbps. Sky Pilot shared a stand with Wi Man and its high power uni-directional antennas designed to push signals to regional areas. VoIP technology was being touted by both as a key feature of the products, something that was echoed by many other vendors.

Overall, we were impressed to see Cebit returning to its roots as a trade show. View our photo gallery on the next two pages.