From camera phones to wireless computer connections, the freshest crop of gadgets in years are being unveiled to mainstream buyers at this week's CeBIT trade fair, but few may be in a spending mood.
Global economic malaise and the threat of war in Iraq have cast a pall over the technology sector and its traditional sales pitch -- spend money on technology to save money through productivity gains -- is wearing thin.
But vendors converging on the world's biggest showcase of new hardware and software in Hanover, Germany, are expected to pull out the stops to generate some demand.
"We're going to see camera phones from every manufacturer and many other weird and wonderful mobile devices as manufacturers struggle to drive the replacement market," saidanalyst Ben Wood at market research group Gartner Dataquest. Many potential customers will be looking for clear-cut financial benefits from the new gadgets.
"[IT] products and services that shave costs through efficiency gains, help retain customers, or solve the burgeoning integration dilemma in corporate IT have the best chance at success this year," said Tom Pohlmann, a director at Forrester Research. The CeBIT fair grounds will feature fast wireless Internet access over short-range radio networks. These so-called Wi-Fi connections are due to receive their biggest boost ever next week as chipmaker Intel Corp. formally unveils chips that will allow most notebook computers manufactured by year-end to reach the Internet without wires.
Such wireless Internet access networks on laptop computers and other devices promise to become commonplace in cafes, hotels, airports, schools, offices and public places -- pretty much wherever computer users congregate -- in the coming year.
While the latest network gear and entertainment gadgets from Silicon Valley, Japan and China will feature prominently, another featured theme at this year's CeBIT is the battle to define and dominate the "Connected Home," the industry's phrase for the growing links between home computers, home entertainment and other appliances over the Internet. "What is emerging is a once in a decade battle for a new market that could have a dramatic impact on the consumer electronics, PC, telecom and media businesses," Gottfried Dutine, a board member at Philips of the Netherlands.
"Software companies will tell you the PC will be the 'server' of the connected home," Dutine said. "Other electronics companies will argue that the TV will be the center of it. Others will even make a case for the mobile phone."
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS