June 21, 2000
PC Expo Needs A New Name
This year, it's all about network appliances.
By Jacqueline Emigh, Sm@rt Partner
They really ought to call it Appliance Expo--or, better
yet, Device Expo. To be sure, the halls of the Javitz
Center will be decked out with the usual plethora of
shiny, new PCs and servers. But this year's annual PC
Expo in Manhattan, slated for the week of June 26, will
feature numerous non-PC devices that are closely tied
to the Internet.
In addition to familiar desktop names like Compaq
Computer and Dell Computer, look for networking giants
to make their presence felt at the show. InfoGear,
recently acquired by Cisco Systems, will demonstrate
iPhone (a POTS-based Net phone), which works with
infrastructure management services that Cisco has
been developing for telcos, cable companies and other
network providers.
While Net phones are leading-edge technology, Cisco
is eating its own dog food by migrating its corporate
campus from a traditional Lucent Technology phone
system to Cisco's own Ethernet phones.
The Cisco iPhone is just one example of an emerging
Voice over IP device that could put voice and data
solutions providers on a collision course. 3Com and
Nortel Networks, among others, are developing similar
devices.
Meanwhile, Internet Appliance, an aptly named start-up,
expects to debut two new Internet-based virtual private
networking devices at the show. Similarly, Wyse
Technology likely will brief partners about its new thin
client for ASPs, code-named Blazer. Technical details
about Blazer remain sketchy, but Wyse confirms that
the device has a small memory footprint and can link
users to hosted applications running across Solaris,
Linux or Windows NT servers. Wyse is expected to
announce the first pilot test of Blazer on June 21. The
company is slated to introduce the device later this
year at a cost of less than $10 per desktop per month.
"Initially, we'll target ASPs with Blazer," says Wyse VP
of marketing Jeff McNaught. "But we expect partners to
take it into the consumer space as a set-top box."
Of course, PC-based devices also are expected to
make a strong showing at the event. And for good
reason: Despite the rise of network appliances, various
consulting firms expect the PC market to grow roughly
12 percent to 15 percent this year.
Intel, for one, will demonstrate notebook PCs that
support the Bluetooth wireless networking standard. In
fact, Intel and other Bluetooth denizens will turn in
repeat performances of demos made earlier this month
in Monte Carlo, the exotic setting of the latest meeting
of the Bluetooth special interest group.
Intel's new contribution is the "Bluetooth link," a combo
hardware/software solution for integration into mobile
PCs. In demos at off-site press events, and possibly on
the show floor, the link will be used for transferring data
among multiple PCs, without the entanglement that
wiring entails. And if the cellular coverage in New York
cooperates enough, the Bluetooth notebooks also will
be seen hooking up to the Internet through wireless cell
phones, sources say.
Joseph C. Panettieri contributed to this story.
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