This is a superficial report on COMDEX and the focus on wireless handhelds and networking. It mentions COMPAQ twice.
________________________
Crowds At Comdex Focus On Devices For Internet Use
By MARK BOSLET
LAS VEGAS -- High-tech "appliances" offering simplified Internet access took center stage at Comdex this year.
Hardware manufacturers stuffed browsers into cell phones and e-mail capabilities into a variety of handheld and table-top devices. They also, in doing so, may have presented personal computer makers with their biggest challenge in years: a wave of new easy-to-use products expected to start reaching the market early next year and attract dollars normally spent on PCs.
Some of the new devices are designed for specific tasks instead of the broad range of functions of a PC. They also sell for less. VTech Holdings Ltd.'s (H.VTH) e-Mail Traveler, for instance, is a handheld calendar and scheduler that slips into a keyboard base for composing online messages. The $149 device, displayed at the National Semiconductor Corp. (NSM) booth, was introduced at Comdex and is to ship in December, a VTech representative said.
Others, like L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co.'s (ERICY) R280LX, bring Internet browsing to a cellular phone. Expected to ship in late March, the phone includes a browser that can retrieve stock quotes, news and e-mail, the company says.
Information appliances "seem to be the buzz around the show" this year, said Jerry Devlin, a 3Com Corp. (COMS) vice president and general manager. "People are talking about what they will do."
Talk also is focusing on how quickly these new devices will find their way into the hands of consumers. Researchers at International Data Corp. expect manufacturers to ship almost 29 million information devices next year and 45 million in 2001, a sharp increase from nearly 14 million in 1999. Some observers were more cautious.
Visions Come True
"Eventually, (manufacturers') visions come true," Devlin said, "but they often are a little slower than everybody would like."
The construction of wireless networks to accommodate an increase in mobile messaging might be one factor affecting adoption. Network providers in the U.S., for example, are just starting to build out their networks to handle online messaging devices, trailing their counterparts in places such as Europe, said Karyn Mashima, vice president of strategy and chief technology officer at Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) enterprise networks group.
However, several industries in the U.S. are pushing harder than others, including financial institutions, Mashima said. Business use will lead the charge, and within a year, maybe two, these mobile devices will be popular, she said.
Computer makers also aren't standing still. Many are opening their product lines to new, simpler products. Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) showed off its iPAQ computer, which starts at $499 without a monitor and is aimed at making Internet access easier.
The machine is designed for business users and includes an Ethernet network card instead of a modem and special buttons on the keyboard for reaching Web sites. It is to ship in January, the company said.
Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Web Companions have an equally dedicated raison d'etre. Several companies, including Compaq and Acer Inc. (Q.ACE) previewed products, which are smaller than a typical PC, run Microsoft's Windows CE and are limited to surfing the Web and handling e-mail.
A Microsoft representative said the products are to begin to reach the market next summer.
New Internet devices weren't the only products to capture the show's attention. Marketers of the free software operating system Linux came in droves and drew pretty good crowds.
Bryan Sparks, chief executive of Caldera Inc.'s Lineo unit, sells a slimmed down version of Linux for use inside handheld devices, set-top television boxes, routers and printers.
"We found a tremendous amount of interest," he said. "We just see an unbelievably large business."
Bluetooth Head Set
The Bluetooth wireless technology that enables cell phones to communicate with computers and other devices also made a splash at the show. The technology has been developed by Ericsson, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Intel Corp. (INTC), Toshiba Corp. (J.TOS) and Nokia Corp. (NOK), and products are to begin reaching the market early next year.
Among the most eye-catching Bluetooth products was an Ericsson headset that sits on one ear and leaves a mobile-phone owner's hands free for other tasks.
Hot as well at this year's show was home networking. Computer networks inside homes can be created in a number of ways by using existing phone lines, powerlines, Ethernet cables or wireless technology. Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) makes a pair of chips that allow phone lines to link computers for uses such as joint game playing or printer sharing.
The chips began shipping just about two months ago and, by the end of the year, 2 million sets should be sold, said Jeff Thermond, a Broadcom vice president and general manager.
"This is a pretty good-sized market already," Thermond said. But the potential for expansion is far greater. One in four homes in the U.S. have two computers, making them home-networking candidates, and some experts expect two-computer homes to rise to 50% in three to four years, he said.
A popular topic of conversation at this year's sprawling show, where the crowd of more than 200,000 clogged corridors and created ever-present lines, was speculation on the outcome of the Microsoft antitrust suit.
During his keynote address, Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Microsoft competitor Novell Inc. (NOVL), suggested the government's lawsuit would have a lasting impact on the industry.
The "era of exclusive contracts and the things we've been subject to is over," Schmidt said.
But others were more circumspect, and even Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Gates tried to lighten the mood. At the start of his annual Sunday keynote address kicking off the show he asked a standing room crowd: has "anyone here heard any good lawyer jokes recently?" |
