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Vegas wireless scorchers' here(The Economic Times (India) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge): The biggest wireless jamboree - CTIA Wireless 2006 (short for Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association) kicks off at Las Vegas Convention Centre on April 5. For next three days, over 1,000 companies will showcase the very best in wireless arena - from technologies, to products and their latest research - with mobile operators and vendors rubbing elbows with media and entertainment giants. The event, expected to attract some 40,000 attendees, will map out the Stage Next in mobile wireless landscape. A Panoply of technologies The gala event will have speakers and products from mobile-phone companies such as Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile. Other big names that figure among the speakers and exhibitors are mobile-service suppliers such as Nortel Networks and Siemens, handset makers Motorola, Nokia and most others, as well as media and entertainment biggies such as AOL, CBS, Disney, ESPN, HBO, MTV and Yahoo. Bringing a global flavour to the event will be Karim Khoja, CEO of mobile service operator Roshan Afghanistan. One of the keynote speakers, Khoja will share how the company is helping rebuild a nation and nurture economic prosperity by using the wireless technology. The assembly of wireless professionals, the largest in the conference's history, will spell out a rapidly expanding cellphone universe that includes a wealth of new music, video and gaming content, new applications for businesses and consumers, and a plethora of cool handsets packed with newer features. Content Rules One big trend to be watched out for will be the explosion of content made for cellphones. Carriers like Cingular, which recently launched its Cingular Video, are hoping to get users hooked on short mobile videos. Disney will unveil at the convention its own branded service for cellular operators packed with Disney videos, music and games. Disney Mobile is slated to announce details of its family-oriented cellphone service, due this summer. Announcements of faster, next generation wireless data technologies like HSDPA and 1xEV-DO (Revision A) rollouts are expected to take centrestage as operators look to enable faster delivery of multimedia services to the end-user. Mobile TV CDMA pioneer Qualcomm is betting it big on MediaFlo to emerge as the standard technology for viewing television on the mobile handsets and has chosen CTIA Wireless 2006 as its biggest showcase. The company plans to announce launch, along with the likes of Samsung and a handful of service providers, of a commercially available service using MediaFlo at the backend. Mobile TV will be a big theme as GSM czar Nokia and Qualcom battle it out to push their own supported standards to providers, other handset makers and application writers. Nokia will showcase DVB-H platform in a big way at Las Vegas. Mobile Music Mobile music too will be hot as full track downloads now take 30 seconds or less on 3G networks. The US market too is gaining competition as MVNO Amp'd takes on the heavyweight Apple iTunes with its 99c full-track dual-delivered (handset and PC) music download model. Verizon Wireless is pushing a similar full-track service to its subscribers, charging 99c for PC-downloaded songs and $1.99 for dual-delivery to a handset and PC. Texas Instruments and leaders from the new wireless ecosystem, including Kodak, Mobile ESPN, Modeo and others, are expected to detail out how the evolution of mobile communications and entertainment has led to a different kind of convergence - the unexpected collaboration of leaders from within and beyond the mobile industry. Unlicenced Mobile Access The other big trend is the push toward what's called fixed-to-mobile convergence as cellphone carriers look to integrate their cellular service with traditional landline services. In a sign that Internet calling may soon move a step closer to the mass market, mobile giant Nokia Corp. had recently unveiled its first UMA-based mobile phone which automatically switch between the Internet and standard cellular networks. A related theme will be the untethering of Internet phone services by companies such as Skype, which is developing its own Net-based cellphone. Mobile Advertising Mobile advertising on cellphones is gaining a lot of attention already whether users like it or not. Most of the carriers are looking at ways to allow users to avoid paying for some content by agreeing to receive short ads. The news site MSNBC.com has joined forces with Action Engine Corp to launch a beta mobile news service featuring an advertising business model at the event. AskMeNow, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ocean West Holding Corporation too will do a global launch of its mobile information platform to wireless carriers, manufacturers and Mobile Virtual Network Operators. The company's tool features a dynamic contextual advertising feature called Adswers, offering highly targeted marketing messages incorporated into the answers sent back to AskMeNow's customers. Wireless Home The event will also showcase several innovations, wireless networking and bleeding-edge solutions for the home. This includes about 30 products supporting a wireless lifestyle including items for the home office, kitchen, living room, garage, powder room and both adult and children's bedrooms. A very interesting offering will be made by consulting firm Accenture which will demonstrate smart metering with a series of networked intelligent meters and appliances that allow utility companies to better monitor energy usage. The company will display an online medicine cabinet that integrates smart labels, face recognition, voice synthesis and flat panel displays to recognize members of a household and in return, display a list of personalized health reminders such as allergy alerts, doctor's appointments and medication reminders. Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung will display its Internet refrigerator where recipes are stored and RFID technology tracks food inventory. Not to be left behind, Motorola has C51 Communication System, a 5.8 GHz digital expandable, cordless phone system that can connect to a Bluetooth mobile phone and has audio/video monitoring capabilities. A camera located at the front door can integrate with the phone system and enhances any security system. Stay tuned! Fashion in motion The hugely popular Fashion in Motion show, in which runway models show off wearable wireless gizmos and gadgets, has been augmented this year by a student competition. The student with the winning design gets a $10,000 scholarship. The show will have models display the latest wireless devices and accessories on the market today and futuristic fashions of tomorrow. Some of the hottest new wireless wares to be featured include, Motorola H605 Bluetooth Headset, E-Go Lifestyle Notebook, and Hug Shirt, a Bluetooth accessory for mobile phones. |