CeBIT 2004: 18th – 24th March 2004, Hannover

Digital Lifestyles will be covering CeBIT 2004, and we’ll publish the relevant key stories and news throughout each day.

ICT World Forum 2004

This year the forum will feature 32 speakers from 9 countries, and the theme across the three days is achieving business profitability through technology.

Highlights for us include Brian Kardon (CSO, Forrester Research Inc.), Andy Green (CEO, BT Global Services), Pekka Ala-Pietilä (President, Nokia Corporation) and Justin Lindsey (CTO, US Department of Justice).

With an emphasis on the technology trends of 2004 and CRM, there’s going to be a lot of discussion of the future of the mobile market place – for the consumer, the devices and for the service providers themselves.

Key Events at CeBIT

There will be 260 corporate lectures at CeBIT this year, we like the look of:

  • Mobile processes, services and mobile content – efficient design and security, mobile CRM
  • e-Government with Web Services
  • Mobile applications: navigation, tracking, RFID and mobile payment
  • Digital photography and IP-video security

Exhibitors

Amongst the 6400 companies exhibiting, look out for important announcements from Sony, Nokia, Micorsoft and all the usual suspects.

New Facilities at CeBIT

With over 200 802.11b access points installed all around the venue, delegates will have access to Wireless LAN in every area at the exhibition centre.

For the first time, the fair organisers are providing an SMS guide to the fair. If you get lost (perhaps on the way back from the bar, or you’ve left your fair catalogue under a heavy pile of carrier bags and promotional mouse mats), just text +3777-4-CEBIT with the name of the exhibiting company (your own, for example) and the location and stand number will be sent directly to your phone (so you can stagger back to check what happened whilst you were away, without too much embarrassment).

CeBIT Homepage

CeBIT: Nokia’s Mega Pixel Camera Phone and Image Album

The new Nokia phone announced today at CeBIT takes the camera part of “camera phone” very seriously. The 7610 contains a 4x zoom, 1152 x 864 resolution camera – and its Movie Director application lets users edit video and add music on the move.

The phone comes with Nokia’s new Lifeblog software allowing owners to record their every thought and detail about their life and then upload it to the internet. I know someone here who’ll be very excited about that.

Also unveiled today was the Image Album – a 20gb hard drive that will download images and video from compatible Nokia phones. To show them on a TV screen or other display, Nokia will be launching the Image Viewer SU-5, which handily has a remote control. Juha Putkiranta, president of Nokia’s Imaging Business Unit, said: “Mobile imaging is on an explosive growth path.” It’s obvious from these new devices that Nokia are taking imaging very seriously indeed and don’t just regard it as a gimic.
PC World has a bit more from Putkiranta

Slashdot gets excited

BBC on Lifeblog