i was down in atlanta at the CTIA conference this week...and was much more impressed with this show than the fall version in vegas. a TON of people down there, pretty much every hotel room was soaked, and in general a lot more interest than i've saw last year. i'll take that as a good sign!
This was in infrastructure show, so there were lots of companies that made cell towers and even the little huts they sell to farmers built right on the show floor. it makes one really think of everything that has to go into the mix to make wireless work.
but there were also plenty of software vendors, operators, and device manufacturers. below is a snap of siemens now famous marketing stunt...they give out inflatable pool rafts that are in the shape of a phone, complete with buttons and a screen and all - but the gimmick is, they only hand them out in the inflated state! so there's lots of people standing around trying to deflate these things, or carrying around inflated rafts. very ingenious!
the best new device i saw was the nokia 7610 a megapixel camera, and i think they finally got the size right for a carry-around all the time smartphone. i wish they made the 6600 and 6620 (which i also tried) in this profile. the "messed up" keyboard didn't bother me...but i'm right handed.
on the CDMA side of things, i really liked LG's successor to the vx6000, the LG vx8000, with a 1.3 Mega Pixel camera, up to 10X zoom, and 1X EV-DO.
phoneyworld has a picture..i have a nice glossy brochure...no pics on the LGUSA.com site as of yet.
best party...Sony Ericsson and Ericsson rented out one of the music halls and had a show with Switchfoot and Train - both of whom i've never though much of recorded, but were great live!
Posted by Steve at March 25, 2004 11:11 AM | TrackBack