Trends, visions and new horizons

CeBIT PreViews, Part 2

Brand-new innovations and trends-in-brief at CeBIT 2007 - that's what this year's CeBIT PreViews are all about once again. 'CeBIT remains indisputably the most important marketplace for the ICT industry worldwide', stresses Dr. Sven-Michael Prüser, Senior Vice-President at Deutsche Messe. 'And let's not forget that this year's conference program for CeBIT is the most ambitious in the history of the show.' Even more than in previous years, the emphasis at CeBIT 2007 (15 - 21 March) will be not just on individual products, but on the presentation of exciting and totally new solutions - some of them already with us, some of them yet to come.

At home in tomorrow's world
In the family home of 2010, lighting, heating and room temperature will be monitored by sensors and adjusted to suit the homeowner's preferences. When the son gets home, the media server will automatically pull up the hip-hop charts off the Internet, while simultaneously recording Mum's favourite soap opera, warming up the oven for supper and collating the latest Wall Street business data for Dad. Via Bluetooth remote control every family member can link up to the wireless home network from any room in the house. All the latest trends in e-home living will be fully reviewed at CeBIT 2007.

The scenario just described is already a reality - at the 'Innovation Centre Intelligent Home Duisburg'. The process of electronic networking in the home is now moving ahead rapidly. In consumer electronics it has already produced mass-market demand. The latest generation of multimedia control centres will be unveiled at CeBIT 2007.

But of course there are visions for the future that go even further. It won't be long, for example, before the walls of our living rooms can transform themselves into giant displays, onto which we can project videos or super-large-format photos - the moving wallpaper of the new millennium. And why should the man of the house only see himself in the mirror when he shaves in the morning? Why shouldn't he be able to watch the morning news at the same time? The special presentation lifestyle@CeBIT (Hall 2) gives us a foretaste of everyday domestic living in tomorrow's world.

Convergence of fixed-line and mobile telephony
(BT Germany, Dr. Raschid Karabek, Hall 17, Nord/LB-Forum)
For companies with worldwide operations, mobile telephony is a significant cost factor, given that around 60 per cent of calls made on mobiles are made indoors. Many of these calls are made between different sites owned by the same company, where they can incur prohibitively high roaming costs.

The latest trend: getting the best of both worlds by combining selected features of fixed-line and mobile telephony. At CeBIT 2007 BT Germany will be unveiling its 'Corporate Fusion' solution on the German market for the first time. This allows the subscriber to enjoy the convenience and functionality of a mobile while benefiting from the low prices and connection quality of a land line - for all calls placed within the company network, including international calls. Subscribers get a dual-mode mobile handset, which supports normal GSM mode - but can also communicate via wireless LAN. The benefits for the company and its employees are obvious: one handset, one number, one mailbox, easy integration of data applications - and significant cost savings.

Multimedia - anywhere and anytime
(Ericsson, Sven Bolthausen, Multimedia Germany, Ericsson)
Personalized and interactive - that's the new world of television today. And now interactive TV is going mobile. At CeBIT 2007 Ericsson will be presenting its own version of mobile interactive television in the shape of 'Me-on-TV', with live participation in a show or community. The new buzzword is 'User Generated Content' (UGC), and the possibilities are endless. The mobile phone is tomorrow's TV camera, allowing the user to publish, report, inform or express a view - all on the move, and from anywhere in the world.

The coming trend: The advent of mobile TV opens the door to interactive advertising - tailored to the age, sex, geographical location and personal interests of the user. Videos, banners, tickers or downloads - everything is possible. This is targeted advertising as we have never seen it before, delivering personalized benefits in place of the all-purpose, impersonal blanket coverage we are used to from advertisers.

The digital future
(Fraunhofer Institute, Prof. Karlheinz Brandenburg, Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology (DIMT), Ilmenau, Hall 9, future parc, B 36)
Professor Brandenburg is the inventor of the MP-3 format, which has revolutionized the music industry. And the digital revolution continues to make great strides. Young people today are spending more and more time on the Internet or playing computer games, the TV set is digital, there's Internet radio - in fact, there's music everywhere you turn. In future we will no longer need a physical medium such as CD or DVD. The digital lifestyle is becoming increasingly global - and geared to the needs of individuals. Groups of 100 people can easily get together in a global context - in blogs, forums, chatrooms, or other virtual worlds.

Trends to listen out for: The stereo system of the future will be able to recognize the musical preferences of users. Just whistle a tune - your hifi will recognize the piece and play it. The concert hall is coming to a living room near you. The innovative new IOSONO sound system takes the listener into a world of perfect, natural stereophonic sound - and you can hear it first at CeBIT 2007.

Individual communication instead of mass-market coverage, new services, systems and platforms with synchronization on demand - these are the cornerstones of future mobile applications. But the big challenge will be to organize this flood of data, to coordinate it and quickly find what one is looking for. At CeBIT 2007 the DIMT will be showing how this content analysis can function with metadata.

The future on our mind
(Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Hall 1, Stand G51)
Under this tagline Fujitsu Siemens Computers is organizing a press workshop at CeBIT 2007. Topics for consideration include trend studies and expectations such as 'always online', 'lifelong learning', 'secure computers', 'data protection' and - increasingly important - 'design excellence'.

Wearable computers
(Technology Centre for Informatics (TZI) at the University of Bremen, Prof. Michael Lawo, Hall 9, Stand B21)

The TZI is working to promote the vision of 'computing anytime, anything and anywhere'. And that means wearable computers for industrial applications, designed to help technicians work more productively and effectively - on inspection and maintenance tasks, in production or in the health service. Conventional information and communications systems tend to get in the way in this kind of situation.

Trends to look out for: The wearable computer as assistant system - so that the technician has both hands free for working on industrial plant. The sensor gauntlet with multiple functions, replacing mouse and keyboard. Enter data with the index finger, select from the menu with the middle finger, scan with the ring finger - and of course there's a built-in RFID antenna. The user wears eyeglasses with an integral head-mounted display, and a special waistcoat that houses the complete computer.

All this is available for wearing now. In the very near future there will be textile displays and electrically conductive clothing, free from cables that get in the way. During CeBIT 2007 visitors will be able to see for themselves - and indeed try on! - the first mobile solutions that are set to revolutionize the way we work.

Communicating in tomorrow's world
(Vodafone, Mark Klein, head of the Vodafone Office Business Unit)
The existing data carried by mobile phone networks can be used for additional new services in the future. Complex algorithms allow us to perform precise analyses of the current traffic situation on our roads. This makes dynamic navigation possible. Traffic jams can be avoided or freed up more quickly, and the overall traffic situation becomes much clearer. The trend: traffic online, the traffic control technology of tomorrow.

Another new trend: Even picture frames are going digital now. Today it is already possible to feed digital images into the frame - tomorrow it will receive photos via MMS and present them for viewing. And finally, another offering from Vodafone: the user takes a portrait photo and sends it via MMS to the 'Visual Search' service. Here image recognition software processes the picture and compares it with other images - of famous people, for example. So the next time you and your friends have one of those arguments about who looks like which celebrity, you know where to go for the answer.