Samsung sets the bar at CeBIT

Hannover hosted 6,330 companies at the trade fair that unveils what the world will be buying tomorrow, writes Derek Scally in Berlin.

If the success of a trade show is judged by the quality of freebies on offer, then CeBIT, the world's largest tech show, was a disappointment.

Judging by the electronics, the buzz, the controversies, the number of exhibitors and the size of the stands on offer, however, CeBIT 2005 was a huge success.

Around half a million people and 6,300 companies descended on the western German city of Hannover for the week-long fair that demonstrated the ongoing merging of mobile music, mobile phones and digital cameras. The high-definition DVD format war continued and lawyers for Apple decided that imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery.

The star of CeBIT was Samsung. It blew away the competition with its must-have SCH-V770 camera phone with a picture quality of seven megapixels, well ahead of most standard digital cameras on the market. The device has manual focus and an optical zoom as well as an MP3 player built in, but Samsung was tight-lipped about when the device will launch in Europe.

The Korean electronics company also promised to end the current format wars surrounding high-definition DVD technology. Samsung unveiled a PC burner that can burn high-definition DVDs using the BluRay, but said it was "only a matter of time" before it produces a device that can read and write both competing standards.

One of the most consistently mobbed stands was Sony. The Japanese company announced at CeBIT that it is replacing its perfectly acceptable "You make it a Sony" slogan with the tag-line "like.no.other". The company says the new slogan, part of the company's $3.2 billion (€2.4 billion) relaunch, will help it "break away from the past" - or at least from the punctuation past.

Sony had an impressive display of ultra-thin laptops and ultra-compact digital cameras, but most attention was on its new range of Sony Ericsson mobile phones - a two megapixel camera phone and the first Walkman phone with 38MB built-in memory and a 512MB memory stick.

Sony wasn't the only company with that idea: Alcatel launched a slick phone with built-in bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera, an FM radio and an integrated speaker - a potentially dangerous addition for secret Kylie fans.

Adding its own twist to music on the go was Germany's Siemens. Its "Runster" device promises to adjust the beat of music playing on a jogger's mobile phone to match his or her pace.

The company also premiered a nifty new USB adapter to convert any regular analogue phone into a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) phone, allowing voice calls to be carried over a data connection for a nominal price. Two German companies, Freenet and Arcor, demonstrated their new DSL videophone technology at CeBIT.

Looking further into the future was the "near field communication" technology from Siemens that allows mobile phone users to "pick up" information from transmitters in posters, on public transport or even an airport check-in gate - Big Brother alarmists beware.

Big Brother was lurking in a new device from Fujitsu, the "Palm Vein" identification system, which scans the veins in a user's palms and compares the image to those in a database.

The process is similar to a fingerprint ID system, but benefits from not requiring actual contact with the device. Fujitsu representatives said that the lack of contact would reduce consumer resistance - and hygiene problems. The company hopes the low error rate of just 0.1 per cent will mean consumers will soon withdraw cash from an ATM with a wave of their hand.

SanDisk unveiled a 1GB USB stick equipped with a fingerprint reader, allowing up to 10 different users access to different data saved on the stick.

Television fans had plenty to keep them happy at CeBIT. Samsung unveiled the world's largest plasma television - a whopping 102 inches wide.

Even more interesting was ShiftTV, which allows anyone with a DSL connection to record television programmes and store them in cyberspace. Users receive an e-mail with a link to the recorded programme, technically allowing them to view the programme anywhere in the world. But the German company TV1 will have to hurry: the BBC is already working on a competing pay-per-view system.

An alternative to internet storage was the 80GB audio server from MP3Beamer, providing a central repository for all digital media files - allowing you to "beam" playback to different devices round the home, the next logical step to Apple's Airport Express device.

Apple was at the centre of an amusing legal dust-up with a previously unknown Taiwanese company, Luxpro, because of its new "Super Shuffle" MP3 player.

When journalists suggested the device was identical to the Ipod Shuffle, a Luxpro representative replied: "It is not identical to Ipod Shuffle, it's better." CeBIT visitors didn't have a chance to decide for themselves: Apple lawyers demanded the company remove the product from their stand last Friday. Luxpro complied, only to whip out the device the next day. It's not clear whether the pretender to the throne will make it to market.

Apple managers are mulling their options with their lawyers. The product is on view at www.luxpro-corp.com/e_575d.htm.

And now for the needless technology that makes CeBIT so special.

We had USB-powered miniature desk vacuum cleaners in three designs: dog, dolphin or a pig-hippo creature. Germany's Adidas launched a running shoe with a built-in computer that detects the kind of surface underfoot and adjusts the internal springs accordingly.

There was a digital camera with a cigarette lighter built in - exhibitionist pyromaniacs rejoice. And attention Paris Hilton watchers: T-Mobile is bringing its Sidekick device to Europe. The mobile phone/PDA was a favourite of the notorious hotel heiress, until someone hacked into her phonebook and posted the contents on the internet.

Amongst the technological junk at CeBIT was one truly worthwhile new product - a walking stick for the blind equipped with ultrasound transmitters that send vibrations into the handle depending on the stick's distance from surfaces.

The "Ultracane" certainly gives new meaning to the phrase "blind as a bat".