CeBIT is the main focal marketing effort for many European companies, and it showed. Global companies such as Sony, Samsung, and NEC along with European companies such as Siemens, O2, Gericom, and Plus+ showcased multi-million dollar showpieces guaranteed to draw and attract huge crowds. As expected, gadgets, WiFi, and VoIP dominated the show, and as at CES, "The Digital Home" and "The Networked Home" was the main focus of many companies. Many firms are putting a lot of money behind the Microsoft Media Center platform, hoping every home in America will have a PC dedicated to serving media files.

The main difference at CeBIT was how trade show booths were presented. Less emphasis was put on cheap fluff, trinkets and trash, and putting contests and more emphasis was put on real product demonstrations and lounge areas. About every 3 booths had a lounge where you could enjoy a German beer, smoke a cigarette, and talk business.

The majority of my time was spent in the World of Powerline (cheap plug) where Spanish silicon manufacturer DS2 showcased their 200Mbps chip which uses the existing power grid for BPL access and in-premise networking solutions.

I also was able to view many new product launches including NEC's HD-DVD drive, with capacities up to 60GB, walkman mobile phone Sony Ericksson's new, Samsung's 7 megapixel camera phone (yes, you read that correctly), JVC's 3CCD, 5MP camcorder (which is the smallest 3CCD camcorder in the market), Panasonic's mass-manufactured 65-inch plasma display, Siemens' TV/RFID mobile phone, and many others.

Also, we shouldn't be complaining about gas prices here...gas was 1.15 euros in Germany, which is a little over $6 USD a gallon.

Bob can be reached at bob@waltenspiel.com