We look at the best exhibits and the worst.
It has been an exciting week at COMDEX. The awards for the best of COMDEX goes to 3dmedia, Caldera Linux, Palm, and SSI Computer. One of the worst was Cisco. First of all, the best new devices or technology are from 3dmedia, a Scottish company that builds 3d products. On display a chrome sphere that looks like it is floating, but it is actually a illusion created using optics. Also, on display, a 3d computer demonstration with 3d hyperlinks. A monitor is displayed in the wall and in front of the monitor is technology that makes images and objects appear as if they are right in front of the user in 3d. To interact with the computer, instead of a mouse, the system has a laser barrier. The barrier is an invisible laser wall which covers an area in front of the monitor which is approximately an inch or less. To move the cursor around, the user simply places his/her finger in the barrier and the cursor appears. To click on a hyperlink, the user holds his/her finger in same spot for a few seconds and hyperlink is activated. The products created many "wows" by the audience. Another winner for innovation was SSI Computer. The companies subsidiary, MTE, produces MP3 players. Unlike most others which produce only portable MP3 players, MTE produces both portable and car MP3 players. The car MP3 player is removable and features a pullout/carry handle and fits into the drive bay in the computer so that files can be easily transferred from computer to the drive. The best presentation was by Caldera Linux. The presenter captivated the audience with magic tricks, and humor. It was one of the best Linux presentations as well as the best non-Linux presentations. Unfortunately, the presenter didn't spend much time talking about the product and Caldera Linux didn't offer any innovative features as compared to other Linux platforms. However, this was the most entertaining presentation. Palm had one of the best overall presentations. The company had a presentation done by two people. The company played a video and had a question and answer period that was very effective at prompting the audience to buy. The award for worst use of money goes to Cisco. They had a very large display filled with empty floor space. Their displays and presentation of their products was not very effective as well. Overall, this was a good COMDEX. This year, the theme was very heavily based on portable computing and web-based cell phones. Palm, Handspring, Siemens, and Casio all had large displays for portable computing devices. If you came to look for really big killer apps, you were probably disappointed with the exception of 3dmedia and SSI.
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