Design afficionados no longer have to compromise when it comes to buying a notebook. At CeBIT 2006 (9 – 15 March) computer manufacturer Asus is exhibiting a new range of notebooks that not only offer high specs and performance, but also look stunning with it.
One of them is a 15-inch notebook whose design is the product of a collaboration with Italian supercar maker Lamborghini. Just like the four-wheeled legend that inspired it, the "Lamborghini" portable PC is available in a choice of glossy yellow or black paint finishes. And like the car, the notebook is no slouch when it comes to performance, thanks to the use of Intel’s Centrino Duo technology.
For those who don’t need a thoroughbred racer, one of the same supplier’s sub-notebooks could be just the thing. Naturally these are packed with the latest technology, just like their bigger brother. But on top of that, the casing is clad in finegrain leather.
ASUS COMPUTER GmbH
Harkortstr. 25
D-40880 Ratingen
Tel.: +49-2102 / 95 99-0
FAX: +49-2102 / 56 09 11
Your contact at CeBIT 2006:
Holger Schmidt
Hall 2, Stand A12
Stand (: 0511 / 89-65 15 06
E-Mail: holger_schmidt@asus.com
Chatterbox in a cigarette box
"Titan" is an all-in-one headset and plug-and-play device for the car. No larger than a cigarette box, this hands-free kit can be seen at CeBIT 2006 in Hannover.
The driver attaches the base station to the car’s sun visor with the aid of the clip supplied. Via the Bluetooth headset he can now receive incoming calls at any time, and even leave the car while holding a telephone conversation. The calls are still transmitted with perfect clarity, claims the manufacturer.
The headset offers four hours of talk time, the base station six. When it’s time to recharge the batteries they are simply plugged into the car’s cigarette lighter or into a mains outlet at home.
Hama GmbH & Co KG
Dresdner Str. 9
D-86653 Monheim
Tel.: +49-9091 / 502-244
FAX: +49-9091 / 502-274
Your contact at CeBIT 2006:
Susanne Uhlschmidt
Hall 1, Stand B51
Stand (: 0511 / 89-59 70 88
E-Mail: presse@hama.de
Mini pathfinder no bigger than a baby’s fingernail
Navigation devices are already a fixture of daily life. But in the future these invaluable pathfinders could end up not just in PDAs and similar devices, but also in tiny casings no larger than a lady’s wristwatch – thanks to the world’s smallest GPS receiver, which a New Zealand manufacturer is exhibiting at CeBIT 2006.
The miniature satellite receiver is no larger than a baby’s fingernail. Despite its compact size, this is a fully-featured plug and play device. The mini GPS receiver also opens up all kinds of exciting possibilities for product designers.
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise
Level 11, ANZ Centre
23-29 Albert Street
NZ-1001 Auckland
Tel.: +64-4 / 910 43 00
FAX: +64-4 / 910 43 09
Your contacts at CeBIT 2006:
Silja Binner and Philipp Haberland (Tel. 0044-208 / 322 19 22)
Hall 3, Stand A25
E-Mail: nzte@gbc.co.uk
Wear your music with pride
Really trendy people never leave home without their iPod, as we all know. But where do you keep it when you’re dressed light for summer? Urbantool has the answer: a customized shirt for the iPod generation, which is on display at CeBIT 2006.
At first sight it looks like an ordinary T-Shirt. But on closer inspection you notice the special pocket integrated into the garment.
The pocket provides secure stowage for an iPod, an MP3 player or a mobile phone. A special shoulder loop ensures that the headphone or earpiece cable stays in place. Definitely one for the trendy fashionista.
URBAN TOOL Design und Handels GmbH
Reindorfgasse 36
A-1150 Vienna
Tel.: +43-1 / 892 03 03
FAX: +43-1 / 892 04 22
Your contact at CeBIT 2006:
Elena Buchner (Tel. +43-664 / 618 01 09)
Hall 11, Stand B02/2
E-Mail: elena@urbantool.com
Help for partially sighted patients
What do partially sighted or blind patients do when they need to find out about the effects and possible side-effects of a medication? Simple – they just call the drug company. They get through to a small, voice-activated infobox that can tell them all they need to know.
That sounds straightforward enough – but behind it all is a high-tech innovation developed by Pharmakon and unveiled at CeBIT 2006.
The background to this is the 14th amendment to the German Pharmaceuticals Law, which stipulates that directions for use supplied with pharmaceutical products must be made available in a format that is suitable for blind and partially sighted persons. One answer would be for drug companies to book a session in a recording studio and have the instruction leaflet read aloud by a professional voice-over artist. But that’s far too expensive – particularly if only minor changes are involved.
Pharmakon has developed software that automatically converts the scanned-in text of the instruction leaflet into speech. Patients can simply call up the information they need over the phone, secure in the knowledge that they are getting the latest version. The service is need-driven, fully automated, and available 24 hours a day. The customer gets a professional service, while the cost of updating important information is kept to a minimum.
Pharmakon Software GmbH
Emmy-Noether-Str. 9
D-76131 Karlsruhe
Tel.: +49-721 / 66 34-590
FAX: +49-7256 / 80 87-10
Your contact at CeBIT 2006:
Martin Cuber
Hall 6, Stand B16 (at CAS Software)
E-Mail: presse@pharmakon-software.de
Undershirt with built-in feelgood factor
Football fans who have hitherto frozen on the terraces can now find welcome relief at CeBIT 2006: warmX GmbH presents the first self-heating undershirt. The patented "warmX Undershirt" features built-in heating zones in the vulnerable kidney area.
These zones are connected via a textile conductor – a silver-coated polyamide thread woven into the fabric, through which an electric current can flow unimpeded. In the heating zones the current encounters a higher resistance, which causes these areas to warm up. The whole thing is controlled by a so-called "mini-power controller" with its own rechargeable battery, which sits in a little waistband pocket on the right at the front, and is connected to the conductor via two press studs. There are three heat settings, the maximum rated at seven watts. If the resistance value exceeds certain limits, the mini-power controller automatically shuts off the power, eliminating any risk of overheating.
The "warmX Undershirt" is EMC-tested, which means that it gives off no harmful radiation and is itself unaffected by any outside source of radiation. If the wearer gets so warm that the undershirt is sweaty after the game, it can be washed at 30ºC in the washing machine.
warmX GmbH
Herderstr. 2
D-99510 Apolda
Tel.: +49-3644 / 50 47 60
FAX: +49-3644 / 50 47 50
Your contact at CeBIT 2006:
Christoph Müller
Hall 9, Stand A22 (special presentation "future market")
E-Mail: textile@warmX.de
Silke Kraushaar at the Federal Printing Office
She won gold in women’s luge at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, she is this season’s World Cup winner and has just picked up a silver medal in Turin: who else could it be but Silke Kraushaar? And now the multi-medal-winning luge star is coming to Hannover for CeBIT 2006. On Sunday 12 March from 1.30 to 4.00 p.m. she is putting in a guest appearance at the stand of the Federal Printing Office (Bundesdruckerei).
And the reason? The Federal Stationery Office not only sponsored the German Olympic team in Turin, but also equipped the German House with a biometric accreditation system – which is now on display at CeBIT 2006.
Every visitor to the German House received a biometric ID card with a photo, personal data and six fingerprints. Only after comparing the (temporarily stored) live fingerprint with the information held on the database was admission granted.
An extra requirement was that visitors had to have their cards swiped as they left the House. This meant that the security experts always knew exactly who was in the House at any one time – potentially vital information in an emergency.
Bundesdruckerei GmbH
Oranienstr. 91
D-10958 Berlin
Tel.: +49-30 / 25 98-28 10
FAX: +49-30 / 25 98-28 08
Your contact at CeBIT 2006:
Iris Köpke
Hall 7, Stand B36
Stand (: 0511 / 89-59 71 62
E-Mail: iris.koepke@bdr.de
Personal sales adviser cuts queues at the checkout
Standing in line at the supermarket checkout could soon be a thing of the past, if a new device known as a "personal sales adviser" (PSA) catches on with shoppers. The manufacturer is exhibiting the new product at CeBIT 2006 from 9 to 15 March.
The PSA is a small portable computer which is attached to the shopping trolley. Before shoppers put their purchases in the trolley they scan the barcode into the device. The "sales adviser" not only stores the prices, but highlights current special offers on its display and lists the total value of the items in the trolley.
It is then just a matter of handing the device to the checkout girl and paying the bill. It’s very quick, it saves time and it keeps checkout queues short.
Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
Heinz-Nixdorf-Ring 1
D-33106 Paderborn
Tel.: +49-5251 / 693-52 11
FAX: +49-5251 / 693-67 67
Your contact at CeBIT 2006:
Ulrich Nolte
Hall 1, Stand K51
Stand (: 0511 / 89-63 40-0
E-Mail: ulrich.nolte@wincor-nixdorf.com
Mobile phone charms
Today nearly everyone owns a mobile phone. But not everyone owns one with a teddy bear attached, which blinks when a call comes in. The fashion for accessorizing mobile phones with one or more charms or talismans began in Japan, but has now reached Europe. And it’s not just the girls who have adopted the craze for "danglers": phone charm mania has gripped the boys as well. Tatch GmbH is presenting an impressive assortment of brand-name phone charms at CeBIT 2006.
The cute accessories are available in a wide choice of materials, shapes and colours to suit every taste: from pink hearts, glass crystals, furry tassels, freshwater pearls and original Swarovski crystals for female customers to a special "toys for boys" line, based on Gothic or Harley-Davidson design cues and made of "masculine" materials such as stainless steel and black leather.
What the key ring pendant once was, the mobile phone charm is today, it seems …
TATCH GmbH
Kolkmannskamp 10
D-44879 Bochum
Tel.: +49-234 / 417 99-11
FAX: +49-234 / 417 99-20
Your contacts at CeBIT 2006:
Gabi and Jürgen Socha
Hall 11, Stand A04
Mobile (: +49-(0)172 – 280 49 73
E-Mail: gabi@tatch.com
E-learning: a music lesson for business
Information has a very short shelf life, and lifelong learning is now the name of the game. But conventional forms of further training are relatively costly. The solution is e-learning: Internet- or Intranet-based learning is available anywhere, anytime, and the lessons or sessions can be "portioned" to suit the learner. At CeBIT 2006 the conference "E-Learning Day" on 13 March 2006 will provide a comprehensive introduction to innovative learning and teaching methods.
The conference, which takes place in the Nord/LB-Forum at the Hannover Exhibition Grounds, has been organized by nordmedia’s Kompetenzzentrum eLearning Niedersachsen at the instigation of Lower Saxony’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Sport. Minister Uwe Schünemann will be opening the event, which is aimed at promoting closer dialogue between the academic and business communities.
How e-learning solutions developed by our universities can help businesses is illustrated here with the aid of case studies, including pilot projects in geoinformatics and organization studies. A special highlight will be a live rehearsal by the European Chamber Music Academy relayed over the Internet.
While Professor Hatto Beyerle conducts in the Nord/LB-Forum, the string quartet will actually be playing in the German Pavilion on the EXPO-Plaza – with several cameras and audio channels transmitting pictures and sound.
Monday, 13 March 2006, 11.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m. (approx. timing)
Advance registration required, online form available at: info@elearning-zentrum.de
Nordmedia, Kompetenzzentrum eLearning Niedersachsen
Expo Plaza 1
D-30539 Hannover
Tel.: +49-511 / 12 34 56-33
FAX: +49-511 / 12 34 56-29
Your contact at CeBIT 2006:
Alexandra Meynberg
Nord/LB-Forum next to Hall 17,
Mobile (: +49-(0)175 – 109 37 03
E-Mail: a.meynberg@nordmedia.de
-Andrea Staude, Deutsche Messe-
photo copyright Deutsche messe
