Fall Comdex 2002 – It Is Over, But Is It Over?
While it was clear that attendance was down this year at Comdex, the demo at the Palm booth drew much attention from those who did attend. Will people be able to see demos like this if Comdex is no more?
Two things were obvious all week at Comdex 2002: attendance at this year’s Comdex was even lower than last year; and the continuation of Comdex as an event is in jeopardy. Comdex has evolved into something that is difficult to recognize from years gone by. In the past, it was a chance for sellers, buyers, industry experts and, of course, the media to gather in Las Vegas to spend time learning about the new innovations and products companies had to offer.
In addition, it was a chance to see, touch and demo the products. While it is great to look at ads and read reviews, nothing compares to seeing the products first hand and having the opportunity to talk with the product designers and company representatives one-on-one.
Other Than The Attendance, What Has Changed About Comdex?
This is not an easy one to answer. We asked some of the vendors what has changed about Comdex, and here are some of their replies:
- Comdex has let too many consumers in, and it is not the B2B show that we find useful.
- Comdex is too expensive for booth space! It costs too much to display on the show floor; we have moved to the hotel suites, which are better for us because it gives us more one-on-one time with our customers and the media.
- The dates for Comdex are all wrong! By the time Fall Comdex rolls around, buying decisions have been made for the holiday season and there is little point in showing new products.
- Not enough media provide complete coverage from Comdex, and those who do seem to focus on the biggest of stories, which does not help a small company like ours.
- We continue to have a difficult time trying to justify the money spent at Comdex. With the cost of the booth space and expenses for the employees to man the booth, we could spend as much as $7 to $10 per person attending Comdex. For that kind of expense, we would almost be better off to send each customer a t-shirt. We would get better mileage out of that than doing Comdex.
- The number and type of companies coming to Comdex has changed. Comdex no longer fits into our long-term marketing strategy.
- Comdex is ‘so over.’ Next year, we will be on the floor at CES. Besides, CES is cheaper than Comdex for booth space.
With answers like these, it is obvious that the exhibiting companies are not happy with some of the trends at Comdex. Germany has CeBIT and Taiwan has Computex; and in the minds of our readers, these shows are held in higher regard than Comdex has been for some time.
It’s true, it isn’t the Comdex of old. But if Comdex does fold, then where does that leave those dealers and distributors in the U.S.? I think the answer might be found above in one of the comments. Many companies have indicated to us that in the event that Comdex does fold, they will be at CES or in hotel suites during the CES time frame, as that would be the next best thing. CES is nearly overflowing now, as we saw at CES in January of this year. (You can check out our 2002 CES reports, Выставка бытовой электроники CES 2002: день первый & Выставка бытовой электроники CES 2002: день второй.) Journalists covering only the computer technology arena at CES will have endless other product categories to wade through, which is time consuming and can be downright distracting.
All of this can’t be good news for the CeBIT folks who plan to start next year with a new show in the U.S. called CeBIT America. Currently, little is even known about CeBIT America, other than that it will be held in New York City at the Jacob K. Javits Center from June 18-20, 2003. (Click here to find out more about CeBIT America.) These are not optimum dates, in my opinion, since mid-June is within the same time frame as Computex. Rumors continue that the CeBIT folks might step in and turn Comdex into CeBIT America. Of course, rumors are rumors, and this might be more wishful thinking than anything else.
The bottom line is that things are going to have to change in order to keep Comdex viable. Whether it is changing the dates or lowering the booth prices at the Las Vegas Convention Center to a more affordable level, something has to give. The only question left may be “Is Comdex Worth Saving?” If Comdex could get back to its ‘roots’ of being a dealer-buyer-seller/ B2B show with plenty of excellent media coverage, I think the answer is “yes!” However, the reality is that this might be the last Comdex. So, enjoy our final coverage of all of the Day 4 action at Comdex.
Gyration – The Mouse With No Cord And More
Most likely, as with us, you have never heard of a company named Gyration. Gyration is the manufacturer of a very slick device named the “Ultra Cordless Optical Mouse.” The secret behind this little gem of a product is the use of a gyroscopic motion sensor within the mouse. Yes, you read correctly: a gyroscope inside a mouse. Why, you might ask? By using this gyroscopic motion sensor, Gyration has made it possible to point and use the mouse ‘from the air,’ and eliminates the need for a mousing surface. The advantages and applications for this innovative feature are almost too numerous to mention. Some of the more common uses would be for presentations and for those who use a PC on (or with) their television.
The Gyration Ultra Mouse Professional flanked by the Mobile Keyboard. Both of these products have a 100-foot range and use RF technology.
The Ultra Mouse comes in two flavors: the Ultra Mouse and the Ultra Mouse Pro. The biggest difference between the two is the range they offer. The Ultra Mouse covers a 25-foot range, while the Ultra Mouse Pro covers a 100-foot range. With the RF technology used by both products, you can count on excellent precision tracking. In addition, when you are not using the Ultra Mouse in the air, you can use it like a normal optical mouse on a flat surface.
We were very impressed with the Gyration Ultra Mouse, and consider it to be one of the most innovative products that we have seen at Comdex this time around. It is difficult to explain how unique this product is without seeing it, but take it from us, it works very well and it could be very useful in many situations. Look forward to a more in-depth study and review from THG of the Ultra Cordless Optical Mouse, coming soon.
The Gyration Ultra Mouse in action. In this picture, you get a better idea of the application possibilities with this device.
Lian Li – A Computer Case For The Ultimate
If you have not heard about the aluminum cases that Lian Li has been building, you have either not been paying too much attention to advertising and display, or perhaps have been living under a rock. Lian Li may be called the “father” of modern aluminum case technology. When I saw my first aluminum case several years ago at the Dayton, Ohio Computerfest show, the thing that struck me most was its affordable price, even more than the design and quality.
Lian Li had a very professional booth at Comdex with an incredible selection of cases to look over. Of course, you can see the same cases on the website, but being able to physically see and touch them provides a better understanding of the quality of these products.
Lian Li had an impressive variety of new cases available. These new models focus on the small footprint form factor, as well as the Mini-PC form factor. With the introduction of all of the new Mini-PC motherboards, this is a natural for a Mini-PC used in an area (such as the living room) where you want the case to look attractive and match the dйcor of the room.
A look at the latest offerings from Lian Li. Most of the new cases are focused at the Mini-PC and small form factor market.
Lian Li continues to offer a variety of colors, as well as shapes and sizes. In this picture, you can see some of their gold and black cases, as well as full tower, rack mount and mid-tower designs.
Cooler Master – A Different Case For Success
Located across from Lian Li was the Cooler Master display. Cooler Master was showing off several new cases, as well. Perhaps most interesting were the see-through, clear-lighted fronts on their cases. Of course, Cooler Master had a variety of cases to choose from besides these.
Here are two of the most popular offerings from Cooler Master. We like them, too.
Symbol – New ‘Ruggedized’ PDA For Windows CE
Unless you are using or buying Symbol products for use in an enterprise arena, chances are you know very little about the Symbol brand. In fact, Symbol is best known for bar code scanning and the like.
The Symbol PDA line-up, which features the new Windows CE smaller form factor, located in the bottom of this picture.
Symbol is the only manufacturer that we know of that is making products for both the Palm and Windows CE platforms. The usefulness of such a device is to capture information and then “sync” that information to your master database.
Beyond this product, Symbol has some other very interesting enterprise wireless products that we also looked at and thought were really innovative. Look for us to review some of Symbol’s products in the future.
Iomega – New Places For My Stuff, Again
The thing we like most about Iomega is that they never disappoint us with their new products that provide new ways to store data. This year at Comdex, Iomega showed off new products again.
Yes, it is an external Iomega hard drive. Big deal, we can hear you saying. The key here isn’t the hard drive, however – it is the new ‘twist’ on the software included with the drive.
Iomega was showing both their 5-1/4 and 3-1/2 USB/ Firewire External hard drive families. External hard drives are nothing new, but being able to use them with “Ghost” without having to boot into Windows was ultra cool.
Iomega has come up with some new low-level drivers that will engage the USB/ Firewire port on your computer to use these new external HDD products with Ghost. The enterprise applications for such technology are obvious. Basically, all you have to do is boot from the included Iomega CD that comes with the external drive. That’s it. What a leap forward for this technology! If you can take advantage of the USB 2.0/ 1394 ports on your computer to make quick image style backups, why would you not consider this an option? Perhaps the best application will be the enterprise applications for cloning of new PCs and the backup of existing ones. Excellent news from the Iomega crew, and something that we never thought we would see!
Iomega also showed off the Mini, which is a USB flash memory storage device. Of course, most of you have seen these devices already, but the Iomega version has a good form factor and with it, Iomega hopes to compete in an already tough market. The construction is good and the size is better than many other devices in this class.
Iomega was showing off the latest version of its NAS products. We find that the Iomega NAS solutions do provide a lot of value for the price.
We also saw the new version of Iomega’s “Hot Burn” software for their CDRW product line. It offers a lot of new features that we thought were very useful. Although this isn’t the first product that you think of in this space, we liked the ease of use offered by this software. Upgrades are available for those of you who have older versions of the software, but you will have to contact Iomega for details.
Turtle Beach – Audiotron Continues To Gain Acceptance
We spent some time talking with the Turtle Beach folks and looking at all of the new features of Version 3 of their Audiotron firmware. Version 3 adds a variety of new features to the Audiotron that build upon the features in previous Audiotron firmware releases. Our favorite new feature is the clock feature.
People continue to discover the Turtle Beach Audiotron. We reviewed it at the end of last year, and we like it.
Turtle Beach isn’t sitting still, either. They have a number of new and exciting products in their development cycle. No word yet as to what these new products might be. No matter how hard we tried to pry this information from the Turtle Beach representatives, they would not give us a clue what they are working on.
Turtle Beach had no information on the possible release of a new or more advanced version of its Santa Cruz Sound Card. From our discussions with Turtle Beach, we can tell that, at least for the moment, they are focused on other projects. This is not to say that they will not release a new sound card, but if you are waiting for them to do so, you may have a bit of a wait.
Canon – G3 Looks To Be A Much Improved Version Of The G2
It seems that with every new camera Canon releases they continue to add more features and quality to their product line. The new G3 continues in this tradition. The G3 builds on the features and performance that are found in the G2, and adds even more useful functions that will be appreciated.
We took a variety of test shots with the G3 at Canon’s booth. New features we liked were the relocation of the power switch to a switch of its own, and the quality improvements to the macro mode.
While the G2 isn’t dead yet, for about $100 US more, many will consider the G3 and the improvements that it has to offer.
The Canon G3.
The Canon G3 from another angle. Notice how they have broken out the power switch into a switch of its own, unlike the G2.
Improvements to the body of the camera offer better control with the G3.
Microsoft – Bill And The Boys Do Networking
As most are aware, Microsoft has introduced a line of new networking products, both wired and wireless. We found some of these products to look quite good; the feature we liked best was for wireless products, which allows you to make a disk with all of the settings and transfer them from computer to computer to shorten setup time with multiple computers.
A look at the complete line of Microsoft networking products.
Conclusion – Nothing New To Set The World On Fire
Once again, at this year’s Comdex we saw a variety of new and innovative products that we thought were excellent. As in years past, we did not see any products that we feel are going to set the world on fire. Instead, we saw a steady stream of new products that are designed to meet the conservative nature of the current market. While there is no fault to be taken with this approach, we are not seeing the ‘breakthrough’ products launched at Comdex as in years past. The biggest news at Comdex this year was NVIDIA’s launch of the GeForceFX, and that may be what Fall 2002 Comdex will be best remembered for.
Since it is possible this might be the last year for Comdex, we thought it would be fun to choose a few products as THG’s choices for Best Of Show for Fall Comdex 2002.
In third place, we select the MSI MS-3281M Home Media Center. While MSI isn’t really sure whether they are going to market the MS-3281M, we found its technology very useful; and because it is from MSI, it should be delivered at a very competitive price.
In second place, we choose the Dell Axim X5 Personal Data Assistant (PDA). We really liked what Dell has done with this CE device. From its replaceable battery to its very sexy looking cradle, these are just two of the features that set this product apart from others in the PDA field. The Axim X5 has a lot going for it, and it appears that Dell really listened to what its customers wanted from a PDA when they designed the Axim X5.
Our choice for the THG “Best Of Comdex 2002 Award” is the Gyration Ultra Mouse Professional. While this isn’t the newest of products, we found the Gyration Ultra Mouse Professional to be the most innovative and unique product of all of the products we saw at Comdex Fall 2002. While it is difficult to describe without being able to touch and see it in action, the Ultra Mouse Professional offers the true freedom that you should get from a cordless device.
It is really tough to consider that this might be the last Comdex show; however, in a way we are glad that it may be over. As we suggested in the introduction of this article, Comdex needs to change if it is to survive. Keeping with the same old format and program just isn’t going to cut it in this up and down economy. A more focused B2B show is what is needed, and perhaps keeping consumers out of the show, as well, would allow for more business to get done. If this is the last Comdex, we thank Comdex for the memories. It’s been a good run.
