Mobile and Wireless: CeBIT 2012: Ultrabooks and Audis to Forklifts and Football
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HANNOVER, Germany—The 2012 CeBIT conference brought a wide variety of devices to the attention of both public and press. While many of these items were decidedly standard fare for a tech trade show, it was the more unusual ones that ended up attracting the most buzz. Many of the latter demonstrated how wireless technology can be used in unconventional ways. Whether tracking soccer balls or forklifts in real time, or merely enhancing the capabilities of a low-cost smartphone, wireless technology enhances multiple products in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. In addition to wireless, manufacturers and vendors at CeBIT are also using the latest technologies to enhance items, ranging from automobiles (Audi had a major presence here) to semi-rugged tablets (PaceBlade's Windows 8 touch-screen is the first of what will surely be many such devices in the months to come). If there's anything proven by conferences like this, it's that creativity is truly inexhaustible when it comes to even the most everyday things.
Real-Time Ball
The European passion for football (what we in the United States call soccer) brought about the creation of a wireless location system that can tell exactly where the ball is in real time. This has proven to be a great help in training, and in knowing when a ball is out of bounds or makes a goal in a real game. It can be used in American football, but more important, the technology can be used in real-time materials tracking.
Wayne Rash is a Senior Analyst for eWEEK Labs and runs the magazine's Washington Bureau. Prior to joining eWEEK as a Senior Writer on wireless technology, he was a Senior Contributing Editor and previously a Senior Analyst in the InfoWorld Test Center. He was also a reviewer for Federal Computer Week and Information Security Magazine. Previously, he ran the reviews and events departments at CMP's InternetWeek.He is a retired naval officer, a former principal at American Management Systems and a long-time columnist for Byte Magazine. He is a regular contributor to Plane & Pilot Magazine and The Washington Post.
