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Comdex has appeal for the newbie : Some booths were bland, but there were insightful keynotes and wireless applications galore

I've wanted to attend a Comdex trade show for some years now, and finally the demands of various client projects aligned to create a gap into which I could sneak a trip to Comdex in Vancouver.

The hottest item at the show was Sharp's Zaurus SL-5500, a Linux-based PDA in a matte chrome case. It sported a higher resolution, colour screen like the Pocket PC, two expansion slots and a slide-out two-thumbs keyboard. In addition to a soft keyboard and handwriting recognition, the PDA offers word-completion based on the leading characters that are input.

I believe the combination of Linux and Java will lead to the creation of innovative enterprise applications such as distributed inventory update for retail and listing query for real estate. At JavaOne 2002 in San Francisco, Sharp sold out all 2000 units. The Zaurus appealed to many techies because of its attractive price, many features and implementation of Java.

For my tastes, WorldCom and BEA win the prize for the most bland, cold and unattractive booths, while many software suppliers and the telcos made better use of their booths with effective text and graphics.

Particularly interesting was a terrific keynote speech by Robert Mountain, the chief operating officer of Sympatico-Lycos, about the challenges of achieving profitability as an Internet portal. His message was directly relevant to IT management wanting to build Web site traffic.

Wireless applications for PDAs and cellular phones are gaining momentum. A considerable number of hardware vendors, software developers and telcos displayed these devices. I saw several innovative applications for data entry and database query that will appeal to enterprises.

The Microsoft .Net Boot Camp was packed. With the software firm's .Net vision now being expressed in developer tools, it has become more tangible and intriguing to the developer community. Microsoft is making a determined effort to ensure these tools exhibit the scalability and robustness that enterprises see as essential.

Comdex was a worthwhile experience for a newbie like me. The incessant spiels of the competing hawkers in every aisle gave the event needed buzz and energy.

And for the enterprise, the meassage is think about how wireless can improve your business.

Yogi Schulz is president of Corvelle Consulting Inc. yschulz@corvelle.com