The Wide World of Wireless: CTIA Wireless 2006
The wireless telecommunications industry's largest trade show will showcase a growing range of services for cell phones.Yardena Arar
LAS VEGAS-- If you're not yet using your cell phone to play music, watch TV, or get real-time GPS navigation guidance, a growing crowd of telecom service providers and handset vendors are betting you soon will be. And most of them are gathering here this week for the wireless telecom industry's largest trade show, CTIA Wireless.
As of late last week, show organizers said CTIA Wireless 2006 was on track to draw some 40,000 attendees and 1000 exhibitors, which would make it the largest CTIA show to date. Exhibitors represent all wireless technologies, from Wi-Fi to ultra-wide broadband (UWB, a technology for transmitting large amounts of data relatively short distances that's being touted as a possible replacement for USB or similar cables).
But taking center stage this year will be the red-hot wireless telecommunications industry, encompassing everything from cell phone chip manufacturers and cell site equipment providers to handset vendors, wireless voice and data carriers, and a host of new wireless services from small startups and large corporations alike.
Magic Kingdom, AOL Go Mobile
For example, Disney Mobile is slated to announce on Wednesday (the show's official opening day) details of its family-oriented cell phone service, due this summer.
Disney last summer announced it would be leasing network capacity from Sprint to become what's known in the industry as a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO--a cell phone service that doesn't own its own spectrum and network infrastructure. Other examples include ESPN Mobile and, in the United Kingdom, Virgin Mobile.
Jumping the gun a bit on the show, America Online on Monday announced several new mobile services, including cell phone browser support for pages accessed via its AOL.com Web site and a version of MapQuest for WAP-compatible cell phone browsers (at wap.maquest.com).
Due later this year are mobile photo and blogging services, and MapQuest Navigator, a subscription service that will provide turn-by-turn spoken directions in real time on supported handsets with integrated GPS.
Celebrating the Mobile Lifestyle
As in years past, the show will feature a couple of exhibits highlighting the latest and greatest in wireless lifestyle products and services. The wireless home exhibit will feature such items as a crash-proof Chrysler car with wireless sensors that can communicate with roadside units to alert a driver in danger of drifting off the road; an Internet-enabled Samsung refrigerator that stores recipes and uses RFID technology to track food inventory; and a medicine cabinet that employs biometric and smart-label technologies from Accenture to help household members track their medications and to remind them of upcoming doctor appointments.
The ever-popular Fashion in Motion show, in which runway models show off wearable wireless gizmos and gadgets, has been augmented this year by a student competition. The student with the winning design gets a $10,000 scholarship.
Scheduled keynote speakers in general reflect the international nature of the show. In addition to FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin, Time Warner Cable president and CEO Glenn Britt, and Sprint Nextel CEO Len Lauer (who is also CTIA chairman), the opening-day keynote sessions will feature top executives from Japan telecom giant NTT DoCoMo, Scandinavian handset manufacturer Nokia, and Afghanistan's largest mobile operator, Roshan Afghanistan.