CeBIT 2004 offers the platform for manufacturers to bring the new and exciting to Hanover with expectation that wireless technology was to be the buzz. The big Mobile companies did not disappoint its clear from both Sony Ericsson and Motorola that the camera phone is still high on their agendas.

Sony Ericsson are showing off the K700 which is to be the successor to the highly regarded T610, it sports improved connectivity with Bluetooth, GPRS and USB, also new from the Sony camp the Z500 clamshell phone and the unique S700. From what we've seen the S700 looks like the one to watch its pivot design allows the phone to open with a twist to reveal the keyboard and it packs a 1.3 mega pixel camera and a large 262k TFT screen, plus the usual connectivity and excellent OS makes us think this will be a winner when it hits the UK.

Over on the Motorola stand the MPX Smartphone (already previewed on lordpercy.com) was drawing crowds despite them trying to push MotoNext their wireless connectivity solution, which is essentially a branded Bluetooth connection. One thing to watch is "push to talk" which is being trialled in the US, this effectively allows mobile users to communicate as if the were using 2 way radios, the system utilises Tetra technology currently deployed in PMR radios, quite if this is what mobile phone users want remains to be seen.

Nokia have taken an altogether different turn towards RFID, the mobile giant has announced its intention to build RFID into its range of products, the mobiles will be able to integrate RFID tags in other devices or equipment this can then trigger a preset action. For example touching your mobile onto a colleagues mobile could initiate the transfer of a Bluetooth contact card or touching your PDA would open a connection and sync your email, the possibilities are endless but so are the privacy issues which we touched on in Lordpercys RFID article.

And finally from the mobile maker NEC a phone that can take snaps in the dark, the NEC N400i has an integrated LED light which acts a bit like a flash but is bright enough to see you to your door and find your keys, whatever next!

Away from the big mobile companies a firm favourite of Lordpercy.com Tom Tom have unveiled their next generation navigation product, Tom Tom 3 promises improved mapping and integration with GPRS mobile devices to make use of traffic information within route planning.

And to top it all off we now have the Swiss Army Knife with Bluetooth storage, mind you some of those tooth picks and nail files never were of use so perhaps Boy Scouts will sit round the campfire exchanging MP3's instead of carving things out of wood who knows!

Thanks to John for his help with this report

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