DemoMobile 2004: Next-Generation Mobile Ideas on Parade

By Alex Pournelle

November 22, 2004

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DemoMobile is an offspring of Demo, started by Stewart Alsop 15 years ago as a showcase for cool new products. This year's DemoMobile was held in La Jolla, California, home to dozens of biotech companies and dozens of other startups, with Chris Shipley taking over the emcee duties. Mobile, like its older sibling, is structured into two main parts: the general session, where the companies (two dozen, this time) each have six minutes to demonstrate their new products, and the exhibits area, where you can see them in action. The six-minute demos are judged, and the best presenter is awarded the title of "Demo god." This slightly irreverent tone carries through the entire show; not exactly snarky but definitely not taking itself too seriously.

Though the products on offer were (mostly) mobile-oriented, they varied from new mobile handsets to mobile services to infrastructure components. Only a few gave me the "huh?" reaction I remember from the bad old dot-com days, when so many products took far too long to explain (and often weren't on sale for much longer). Most looked to have a serious business case behind them, and were even fun.

New Handsets, New Features

In the mobile business, it's a handset, not a phone, and among the new ones shown was the new BlackBerry 7100T device; there's also a Euro/Asia 7100c. The most notable feature is the new SureType keypad; instead of the usual thumb-key layout so familiar to CrackBerry addicts everywhere, the 7100 combines keys (Q with W, E with R). As you type, it predicts what word you're spelling, and you can either pick the word you like, or just keep typing. When your typing is done, it's usually chosen the right word.

I thought I'd hate it, but 2 minutes of experimentation changed my mind.

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