The CeBIT 2001 tradeshow in Hanover, Germany, is the perfect opportunity for Motorola to unveil a new attitude, new products, and a focused message: We're a technology leader committed to the promise of making things smarter and life better for people and the environments in which they live, work, and play.

The World Business Fair for Office Automation, Information Technology, and Telecommunications, or CeBIT, is an annual technology tradeshow that gives companies an opportunity to show their wares to an enthusiastic public.

CeBIT, which traces its roots to the 1950s, has grown rapidly over the years. Now boasting some 800,000 visitors and drawing more than 8,000 companies from around the globe as exhibitors, CeBIT is the largest tradeshow in the world, its exhibitions sprawling through more than two dozen buildings.

Even in the midst of the hubbub, Motorola’s eye-catching CeBIT booth stands out among the many exhibitors. By the way, don't be fooled by the word booth: This isn’t the ring toss at the county fair. A CeBIT booth for a major company such as Motorola can cover the better part of a sizable building. This year, Motorola's booth is a two-story affair centered on two large exhibit rooms, with smaller, adjoining display rooms and press lounges on the second floor. The company also has a separate building, called the Pavilion, dedicated to Motorola and its business partners.

The Message

The message of our new Intelligence Everywhere™ trademark is immediately visible as you approach the booth, showing brilliantly in blue and white on a rear-projection screen the size of a boxcar. Projected words "here," "there," and "everywhere" flash across the walls and ceiling, reminding you that Motorola is focused on making things smarter and life better for people and the environments in which they live, work, and play. It all begins with the person—YOU—and the world that you take with you everywhere you go. The environments are those through which you move every day—the Home, the Work Team, and the Automobile.

The booth captures our focus and expresses our new attitude with an array of stunning visuals, music, and—above all—cool new products from Motorola. Images of these products appear on giant, rear-projection screens and as projections on the walls. The booth is also studded with flat-screen monitors, some mounted on the walls, some arrayed in sleek columns rising into the air. All these images depict the untethered life enabled by smart, connected devices.

In one section of the booth, in a presentation window, hourly demonstrations are made by a white-clad performer with shocking purple hair, surrounded by video monitors. The sounds, lighting, colors, images—it’s the embodiment of a lifestyle that is high-tech, yet lively and free.

The Products

Of course, the real attraction of a company's exhibit is products, and Motorola has many smart and simple products to show.

New Motorola phones are a wildly popular draw. The booth doesn’t just have images of mobile phones for you to stare at, but the real thing—working phones for you to play and fall in love with, tethered (just this one time) to display cases. Much of the Motorola booth is dedicated to promoting GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), the high-speed wireless service that has begun to roll out in Europe and Asia. The exhibit features several GPRS handsets, including the V.series™ 66 phone, the Timeport™ 260 phone, the Timeport™ 280 phone, the Talkabout® 192 phone, and the Accompli™ 008 all-in-one handset.

Other products and technologies will attract your notice as well. A mock-up car anchors Motorola's "Smart Car" exhibit featuring the innovative iRadio™ Telematics System that brings wireless, server-based infotainment services to the car. Work team products on display include Dimetra (DIgital Mobile Enhanced Trunked RAdio) solutions, including two-way radio handsets that look more like slim cellular phones than chunky walkie-talkies and combine "press to talk" individual and group communications with advanced mobile phone features.

Such products as these are either available now or soon will be, but some of the most popular products of the exhibit are scheduled to appear a little bit further down the road.

The Future

Motorola’s booth not only demonstrates today’s smart products but also paints a compelling vision of the future. One section of the booth in particular is dedicated to products that you can't run out and buy—at least, not yet.

You can see six concept products that, although not yet commercially available, demonstrate how creativity and the current trends in wireless technology can come together to create the must-have items of tomorrow.

One concept is called Other's Eyes, a garment with miniature cameras that would allow your friends and family to view your life experiences on the Web. Another is the Mood Hood, a high-tech hood that would serve as a smart, portable sound system, a wearable "life soundtrack." Other futuristic concept products continue the theme of wireless devices that could be used to record, communicate, and manage key information in life, both for business or pleasure.

When you leave CeBIT this year, you will feel that you’ve caught a glimpse of tomorrow.