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CommunicAsia 2011 - Roll Call

By Seow Tein Hee - 20 Jun 2011

CommunicAsia 2011 - Roll Call

CommunicAsia 2011 - Roll Call

Asia's largest infocomm trade show, CommunicAsia 2011, will be kicking off in just a few days. Starting from 21st June to 24th June, CommunicAsia will be the platform for mobile technology to converge and showcase the latest and best in the business to trade partners. However, unlike previous years, CommunicAsia 2011 will be leaving the expansive halls at the Singapore Expo, in lieu of the centralized Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre.

Every year, the shakers in the mobile industry will participate alongside various other companies, with a few changes to the nominal roll for 2011. So here's what you will expect to hear from the following vendors as we report live from the various press conferences and booth coverages in the next few days.

CommunicAsia 2011 Twitter Update
As we move along the CommunicAsia 2011 show floor and the press conferences outside of the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre, we will also be providing timely updates and reports on our Twitter feed. Do follow us on Twitter and mark the #cmma2011 hash tag to gather updates from the CommunicAsia 2011 crowd.

 

Attendees

 

Over the last few years, Nokia has always held its own event, dubbed as Nokia Connection, one day before CommunicAsia. This year, the Finnish company retains the namesake, but it will be one of the main participants in CommunicAsia 2011. With the earlier Windows Phone 7 partnership announcement between Nokia and Microsoft cemented, all eyes are on the first Windows Phone 7 device bearing Nokia's name. However, early estimates have placed the Windows Phone 7 launch at Q4 2011 at the earliest, so we won't put our hopes on seeing this device.

What is known is that Nokia's CEO, Stephen Elop, will be attending Nokia Connection, delivering the keynote address to its attendees. According to Nokia, Elop's keynote address is aimed to provide "an overview of Nokia's new strategy, the resulting new ecosystem and the importance of the South East Asia Pacific market in the new strategy.". Meanwhile, word has it that a Maemo device will finally see the light of day on 21st June, coinciding with Nokia Connection and CommunicAsia 2011.

Huawei has been a recurring participant for CommunicAsia, and this year is of no exception. The company has recently focused its efforts on affordable smartphones, specifically on the Google Android platform. Judging from its earlier announcements for its new under S$500 Android devices, some of which pre-loaded with Google Android 2.3, it's apparent that the Chinese company is gearing up to target the mass market with affordable, yet feature ready devices.

This year, Huawei takes a cue from its counterparts such as Nokia and Samsung, with a separate event on top of its booth presence at CommunicAsia 2011. An upcoming Android tablet, named as the Huawei Mediapad, will be one of its major announcements at its press conference on Monday 20th June, a day before CommunicAsia 2011 kicks off. And if you are wondering how the MediaPad looks like, Huawei has released a teaser video that doesn't really tell much, and leaves us wondering at the message behind it.

Like every year, Sony Ericsson will be hosting its own regional press conference during CommunicAsia, but will be absent from the show floor. With most of its Xperia lineup for 2011 revealed at Mobile World Congress 2011, especially the highly anticipated Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, we have to say that the Sony Ericsson showcase might be a mellow affair.

As to what the company will be presenting, there has been no hint. What we do know is that there will be four new Sony Ericsson products making its debut at the press conference.

Research in Motion just ended their annual BlackBerry World in May, and a myriad of hardware such as the BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry Bold 9900 made its debut at the event held in the States. The past few CommunicAsia shows didn't see much action from the Canadian company even though it has a booth situated within the show floor. This is mostly attributed to the timing of its product launches, which were either far earlier or later than the mid-year period.

This year, we should be able to get some hands-on time with the Bold 9900. Besides hardware updates such as a 1.2GHz processor and being the first of its Bold series to incorporate a physical QWERTY keyboard and touch screen, the Bold 9900 will also sport the new BlackBerry 7 OS. That aside, we should also spot the PlayBook at the BlackBerry booth.

NTT DOCOMO has always been an interesting booth to visit, and judging from what we saw of their showcase of waterproof phones and glasses-free 3D displays at Mobile World Congress 2011, there's quite likely a number of sights to behold.

Based on a press release by NTT DOCOMO, what we will be seeing are advanced interactive augmented-reality technology for mobile applications, near-field communication initiatives and content distribution on its networks. While these new mobile technology are worth a look, chances are, you won't see it or any of its accompanying devices coming into the Singapore market anytime soon.

 

Absentees

Two of the biggest presence in the previous CommunicAsia shows, Samsung and LG, will not be participating in CommunicAsia 2011.

Even with Nokia rejoining the CommunicAsia party, not all vendors have always participated in the annual trade show. Companies such as HTC and Dell have not participated in the previous few CommunicAsia events. Meanwhile, there are a few departures such as ASUS, and most notably, the absence of the two Korean chaebols, Samsung and LG. While this is the first time Samsung will be absent from CommunicAsia, LG has departed from the trade show since 2010.

The absence of these two companies that typically take up a huge floor space during CommunicAsia could mean a quieter event for this year. Regardless, we will be making our rounds at the usual vendors, and hopefully spot some interesting highlights and share more insights from the trade show over the next few days.

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