First Pocket PC Conference and Expo

Now that the Pocket PC has officially celebrated its one-year anniversary, this Windows Powered mobile computing device will be honored with its first official conference and tradeshow—the Pocket PC Summit!

This three-day conference and tradeshow takes place on October 10–12, 2001, in Santa Monica, California. The Pocket PC Summit will bring together visionaries, developers, entrepreneurs, and professionals from around the globe to explore the expanding possibilities in Pocket PC business and m-commerce, application development, communications, media design & entertainment, productivity and usability, and technology.

The conference will integrate the use of handhelds into every aspect of the event, from scheduling and mobile instant messaging to interactive presentations and collaborative roundtable discussions. Additionally, attendees will be able to experience wireless LAN 802.11b technology on their own devices, as well as high-speed wireless connectivity through WAN networks and a variety of local wireless ISP providers.

Presenters and panelists for the Pocket PC Summit include some of the most innovative and successful thinkers, visionaries, and developers in the mobile computing and Pocket PC industries. Speakers from CEWindows.net, Brighthand, Microsoft, Pocket PC magazine, The Gartner Group, and more will address timely issues affecting the burgeoning Pocket PC world. To get updated topic, presenter, or panelist information, visit www.pocketpcsummit.com.

One of the innovators presenting at the conference in the Media Design and Entertainment track will be Phillip Torrone, the creator of the Macromedia Flash Authoring Kit for the Pocket PC. Les Gainous, Pocket PC application developer for Microsoft Consulting Services, will be presenting 'Introduction to Embedded Visual Basic' in the Application Development track. The complexities of video and audio for the Pocket PC will also be demystified in a session entitled 'Video and Audio—How To Encode to Windows Media for the Pocket PC,' presented by Lance Lillie, Windows Media Specialist at Microsoft. Question and answer panels consisting of experts in each field will be presented for each conference track, giving attendees access to hard-to-find answers regarding Pocket PCs and mobile communications. Chris De Herrera of CEWindows.net will be heading up the Communications track at the event and is also Chairman of the Pocket PC Summit Advisory Board.

Business and m-commerce is a focal point of the Pocket PC Summit and a number of speakers will explore ways to enhance productivity and profitability using the Pocket PC. Brad Adrian of the Gartner Group will be presenting 'Wireless Finance, Banking, and Merchant Processing for the Pocket PC'. Additional session topics include 'Streaming Mobile Advertising and Marketing for the Pocket PC' and 'Secure Wireless Access' as well as enterprise-level panel discussions such as 'Pocket PC in Industry and Government' with experts from General Motors and the U.S. Department of Defense. Vertical markets, with which the Pocket PC integrates so well, will be covered during the session, 'The Pocket PC in Vertical Market Solutions,' which will focus on health care, sales and marketing, real estate, and commercial finance.

Day Three of the event will kick off the exhibition portion of the conference. Attendees will experience the latest in hardware, accessories, infrastructure, and technology. Friday's exhibits will begin with a keynote by Mr. Peter Green, General Manager of the Handheld Computing Division (HCD) at Intel. Mr. Green's keynote will include topics covering the StrongARM processor and the Pocket PC. The major manufacturers of Pocket PC and Windows CE devices will be on hand with their latest offerings, including Casio who will be showcasing and giving away brand new BE-300's!

Also on Friday, October 12, 2001, there will be the first-ever Pocket PC magazine Best Product Awards ceremony, hosted by publisher and executive editor, Hal Goldstein. This ceremony will honor those companies and professionals who have expanded the world of the Pocket PC through their innovations. (Please see Pocket View for more details). During the exhibition, attendees will have the opportunity to win great prizes including cash, mobile hardware, and the latest Pocket PCs.