Wireless Networking at the Pocket PC Summit

When I attend conferences and trade shows I expect to see or hear about the latest technologies, but with the exception of closely guarded demonstrations, I rarely am able to use the technology myself. However, I was delightfully surprised by the variety of wireless applications available to the attendees of the Pocket PC Summit that was held October 21-24 in Hollywood, California.

Symbol provides free Wi-Fi hotspots

The most-used technology demonstration was a Wi-Fi hotspot sponsored by Symbol Technologies (www.symbol.com). Symbol supplied ten 802.11b access points that were installed around the conference and exhibit areas. Symbol loaned PC or CompactFlash Wi-Fi cards to attendees that didn't have their own, and provided Wi-Fi-equipped Symbol Pocket PCs to those who wanted them. The security deposit on the cards was so low, it seemed that Symbol was encouraging you to keep them. In fact, if you told them in advance that you intended to keep the card, they provided all the packaging and documentation up front, so you wouldn't need to return to their desk to pick them up later.

There were some problems with the Wi-Fi network the first day, related to the hotel's wired computer network and IT staff. But Chris De Herrera was in charge of the Summit's network and got things working. Lesson: Always have a qualified network architect around if you're setting up a wireless network in your enterprise.

There was one other minor problem with the Wi-Fi network in the early morning of day three. One of the hotel's IT staff unplugged the unauthorized power strip he found in the hotel's computer room. Unfortunately, it was powering the Summit's network server. Fortunately this was discovered before breakfast and fixed before the first keynote speech of the day.

The wireless network was open to anyone and allowed users to connect to the Internet, which was not only handy for visiting Web sites, but also for keeping up with one's e-mail. The Summit also had a local Web site with daily news releases and conference schedules.

Asking questions without shouting

One of the most interesting technology demonstrations was provided by Epiphan (www.epiphan.com), the makers of CEAnywhere. Using a customized version of their CEAnywhere remote control software, audience members were able to view the screens of the presenter's Pocket PC on their own Pocket PCs over the Wi-Fi network, as well as post questions for the presenter to answer at the end of the presentation.

Unfortunately, while Epiphan was able to provide a demonstration at the end of one of the keynote sessions, few speakers took advantage of this capability at the Summit. This was not due to any deficiency of the software, which I spent some time with and found to be quite easy to use. I think that the Summit needed to do a better job of making the speakers aware of its availability and training them on how to use it.

Of course, such growing pains are not unusual when new technology is tried for the first time, and I'm sure that Epiphan and the Summit will have all the kinks worked out for next year's event. This certainly has great potential for making the question-and-answer periods far more interesting.

At most conferences, the Q&A time can be quite awkward. Sometimes the speaker asks for questions from the audience and there is dead silence. The speaker leaves the podium wondering if anyone was listening, and the audience members sit there feeling bad that they didn't have any questions for the speaker. At other times, someone asks a question that is either off-topic or simply unintelligible. Then there are the attendees that attempt to monopolize the available time by getting into a debate with the speaker.

The Epiphan technology at the Summit addressed all these issues. Because the speaker can see the questions posted before the Q&A period, he or she can prioritize questions by importance and plan the amount of time to give to each question. Also, since the speaker reads the questions to the audience before answering them, both the questions and the answers can be clearly understood. I look forward to seeing this great innovation in action at the next Pocket PC Summit.

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