The Hindu Business Line : Digital lifestyle expo gets good turnout

Local digerati descended on the Digital Lifestyle Exhibition organised by Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT) last week in Kochi. Twenty-one brands participated in the exhibition. The likes of Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Bharti Airtel and Apple set up world-class booths at the exhibition.

The Mayor of Kochi, Ms Mercy Williams, inaugurated the exhibition and advised visitors to "remember to make the right choice". Residents of Kochi strolled around the stalls, examining the MP3 playing wristwatch, reading brochures of Nokia's latest smart phone (the E62) and inspecting the newly launched WeP UPS (un-interruptible power supply) system.

One-year Guarantee

Though the first day saw a poor turnout to the expo, the outlook improved on day two with naval officers, college students, businessmen and even senior citizens swarming the exhibition — testing gadgets, asking questions and leaving with information. The exhibition even braved the paralysing effect of the strike on December 14 . On the final day, the organisers saw a resurgence of interest from Kochi's residents.

Visitors clamoured for the new, exciting gadgets at Bangalore-based Computer Kitchen's stall. Sunglasses that play music, watches that can store your presentation and notebook accessories wowed laymen. While such imported gizmos are available in local bazaars, the company offers a one-year guarantee, which makes all the difference.

"We are hoping to spread awareness, and hope they can get a tangible understanding of technology before they make a purchase decision," said a company official.

WHY KOCHI

When this question was put to the organisers, Mr K.S. Nandakumar, Director, Southern region, MAIT, said: "We wanted to take digital lifestyle to smaller towns. Kochi has potential to be a hub for IT usage."

While most companies admitted they were participating to test the buying potential for IT products in a Tier 2 city such as Kochi, others vouched that Kochi had a `huge potential'.

What can be determined from the crowd's eager interest and knowledge of products was that Tier 2 cities are being underestimated and reaching them may blossom a whole new market for IT goods in the country.

"The crowd here is tech-savvy, and understands terms like P4 and Core2Duo," said Mr Sabu C.K., Business Development Executive, Excel Systems, Kochi.

"Kochi is a growing market. We saw only 3-4 corporate users and the majority were home users," informed Mr Ciju K. Raj, Territory Sales In-charge, WeP Peripherals, Kochi. And all the stall owners agreed that this port city boasts the potential to draw an IT-savvy crowd, when compared to other cities in the culturally evolved State of Kerala, or even to other second tier cities nation-wide.

Cute Products

Among the recently launched gadgets displayed for the first time in India were the Music Marker, a simple gadget that allows you to hum a tune, press a button and search for the MP3, download it and play it within minutes. The company is in talks with Airtel and Hutch to distribute the device, which will cost Rs 3,000. Two other products by the company addressing the under-ten segment (kids) were a Hello Kitty MP3 player and Mickey FM radio.

WeP Peripherals showcased a fingerprint sweep sensor USB drive at the expo, which was launched only in November. This flash drive is capable of storing up to 3 fingerprints of employees. The drive, when plugged in, can lock a file on a desktop with this biometric feature.

Attracting Visitors

The IP (internet protocol) phone by D-Link also attracted the attention of several visitors. The DPH-10U phone uses Skype (a voice over IP software) and was launched in October, informed Mr Ashraf Sainuddeen, CTO, Digicom — distributors of D-Link products in Kochi. This phone, when connected to a PC and by using calling cards by either Net4India or Delta3, can be used to make a phone call over the Internet.

This phone is a simple, sleek instrument that offers background noise-reduction for voice clarity. Apple Computers' stall showcased its range of iPod music players, including the clip-on Shuffle, which costs Rs 4,800 and has 1 GB storage capacity. The Mac laptops and desktops, including the Mac mini, were also featured.

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