'Intelligent' vacuums, mental typewriters at top high-tech fair

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2006

BERLIN (AFP) — The world's biggest high-tech fair opens this week, showcasing the latest in robotics, computers and consumer electronics to make the hearts of gadget fans beat faster.

The CeBIT, running March 9-15 in the northern German city of Hanover, will host more than 6,200 exhibitors from 71 countries and some 474,000 visitors eager to take in new advances in digital and information technology.

Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the fair has recovered its stride after a difficult five years marked by uncertainty in the sector after the burst of the Internet bubble.

The ripple effect throughout the hardware, software and telecommunications industries is only beginning to smooth out, but a new optimism is catching hold as new gizmos to capture...