A $300 cigar-shaped pen from cell phone maker Sony Ericsson is not just an ordinary writing tool.
Beneath the plastic cover rests a built-in digital camera and a radio transmitter that sends scribbles to another person's phone, personal computer or personal digital organizer.
Like every year, thousands of manufacturers ranging from those making mobile phones, laptop computers, automatic teller machines to digital cameras vie for customer attention.
This week-long event is known to be the stage for many more odd gimmicks, like a small machine that lets you print out text messages received on a mobile phone.
Hitachi also showed the industry had not lost its sense of imagination as it showed a prototype mobile device, shaped like a grapefruit half and without a keypad. A series of tilts and shakes are supposed to give access to e-mail, movie clip and music functions.
Seoul-based Internet Security showed off a cyberkey in the shape of a small clear-blue plastic fish, which allows the user to read encrypted mail or control the use of the computer as they would a car with a key.
Cell phone crowds
As usual, mobile phone makers, which represent the largest segment of the consumer-electronics industry, drew the largest crowds after the show opened on Wednesday.
Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, showed off a tiny phone with a color screen and a built-in FM radio. Other manufacturers like South Korea's Samsung won many admirers with its range of color screen phones.
As in past years, prototype mobile phones that fit on to your wrist were showcased here. Siemens, the world's third-largest cell phone maker, showed several devices, one which has built-in global positioning and another that sports a camera.
However, as with many of these futuristic products, Siemens declined to say when they would be on shop shelves.
Simon Scholes, analyst at Bankgesellschaft Berlin, injected a note of caution, saying there was little point in introducing color screens until attractive services were offered with them.
That remains the challenge for the industry.
"We are going to stop selling things for the future. Under promise and over deliver. That's what we are focusing on here," said Philip Vanhoutte, marketing executive of Sony Ericsson.
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