Over 60 British-based companies will be represented at the exhibition, mostly in a group presentation organised by Trade Fair Support, on behalf of the trade organisation Intellect, and with the backing of UK Trade & Investment, the government body responsible for promoting exports from and inward investment into the United Kingdom.

High-speed POS thermal printer

The exhibition will be used for the public launch in the region of the latest high-speed POS (point-of-sale) thermal printer from Star Micronics (1).

Initially designed as a lottery ticket printer, the TSP1000 offers an innovative ticker stacker, making it suitable for applications in kitchens, cinemas, theatres and amusement parks. The stacker accommodates up to 30 tickets and the sensor can be defined by software to print one ticket at a time. In a restaurant environment this means table priority can be maintained.

Developed to ultimately issue tickets of up to 0.15mm/150gsm in thickness, it incorporates paper rolls of up to 180mm diameter and is further enhanced by Star Micronics’ minimum design specification for “drop-in and print” paper loading and assured performance longevity.

A new generation of visual card systems – the TCP400 - will also be showcased. Specifically designed for the loyalty, membership, electronic purse and security/ID sectors, it is also suitable for applications such as re-useable airline tickets and boarding passes. It utilises a credit-card style re-writable card from o.o6 to 0.84 microns thick that can be re-written up to 500 times. Supplied with a USB interface as standard, it is also available with a RS232C serial alternative and a wireless version in planned for later in the year.

Several additions

The British Power Conversion Company (BPC) (2) will be launching several new additions to its range of UPS and power protection products.

These include the PowerPal P series line interactive UPS (pictured), offering continued data integrity and optimum file server performance under a wide range of mains power conditions. The PowerTower on-line double conversion UPS comes with parallel redundant modules ranging from 4kVA to 24kVA, with the option of a 120VDC battery system suitable for long runtime options.

Other new items from the company are the PowerRack, a versatile range of racks and cabinets to meet the specific needs of the cabling, data storage, networking and communications markets, and an improved PowerPrem range of intelligent line interactive true sinewave UPS in a tower/rack convertible design.

SIP products

A new range of SIP (session initiated protocol) products will be showcased by Digitalk (3), a developer of intelligent voice switching platforms.

The products allow service providers to take advantage of emerging services, such as mobility, video and presence, which use the features of SIP. SIP trunking enhances the routing capabilities of the existing Digitalk platform, while SIP Proxy Server provides registration and authentication at the edge of the network for SIP phones for broadband telephony applications and for more find-me/follow-me services. Finally, SIP Application Server offers a pure software-based NGN (next generation networks) solution to allow implementation of Digitalk applications within large scale IP networks.

Recently introduced

Two recently introduced products – the P640i and P330i – will be highlighted by Zebra Technologies (4).

The P640i is a dual-sided colour card printer with a built-in, dual-sided laminator aimed at companies and government agencies that require long-lasting, tamper-resistant ID cards for secure applications. The unit prints full colour cards, then applies a 1.0-mil laminate to both sides simultaneously and is capable of printing up to 120 cards per hour. Features include the ability to apply protective customisable holographic laminates to both sides, gray-on-gray printing, micro text printing that prevents copying and secure UV printing.

A single-sided, full colour plastic card printer/encoder, the P330i features a patent-pending card feeder system that uses the weight of the card stack itself to provide consistent feeding. It supports a range of card thicknesses from 10-mil to 60-mil proximity cards and the feeder can hold up to 220 cards (30-mil) with the addition of two plastic extension pieces and three screws. The patent-pending printhead assembly offers a “floating gimbal” action that automatically adjusts to uneven card surfaces.

Local operation

In addition to introducing a fibre optic patchcord and pigtail range, cabling and fibre optics distributors Auriga (5) will launch Auriga-NeST Middle East, its dedicated operation in the region.

Designed to compete at the no brand, low-cost end of the market, Opti-Link patchcords are available in 62.5/125 µm and 50/125µm specifications. The ten most popular duplex combinations are available, including ST, SC, MT-RJ and LC connector types and all patchcords are available in a choice of 1m, 2m, 3m, 5m or 10m cable lengths. Pigtails are also available in both 62.5/125µm and 50/125µm specifications, with a choice of ST, SC, MT-RJ or LC connectors in 1m lengths.

Group stand

Five Glasgow-Scotland-based companies operating with in the software sector will come together under a Glasgow City Council (6) stand called Targeting Innovation.

Focusing on supporting business development and growth through innovation, it aims to help turn ideas into reality. The business development support offered includes strategy development, product/service development, business/technology due diligence, advice on grant funding, raising capital, technology transfer, marketing and human resources.

The five companies represented on the stand are: Archetype Distribution (UK) (7); Restaurantdiary.com (8); Purple Patch Wireless (9); and TransGnosis (10).

Archetype is an innovative software program for the design office that integrates document creation, document management, project management and practice management in one package. It creates everyday documents such as faxes, e-mails, letters, architect’s instructions, certificates, drawing issues, schedules, snagging lists, risk assessments, minutes and agendas and then automatically manages them within project files that everyone involved can access. Every document is given a unique document reference and any document can be located without needing file or folder names.

A suitable local partner is being sough by TeleIT to help develop applications for an Arabic version of an innovative search engine. Rather than being a general search engine, best results are for narrow areas of interest such as sport, financial services, areas of industry or local geographic regions. The local partner would assist is areas such as production of specialist Arabic news portal and information services.

Designed to replace the paper-based restaurant diary, Restaurantdiary.com is a web-based system being launched for the first time in the Middle East. Requiring only an Internet connection and web browser, the diary allows the restaurant to manage bookings from any source – live from their web site, over the telephone or by fax.

Formed in November 2002, Purple Patch Wireless was founded to meet the needs of an increasingly mobile workforce in both the public and private sectors. It claims to be the only company in the world to have developed a fully managed end-to-end hotspot solution. Supporting both WiFi and Bluetooth technologies, its hotspot-in-a-box hardware, which is installed in venues, offers access point infrastructure, remote hosted authentication and management software, flexible payment and billing systems, and the ability to handle dense user populations.

The final company on the Glasgow stand is TransGnosis, offering IT content delivery and employee Internet management (EIM) services, delivered as an ASP solution.

Middle East debut

Due to make its Middle East debut at Gitex 2005 is the SP75 card printer from Datacard Group (11).

Designed for mid- to high-volume issuance programmes, it offers two-sided, full-colour or monochrome printing and utilises the company’s Advanced Imaging Technology™. To extend card life, and add security, issuers have a choice of one or two in-line laminators featuring virtual edge-to-edge DuraGard® laminate. Optional magnetic stripe encoding and advanced smart card personalisation features can be either factory installed or field upgraded to meet future requirements.

Telephone systems

Two products from its range of business and special application telephones will be showcased by Interquartz (12).

The Voyager Hotel Telephone system model 9281 (pictured) offers 10 non-volatile memories and a modem port plus features such as ringer indicator light, ringer volume and pitch adjustment, last number redial and recall buttons. It can be wall mountable with no additional bracket required. Also on show will be the Avaya Gemini CLI 9335-AV single-line analogue telephone made with a high-impact plastic casing, double injection moulded buttons and non-slip rubber feet. Features include caller ID, handsfree and headset compatibility.

First time on show

Being shown for the first time will be new versions of IMnet and IMserv enclosures from APW Electronics (13).

IMnet is a 19 inch datacabling enclosure and IMserv a 19 inch server enclosure, and they have been designed to work together to allow a future-proofed and best practice networking infrastructure. Providing standard and modified solutions into the telecoms, datacom, AVB and security markets, the brand names marketed by the company include: VERO; IMRAK; Pioneer; IMnet; IMserv; PFT; EMI; and Stantron.

First time exhibitor

Exhibiting at Gitex for the first time will be Datapulse (14), a company strongly aligned with Nortel and providing applications to support Nortel’s systems, both IP and traditional telephony.

Products of particular interest will be the Citrix Applications Gateway to deliver applications to IP phones and mobile devices, and Operator Gateway, claimed to be the only IP operator console solution currently available to customers with Nortel IP systems. Citrix will be shown on Nortel’s new 2007 IP phones based on hospitality - ordering room service, viewing menus, selecting services and searching directories via the built-in phone screen.

Operator Gateway will be working on CS 1000 IP switch and demonstrations will show how operators using the system on an IP network can improve call handling efficiency and customer service.

Regional alliance

Al Adeeb Information Technology is the regional alliance of Sophos UK and a1eb (15) to distribute IT security solutions across the Middle East.

The complete range of Sophos security software will be promoted to offer customers in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Iran the latest anti-virus and anti-spam solutions.

KVMC switch offers many features

A variety of innovative features are claimed for UltraConsole, the latest KVMC (keyboard, video, mouse, console) switch from Rose Electronics (16).

As well as being a multi-platform KVM switch allowing access to equipment down to bios level, it also supports serial terminal devices. This means that all equipment in a rack – whether it is a server, a network device, telephony or other equipment – can be controlled and accessed from a common controlling terminal. The unit has Rose’s UltraBus interconnectivity system integrated into it so that if UltraConsole units are cabled together, users connected to one unit can access servers and devices connected to other UltraConsole chassis.

Also new from the company is Ultra5, an alternative to cat5-based KVM systems. It is a cable system specially designed for KVM transport and offers, says the company, twice the video bandwidth of cat5. Capitalising on the concentration capabilities of the company’s distributed matrix switch system, Ultra 5 can use up to 90% less cable than conventional cat5-based KVM systems.

Tooling and test equipment

A wide range of tooling and test equipment for professional data and telecom installers will be highlighted by specialist manufacturer Mills (17).

As well as demonstrating the new Lancaster 1000, which certifies network continuity to TIA568A/B, the company will be showing dedicated toolkits for professional voice and data technicians, service engineers, security, CATV and satellite installers, plus a wide range of hand and power tools. Test equipment will also be displayed, including specialist fibre and voice testers, LAN cabling certifiers, satellite, CATV testers and general electrical test equipment.

Old and new

Orthogon Systems (18) specialises in innovative point-to-point (PtoP), wireless Ethernet bridges, operating at 5.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz, interfacing at ISO layer 2.

At Gitex it will be promoting it’s most mature product – a PtoP wireless Ethernet bridge called OS-Gemini – and its latest offering – OS-Spectra – which can deliver a maximum of 300 Mbps to the Ethernet over ranges of between 1km and 200km. Both offer integrated and connectorised versions, can be supplied as full data rate (300 Mbps) and the ‘lite’ half data rate (150 Mpbs).

Award winner

Named as Product of the Year 2004 by BiometriTech magazine online, ACTAtek is an SSL-protected access control and time attendance system from Hectrix (19).

Will all software and hardware built-in to the system, it can be used in a standalone mode while a TCP/IP networking protocol allows it to be operated in a multiple device environment in primary and secondary mode, enhancing its functionalities. Being completely web-based it can be accessed via any standard web browser, including PDAs and pocket PC phones.

Independent group

@IT Partnership Group (20) is a totally independent privately owned and funded UK group of limited companies that provide independent and impartial consultancy and installation services focused on KVM, WAN, DVI and LAN solutions.

In conjunction with Dubai-based IT company Alpha Data, the group exhibit will focus on digital signage and AV distribution systems supplied by group member DVI Partnership, and server management supplied by group member KVM Partnership.

Recent acquisitions

In addition to promoting it’s Netcool suite of programmes for use in finance, service provider and government companies, Micromuse (21) will be detailing information about the recent acquisitions of Quallaby, for performance monitoring, and GuardedNet, for security applications.

Micromuse is a leading provider of ultrascalable, real time business and service assurance software.

Blown fibre system

Of particular interest on the Molex Premise Network (22) stand will be Laserstream, a new blown fibre system.

Because it can be literally blown through its tubes after the infrastructure has been laid (without any disruption or building works) its flexibility makes it ideal for projects that are implemented in phases or where business requirements are not determined when a building’s cable structure is put in place. Also on show will be Molex Real Time Patching system, an intelligent infrastructure management system that allows IT managers to monitor and manage their cable network and associated IT hardware. Molex provides a wide range of cabling systems that transport voice, data, video imaging and all LAN applications.