NRF Big Show

Just arrived at the NRF Big show and quite the big show it is! I haven't seen numbers yet, but I understand that advanced registrations were up about 20%. The show floor seems to have lots of good traffic, but more importantly, a lot of conversation going on. Interesting to see the wide range of technologies here, although I still think it's not as consumer-focused as I'd like. But that's me!

They have a large section on RFID technology, to help the retailers better understand how this technology works and what it can do. It's surprising that for as long as RFID has been around, we're still trying to figure out what to do with it.

A couple of trends:

As expected, lots of digital signage networks here. I haven't seen anything yet that was fundemantally different, but I'm not done yet, so I'll hold off on any final judgement.

LOTS of wireless tools, although no one is actually using wireless. I wish that people did more real demos instead of showing demos.

Surprisingly, I haven't seen any bluetooth demos, but maybe I just haven't seen them yet.

The best give away has to be the Segway at the Accruent booth. They don't have a product I'd ever use, but I'd sure love a Segway!

So that's the start of the show. I'll be back again tomorrow with more from the show floor!