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The largest technology trade show in the world, CeBIT 2004, begins tomorrow in Hannover Germany. Over 600,000 people are expected to attend the event with many handheld, smartphone and mobile accessory companies among the many vendors ready to showcase their latest wares.

At this years show, Toshiba announced that it would be demonstrating several of its most recent advancements in mobile technology. This comes as now surprise, as the company pushed the Pocket PC forward this year with the advent of the first VGA (640x480) display for a device, the e805, running on the Windows Mobile platform.

SD-BOOK

A folding two-page (dual-panel) designed system for reading eBook content. The company claims the device is as easy to hold as a paperback. It incorporates two high-resolution 7.7-inch low temperature polysilicon LCDs. Security features aim to make the SD-Book useful for both B2C and B2B applications, including mobile e-learning, security control and content distribution.

Organic LED Viewer

According to Toshiba, this concept model demonstrates the advantages of Organic LED (Light Emitting Diode), a next-generation flat panel technology that provides much brighter, sharper, higher contrast pictures and a wider viewing angle than today's LCD panels.

OLED uses organic compounds that glow as electricity flows through them, negating the need for a backlight and allowing for displays to be lighter and thinner. This concept model integrates the latest prototype 3.45-inch QVGA OLED display developed by Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology. The first handheld to feature a OLED screen should be a new Clie from Sony sometime this spring.

Tiny Hard Drive

Toshiba's 0.85-inch hard disk drive (HDD) is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's smallest. Only a quarter the size of a 1.8-inch HDD, the initial capacities of the 0.85-inch HDD is slated to be 2 and 4 gigabytes. Toshiba said it anticipates achieving higher densities in the near future for even larger storage capacities.

At a little less than one inch, the 3,600 rpm drive is about the same size as an SD card. Since it won’t be solid state, it should cost a lot less. However, it’ll have a larger access time (how long it takes to retrieve data from storage) and a higher power consumption because it has moveable parts.

The drive is aimed at delivering enhanced data storage to products that include mobile phones, digital camcorders, digital cameras, smartphones, PDAs and more. Sample shipments are planned for the summer, with mass production to follow in fall.

Methanol Fuel Cell

Toshiba is demonstrating a prototype of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) powering a PORTEGE M100, B5-sized sub-notebook PC. The DMFC runs on a methanol-oxygen fuel mix, and generates and supplies power directly to the laptop. With an energy density up to five times that of a typical lithium-ion battery, the DMFC promises to deliver much longer continuous operation. Fuel cells are also a much cleaner power source than traditional batteries. Look for a smaller version of the company's fuel cell to appear sometime next year for handhelds and smartphones.