CTIA's 'supershow' fights for relevancy despite rebranding
On the heels of IFA and in the shadow of Apple and T-Mobile, Super Mobility Week has the makings of a quiet alternative show.
With a blockbuster IFA conference in Berlin under our belts and a Moto 360 smartwatch on our wrists, Apple's iPhone 6 launch next Tuesday, and T-Mobile's Uncarrier 7 event on Wednesday, next week's CTIA Super Mobility Week conference won't have much in the way of high-profile smartphone news to show for itself.
In an experiment to breathe life into the once-great conference, the CTIA condensed its twice-yearly schedule into one big fall show, a move we tech journalists wholeheartedly supported. The gambit isn't working. Device-makers launching events at other shows or on their own stages means that CTIA 2014 is left without any press conferences to speak of.
Yet, the mobile conference, which runs from Tuesday, September 9 through Thursday the 11th, won't be totally bereft of news. Verizon and AT&T CEOs will be hosting keynotes, along with former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who now heads up Microsoft's devices arm.
We'll also hear from Twitter's CEO, and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, with insight on the cell phone industry.
Companies will still use this smaller CTIA as a stage for announcements (expect a few from carriers), and the calmer atmosphere means that we'll be able to zoom in on the weirder side of wireless and spend a lot more time getting to know some recent products even better, like the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the Nokia Lumia 735 and 830 .
CNET will be on the ground next week in Las Vegas -- as well as in Cupertino and San Francisco -- to show you what there is to see during this next explosive week of mobile news.