Nevada firms to seek attention

Kevin Ferguson

Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2001 | 10:49 a.m.

A Las Vegas-rooted tech firm plans to use Comdex, the massive international computer trade showhere next week, to showcase its advancements in streaming media for mobile devices.

This is the type of software that is expected to be the buzz in the coming years as movie-style graphics come to mobile phones.

helloNetwork will display its helloMobile software that brings live and on-demand video to devices like cell phones and PDAs.

"This is a software-only solutions for Java-enabled phones, so you don't have to have embedded (computer) chips for the live media," helloNetwork spokesman Sam Gronner said.

helloNetwork opened in December 1999 in Las Vegas promoting its web-based video conferencing technology.

Gronner said the firm still does that, but is putting a stronger emphasis on the mobile arena. He said a handful of companies are using helloMobile on a test basis, but could not release any names.

helloNetwork, which relocated its headquarters to New York earlier this year, retains a technology and research division in Las Vegas. Gronner said the firm has about 100 employees.

QVS Inc., a Comdex veteran since 1996, will also be showcasing its computer cables and accessories.

QVS General Manager Lloyd Schiller said he has seen a change in the atmosphere at Comdex in the four years his company has been exhibiting.

"Originally, it was set up to showcase your products to distributors, but it has evolved into where we are showcasing the products to the end-user," Schiller said.

The company, which has a Las Vegas office at 2731 Crimson Canyon Dr., is headquartered in Romulus, Mich. It also has factories in Taiwan and mainland China.

A couple of non-tech related companies from Nevada will also be displaying their products. They include:

* Alexander Kalifano, a maker and distributor of handcrafted gemstone world globes, Tiffany lamps and leather and alligator skin belts. The company distributes its products through high-end shops like d. Fine at Bellagio and Tolstoys at the Aladdin and Venetian resorts.

* Action Orthotics, a Las Vegas company, makes limb braces that maximize comfort for people on their feet. The four-year-old company sells its products through distributors and its five-month-old shoe store at 3010 S. Rancho Blvd.

Key3Media spokesman Rick Moore, whose company runs Comdex, said it's not unusual to have foot care products at unrelated trade shows, but a few companies like Alexander Kalifano have "slipped through the cracks" while Comdex sales people were signing up exhibitors.

"Our criteria was not tight enough and it got by us," he said. "It won't happen again. It's unacceptable to have the lack of due diligence. If you are going to have a pure tech trade show, you can't have that because it violates the public trust."