ConsumerIT - For Europe's High Volume PC Retailers, Distributors & Builders

Nick Graves, MD of Aquilla Europe, comes from a background working in the Apple channel. The company now specialises in helping companies establish themselves in Europe, developing distribution and coverage across the European market.

Speaking to On CE at IFA 2010, Aquilla Europe's Nick Graves says the IFA's hottest products were in the handheld device and mobile space. He describes the market as a "replay of the 80's," with the Microsoft vs Apple battlefield giving a sense of déjà vu.

Graves makes an astute analysis of Google CEO Eric Schmidt's keynote, noting the main theme was the cloud's increasing emergence.

Watch Aquilla Europe Interview

Watch Google’s IFA Keynote

Dell wants to rival Apple - image-wise, at least. The PC maker seeks to shed its "value" image and portray itself as a premium brand.

Its newest advertising campaign costs "hundreds and hundreds of millions" and coincides with next Monday's new product launches.

Products include a tablet-converting laptop and smaller tablet devices.

Dell's Steve Felice is emphasising customer choice. This comes in reaction to Steve Jobs' predictions earlier this week on how 7" tablets are "dead on arrival".

The company's brands are now 3 - Inspiron, XPS and Alienware.

Go Reuters Dell Makeover Report

In a Channel Media interview GFK IT Director Dr. Rudi Aunkofer says currently the tablet market sees the basic approach in filling the gap between notebooks and smartphones

According to Dr. Aunkofer tablets will start cannibalising from the notebook market only if they become full computers.

The real shift in paradigm takes place through IPTV, 3DTV or tablets. After all, TV is known, well used and regularly at the center of the house. Through larger screens and consumer-friendly remote interfaces, IPTV can greatly affect the IT industry, especially the PC hardware field.

Touchscreens will be the future's main feature - on notebooks, tablets and TVs - with OEMs having to follow suit.

Finally Dr. Ankaufer says 3D will be more significant in gaming than TV.

Watch Dr. Rudi Aunkofer Interview

Due to the economic crisis, NAND and DRAM supply is limited but demand is high, says Lexar Media EMEA Marketing Director Saul Matthews. With lot of manufacturer capacity offline, prices increased over 200% in the past last 2 years.

Lexar urges its business partners to create value-added solutions for their customers, such as software trials and discounts or automatic backup and encryption solutions

With its Crucial brand, Lexar also pushes SSD technology. The company's C300 range matches HDD capacities and performance, with SSD's advantages.

The C300 range comes in sizes up to 355GB.

Matthews says the value proposition is not just Lexar memory, but a combination of technologies to create a consumer systems solution. Nikon includes Lexar encryption technology in a number of its digital cameras.

Watch Lexar Media Interview with Saul Matthews