Mobile Insights ’95 Conference (Brochure)

Mobile Insights '95 was a conference for leaders in mobile computing and data communications, held from January 29 to February 1, 1995 at Marriott's Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Arizona.¹ It was produced by Mobile Computing Insights, Inc., a professional services firm specializing in consulting, conferences, and seminars and the publisher of the monthly newsletter Mobile Letter, and was directed by the firm's president, Dr. J. Gerry Purdy.¹ The Camelback Inn, set at the foot of Mummy Mountain, was a Five Star Mobil and Five Diamond AAA resort that had recently completed a $5 million renovation.²

The program was built around small-group product presentations, fireside chats, technology updates, and executive company presentations spanning portable computing, wireless data communications, remote network access, displays, battery technology, and storage.² Ralph A. Haller, Deputy Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission, delivered the keynote address.² Other featured speakers included Kevin Compton, a general partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Dr. Ted Selker of IBM Research Labs, the inventor of the TrackPoint cursor control used on the IBM ThinkPad.²

The conference hosted the first Mobility Awards, billed as the first awards devoted specifically to recognizing products and leaders in the mobile computing and data communications industries.¹ The winners were announced at a gala awards banquet on Tuesday, January 31, 1995, which opened with a reception sponsored by Cirrus Logic and a dinner sponsored by PC World, with each winner receiving a jade-and-crystal trophy engraved with the award category.¹ Winners included the IBM ThinkPad 755CD, named both Best Multimedia Notebook and overall Best Product of the Year; the Sony Magic Link for Personal Communicators; the Hewlett-Packard 200LX for Handheld Computers and Organizers; and Marc Porat of General Magic for Personal Achievement.³

Beyond the sessions, the program offered a Motorola-sponsored golf outing on the Camelback Inn's championship course, a Super Bowl party sponsored by SkyTel, and a western-themed Rodeo Night sponsored by Toshiba America, and attendees could test drive Sharp's new Zaurus handheld computer.¹ Registration was $3,795 for the first attendee, and a full transcript of the conference, along with information on Windows 95, was to be distributed afterward on a post-conference CD-ROM sponsored by Microsoft.²

AI generated using primary sources referenced in the footnotes