Roving technology caravan closes up after summer success in Egypt

The caravan was sponsored by Intel, HP, Microsoft and Centra Technologies and ran from 15 July 2003 throughout the summer visiting 6 beach compounds and meeting with an estimated 50,000 holiday makers from around the region.

The Mobility Caravan was created in support of the Egyptian home computer initiative from the Ministry of Telecommunications and was designed to give consumers more information about the extensive possibilities and benefits technology can bring to the home. It also demonstrated the versatility of PC's, specifically in the digital imaging arena. The walk-through caravan was installed with 2 locally assembled PCs provided by Centra Technologies with Pentium® 4 processors with Hyper Threading technology and powered by Microsoft's Windows* operating system. The caravan also displayed HP's full range of digital imaging solutions and demonstrations were given using the Photosmart Cameras cc850 and cc620 along with the Photosmart printers 7550 and 320, making this a truly interactive, mobile technology zone.

"The objective behind this exhibition was to demonstrate how easy it is to use PCs, and how they can directly enhance people's quality of life, "commented Mohsen Magar, channel sales manager, EGypt. "As the internet spreads in Egypt, people are using more and more computing applications, from e-mail and chat to digital photography and multimedia editing, we wanted everyone to learn about the unprecedented opportunities that personal computers can offer them in their day to day life."

The Mobile Caravan visited some of the most popular beach resorts, including Marabella, Marina and the Badr Plaza where families and friends gathered to get hands on demonstrations and photo quality printouts of their holidays. Interested parties ranged from 9 to 50 years of age with teenagers and youngsters being the driving force behind family visits.

"Over the past 2 months, there has been an increased amount of activity from HP with the largest ever product launch for the consumer market. The high demand from our customers has meant that we needed to respond, which we did with a new wave of digital photography solutions. But most important is being able to provide the customer with an opportunity to assess their quality and versatility and what better way to do it than the Mobility Caravan!" said Amr Hassan, General Manager for Imaging and Printing HP Middle East.

Consumers were able to assess for themselves the picture and technology quality and walk away with information on the products. They also had the chance to discuss with the Intel, HP, Microsoft and Centra Technologies team of experts the various usages that computers have, including suggestions as to what models or requirements any family would need.

"Computers are more versatile than ever, and almost every home users today carries out tasks that involve high processing strength," added Magar, "We made sure that the PCs that were displayed in the Caravan were fitted with our the latest Pentium 4 processors with Hyper Threading technology to ensure that consumers experience affordable state of the art computing first hand."