ove over Bill Gates, stand aside Steve Jobs. One area where Europe clearly leads the global technology pack is in wireless communications. Exhibit A -- and my pick for the best of CeBIT '98 -- is Nokia's Communicator 9110, a mobile phone with dazzling capabilities.

BEST PRODUCT: Nokia's Communicator 9110

This sleek mobile phone has a built-in PC with a MultiMediaCard (MMC), about the size of a postage stamp, that comes in 2, 4 and 8 megabyte sizes. (Five other companies are expected to launch mobile phones with removable MMC storage cards by the end of the year.) Even better, the 9110 provides wireless imaging capabilities (sending and receiving) that can take input from digital cameras via infrared signals. Photos can be sent via wireless email, and Web applications and data can be downloaded directly into the phone. Says Anssi Vanjoki, senior vice president of the firm: "Nokia is moving away from the business of ears to the business of eyes."

And the business of the mind. Among other services the 9110 can provide are wireless news feeds that allow the user to download the full text of the most interesting headlines. The MMC can carry an entire city phone book, and a simple query finds and dia ls the desired number. The memory card can be carried around and loaded into a borrowed phone when necessary, with calls billed to the card, not the phone.

BEST BANDWIDTH: Digital's Alpha 21264 chip

Intel's fast fast fast Merced chip is the talk of the business, but long before it hits the market Digital has developed the Alpha 21264, shipping now at about 600 megahertz, 700 by the end of this year, and, they insist, one gigahertz by the turn of the century. Which is about when Merced is due.

BEST EMAIL BEATER: Naturally Speaking, from Dragon Systems

Sick and tired of typing email all day? Relax, put your feet up and dictate. The first truly continuous voice recognition software -- which means it can keep up while you speak at normal speeds up to 160 words per minute -- Naturally Speaking boasts a vocabulary of more than 230,000 words, learns new ones as you use them, adapts to the owner's voice within 20 minutes, and is on the verge of breaking into the top ten of all business software.

BEST EXECUTIVE PERK: Aliroo 's PrivaSeal

"May I intrigue you?" asks Aliroo CEO Meir Zorea, and then he does. Zorea's company offers an impressive suite of encryption software, but PrivaSeal has something few other products at CeBIT boast: panache.

The first application capable of producing your signature in digital form on an electronic document as a password-protected security device, PrivaSeal guarantees the writer that the text will not be altered without breaking the seal. If an unauthorized change is made, the word INVALID is stamped across the signature. Says Zorea: "This makes electronic documents even more secure than a piece of paper you have signed, which may be altered very carefully without your knowledge after you have signed it." A drag-and-drop application developed for Windows, PrivaSeal also enables writers to encrypt selected text: "Dear Joe, I am delighted to inform you that we are promoting you to ß"!$%&, at a new salary of %&/$ß". Sincerely, Mr. Big."

BEST DIGITAL CAMERA: The Kodak DCS 520

The first fully-integrated digital single lens reflex camera is somewhat cumbersome but professionals will appreciate the quality.

BEST MODEM CARD: TDK 's Global Pro ISDN PCMCIA

If it's Tuesday, this must be Amsterdam. No worries. Pop this plain-looking card into your computer, and it configures itself to local telecom conventions anywhere in the world and can connect to ISDN lines at 128K, or cellular and digital mobile networks and standard analog lines at 33.6K. Oh, and it also works as a fax machine, speaker phone, answering machine, and can probably make you coffee, while it's at it.

BEST SCREEN: NEC's PlasmaSync 4200W

Flat screen technology has come into its own, but if you need a really big, sharp image for that presentation, try plasma technology. This screen is only 89 millimeters thick and features high resolution and rich color.

BEST MULTIMEDIA PORTABLE: The Sharp HC-4100G

This palmtop PC has a tiny "thumbtop" digital camera nestled along its side, as well as a built-in voice recorder and other multimedia capabilities. Snap a picture, download it into the PC and edit it, add audio clips and send as email, or upload a multimedia report to the Web. The handy audio recorder enables the user to record and store notes, music or other sounds without even turning on the machine.

BEST PRESENT FOR THE BOSS: The MD-Co Vehicle Server

Just what he needs to run the laptop, color printer, barcode reader, CD-ROM and stereo system he has in his car.

BEST GADGET: Swatch Talk

With a nod to Dick Tracy, Swatch Telecom has put a cordless phone in a wristwatch. Gotta have it.

BEST HOSPITALITY: America Online, Hall 2

"Alles Uber AOL!" reads the sign, and sure enough, everybody is on AOL. In a Virtual City of more than 600,000 digital citizens who want nothing more than to go online, and find nothing more difficult than reaching a place where they can, AOL earned high marks for installing a couple dozen free terminals.

BEST JOB TITLE: Vice President of Sunglasses . . .

Polaroid's white holographic reflector for LCDs called the Light Intensifying Film Technology was developed under the direction of Robert Murray, Polaroid's Vice President of Sunglasses, Holography and Polarizers. Honest.

-- Janice Castro