Tech high in Computex

By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

TAIPEI, Taiwan–The Computex Trade Show is arguably the biggest technology trade show in Asia. For this year, the Taiwanese government made sure that the event will be as flashy as it could be not just to entice potential business partners, but also to capture the imagination of computer and electronics enthusiasts looking for the latest gadgets, some of which are not yet even available in the market.

This year’s Computex 2007, from June 4 to 8, is the biggest that Taiwan had to offer with 1,333 exhibitors and 2,926 booths sprawled in four huge halls surrounding the world’s tallest skyscraper, the 1,670.68-foot Taipei 101.

Taiwan External Trade Development Council chairman Gary Tseng said they are expecting 30,000 buyers and would grow the trade show’s revenues by at least two percent.

High-tech opportunities

The five-day exhibit started off with the exclusive opening day for business partners from all over Asia and Europe and international press who have an unobstructed tour of the entire event. However, the event is so big that a person touring just one of the halls will have to take four hours to see all of the booths and the electronic gadgets in the place.

Everyone can enjoy free wifi access and information booths are placed in strategic areas for easy access to information about the event. These information booths are equipped with one computer and a location access point where a user can ask where they are and how to get to a specific booth. Indeed, the place is so big that it would be easy to get lost. Apart from the access point, visitors can also grab a copy of a comprehensive information book that is as thick as a paperback novel. If not, a big map also provided in the event for free would be good to get.

The exhibitors are divided into original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, systems integrators, distribution firms and smaller electronic service providers. In each of the buildings there are business pavilions where potential buyers and partners can discuss future opportunities.

Gadgets galore

Thousands of gadgets and devices are present during the event, coming from the most well-known brands to startup firms. Among the most prolific products to be seen during Computex 2007 are USB-related products such as USB-powered ambient lamps, USB hubs in the shape of vases or pen holders or USB electric fans, and even teddy bear alarm clocks attached to USB slots.

There are also thousands of new designs for the ubiquitous flash drive. Most are smaller than the normal flash drives available commercially and a few are as small and as thin as five millimeter metal strips. Not surprisingly, the capacities of these flash drives are getting bigger every six months. While the most current size is at four gigabytes, there are new models that go as high as eight gigabytes. It would be no surprise when next year, there would be 16GB flash drives.

There are also various types of multimedia players that are just as small as the iPod nano and these can play music as well as videos, with capacities almost twice as that of Apple’s own product.

PC innovations

Half of the products in the event are PC-based peripherals. Video cards have also come a long way since the days of the AGP slot and the new PCI Express cards are starting to take center stage. With speeds and memory capacities five times as that of the old AGP cards, the latest graphics processing units (GPUs), particularly those from stiff rivals ATI and NVIDIA, also consume almost 100 watts of power. Thus, there are new models of computer power supply units; the lowest are usually 500 watts of power while the rest are over 1, 000 watts.

Both AMD and Intel, the giants of the computer processing business, are also neck and neck in selling their products, particularly their new multicore processors. Intel is the first to lay claim to the multicore domination with its newly launched Core 2 Quad processors. AMD has yet to launch its answer to Intel so while in Computex, the company rallied its major motherboard partners to introduce several models that are ready to accommodate the AMD Barcelona quad core processor.

Wireless homes

Wireless communications also played a major role in Computex. There were products that work both for PCs and notebooks but there were novel devices that appliance manufacturers to attach wireless antennas to home electronic appliances, from refrigerators to television sets to the vacuum cleaner and the washing machines. These technologies are at hand to accommodate the widespread use of IPv6 (Internet Protocol version six), which can give trillions of devices an address to connect to the Internet.

Computex will be open to the public from June 5 and some companies will have activities where visitors can win various prizes. The event will also feature seminars from technology experts open to the public as well as private partners who may want pursue their goals of joining as developers of new technologies or simply to be awed as consumers.

Here are some more photos:

Microsoft’s long line of manufacturing partners for its Windows Mobile operating system.

Intel creates two walls of motherboards from various manufacturers, all of whom are adopting the Intel Core 2 Duo and Quad processor series.

USB hubs are not unfashionable gray or black boxes anymore. Some have been incorporated into table items such as lamps, pen holders and even an aquarium.

A DIY computer geek’s dream come true.

Hall One of Computex Taipei 2007 with over 400 exhibitors in a single building. There were four buildings as well as special exhibits in the nearby Grand Hyatt Hotel right beside the world’s tallest building, the Taipei 101.

(Editor’s note: Check out Alex Villafania’s Tales of the Nomad blog entry for a look at some of Taiwan’s tourist attractions.)

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