The Computex trade show in Taiwan just closed its doors and this year’s event brought about a new wave of smart devices. Some are integrated to connect with each other, while others were introduced in interesting new shapes and sizes.
Computex in Taipei, Taiwan is a high tech show that has survived the test of time. As Comdex Las Vegas was dying a slow death, Computex was still going strong, and has entered its 30th year of operation. Computex has become a global ICT event for solution providers interested in procuring new products. This year the show attracted just under 40,000 buyers from 166 countries, an increase of one per cent, according to organizers.
Approximately 45 new product announcements were made during the five-day long event.
One of those new products is a 14nm fanless mobile PC reference design from Intel. Also unveiled was a 2-in-1, 12.5-inch device that is 7.2mm thin with keyboard detached and weighs 670 grams. It includes a media dock that provides additional cooling for a burst of performance. The design is based on the first of Intel’s next-generation 14nm Broadwell processors that are purpose-built for 2-in-1s and will be in market later this year.
Intel president Renee James, said that computing continues to evolve and expand beyond the traditional PC and the Taiwan technology ecosystem has an opportunity to build on the long history of collaborative innovation to deliver seamless and truly personal computing experiences. It’s expected that 130 new Intel-based Android or Windows tablets will be released in 2014 and about 12 of these devices made their debut at this year’s show.
James made the first public phone call using a smartphone reference design based on the dual-core Intel SoFIA 3G solution. Intel will also bring a quad-core SoFIA LTE part to market in the first half of 2015 and last week announced a strategic agreement with Rockchip to add a quad-core SoFIA 3G derivative for entry-level tablets to the SoFIA family, also due in the first half of next year.
One of the stars of Computex was ASUS, which launched its Transformer Book V, the first five-mode, three-in-one converged laptop that includes a Windows and Android. This machine is a laptop, tablet and smartphone all in one.
The Ford Motor Co. rolled out Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication technology. The Ford V2V prevents accidents with an embedded ICT that enables cars to interact with other cars. Drivers now can sense through their cars pile-up and traffic jams.
One of the pioneers of Taiwan technology Acer released its Liquid Leap wearable device with Liquid Jade smartphone. It’s “Build your own cloud” (BYOC) service is looking to turn PCs into personal data centres.
Corning showcased antimicrobial gorilla glass, which is a first of its kind for anti-bacterial glass.
And, E-ink introduced a 32-inch colour e-paper screen.
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James added that Intel processors continues to shrink, while using less power and the device makers based in Taiwan have created new products that take advantage of cloud computing, the Internet of Things, mobility and wearable technology.
“The lines between technology categories are blurring as the era of integrated computing takes hold where form factor matters less than the experience delivered when all devices are connected to each other and to the cloud,” said James, in a prepared statement.
“Whether it’s a smartphone, smart shirt, ultra-thin 2 in 1 or a new cloud service delivered to smart buildings outfitted with connected systems, together Intel and the Taiwan ecosystem have the opportunity to accelerate and deliver the value of a smart, seamlessly connected and integrated world of computing.”
Intel also confirmed that it will be delivering a 4th generation Core i7 and i5 processor “K” SKU, the first from the processor giant to deliver four cores at up to 4 GHz base frequency. This desktop processor production shipments begin in June of this year. Intel also announced a solid-state drive for data centres. The drives will be broadly available in the third quarter of this year.