It would seem you can't keep a good use for a good municipal WiFi project down. Not long after news broke about Anaheim taking telephony to the 2.4GHz airwaves by way of EarthLink's newly deployed WiFi network, more news broke that ten companies are standing behind a new Taiwanese initiative called Taipei Easy Call. From some accounts it sounds suspiciously like a UMA rollout, but apparently the Taipei city government plans to use WiFi VoIP calling service to replace more expensive fixed-line service at hundreds of schools, and city offices by as early as the end of August -- while rolling out for general consumer use as well, of course. We assuming they're gonna be using Taiwan's big WiFi rollout to handle the Wifi haul; Taipei hopes to have as many as 200,000 citizens sign up for service with Taipei Easy Call, which we don't think is at all unrealistic should software be developed for WiFi-enabled handsets, and assuming the local cellphone carriers don't throw and severe hissy fits.

[Via GigaOM]

You didn't really think that just because the Computex trade show is going on halfway around the world, we wouldn't send a crack team of reporters to cover the event, did you? While our US staff neglected to renew their passports in time for their flights, the folks over at Engadget Chinese (traditional or simplified, your choice) were just a hop, skip, and jump away from Taipei, Taiwan, so they've graciously stepped up to the plate and provided the coverage necessary to make us feel that we're right in the thick of it. They've already posted a number of booth tours of your favorite companies, like Intel (who've apparently rented out an absolutely mind-boggling swath of hall), Sandisk, Toshiba, and, um, A Data, with the latter company's tour proving that our Asian colleagues have the same unhealthy obsession with cartoon-inspired gadgets as we do. Don't worry, we'll keep you apprised of the highlights from this year's show, but for the full in-your-face Computex experience, chinese.engadget.com is the place to be.

Read - Intel
Read - Sandisk
Read - Toshiba
Read - A Data