We'll be honest -- Dave has run into a magnificent problem to have, but it's still an issue in need of an answer. And before you get too engrossed, may we remind you that you can send in questions of your own to ask at engadget dawt com.

"I live in Canada and have relatives visiting Taiwan in the near future. What hawt Asia-only, non-igloo-related gadget should I ask them to grip for me? Thanks!"

We're going to take the liberty of expanding this question to involve all of Asia, given that quite a few others are probably headed to Akihabara in the foreseeable future. So, what's the best gizmos(s) to pick up if heading over to the other side for what may be the first and last time ever?

Look National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, we understand this is your first walking, bi-pedal robot -- but why the peel-away face? Just slap in some big manga eyes and button-mouth and we might be able to sleep at night. But no, you show up at the Taipei International Invention Show with this creepoid, capable of singing via synthesizer and walking 2-meters in a straight line -- presumably in preparation to celebrate our demise.

In a world filled with painful delays, seeing ASUS' 10-inch Eee PC 1000H on sale this soon after being introduced at Computex is like a breath of fresh air. Or mildly stagnant air, considering we're not anywhere close to Taiwan. Nevertheless, said machine is indeed up for grabs for those on that side of the planet, and just as we expected, it's demanding NT$18,988 (or around $625). C'mon ASUS, you've got swarms of North Americans (and Europeans, etc.) just champing at the bit here.

[Via Fudzilla]

Far from being the first dual-mode handset we've seen (heck, it's not even the first WiMAX-friendly dualie), Qsida's recently showcased slider is still quite intriguing. The currently unnamed cellphone supports both 802.16e WiMAX as well as GSM / GPRS / EDGE networks, and just in case you're hankering for another way to get connected, there's a built-in WiFi module too. Reportedly, the smartphone is a test device used in the M-Taiwan initiative to promote WiMAX, and aside from handling voice calls via (almost) any flavor of wireless protocol, you'll also find Windows Mobile 6.1 running the show. Granted, this particular unit wasn't down with 3G, but a spokesperson was adamant that such a handset would be added to its portfolio eventually.

Might as well get this right out in the open: Fujitsu's forthcoming U2010 UMPC is slated to cost just shy of $1,300 when it lands in Taiwan this July. Yeah, that's even more costly than the Gigabyte M528 that got priced earlier this week. Nevertheless, those with coin to chuck can look forward to a rotatable 5.6-inch 1,024 x 600 touchscreen, integrated 3.5G WWAN / GPS and a six-row keyboard. Sure, there's not much else at 1.34-pounds that we'd want in our left cargo pocket, but a family's got to eat, you know?

[Via jkkmobile]

We just got word from Lenovo that the Digitimes-originated story we ran yesterday about laptop production leaving China is completely false. Somehow it got out that Lenovo was moving all its laptop production to Taiwan, but apparently that couldn't be further from the truth. Lenovo isn't sure how the story got twisted in such a way, but assumes translation somewhere down the line was to blame. Sorry Taiwan, better luck next time, eh?

Apparently that cheap Chinese labor ain't what it used to be: Lenovo's putting all its laptop eggs in the Taiwan basket. Lenovo currently has Quanta, Compal, Wistron and Inventec building for it in Taiwan, and the company plans to drop one of those from its consumer line and add one manufacturer to its ThinkPad line. This apparently means that Lenovo's outsourcing its laptop manufacturing completely for the first time in its history, which might seem a bit odd for a Chinese company, but with Lenovo's market share slipping to the likes of Acer, it seems the time is right to make a move.

[Via DigiTimes]

Update: According to Lenovo, this news of laptop production moving to Taiwan is 100% false.

Anyone can claim to be a friend of the environment while proudly jaunting about in a sporty Tesla, so what really separates the hardcore greens from the Hollywood posers is the willingness to shell out nearly twenty-five grand for a no-frills, no hype (and no doors?) solar-powered runabout. It must be this dedicated demographic that a team of builders and racers from Taiwan's National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences are targeting with the vehicle you see above, which is based on their successful design that ranked second of fifty cars in the latest Australian World Solar Challenge. Unlike their single-passenger, 145kph (90mph) race car, however, the multi-seat commercial ride is speculated to max out at around 70kph (43mph); fine for short city commutes, but not really practical for road trips (and with the three-hour battery, forget about cruising around much at night). Still, those ready to fork over an estimated 800,000 New Taiwanese Dollars ($24,617) for a vehicle that only a short-sighted mother could love should be able to order one as early as next year -- probably not tomorrow, though.

[Via The Raw Feed]

According to Bill Chen, General Manager of Motorola Taiwan's Mobile Device business, the second generation Linux-based Ming handset won't launch until Q2 of 2008. Not February as initially rumored. What's more, the handset will be introduced in high-end and entry-level configurations -- unfortunately, both are GSM/EDGE, not 3G capable. DigiTimes says that Inventec won the manufacturing contract of this MOTO Beijing designed handset. Given the unusual (for MOTO) use of a lower-case vowel in the name, there's a good chance this was never meant for Stateside consumption anyway. Too bad, eh?

While the first generation (and second generation for that matter) of UMPCs fell well short of the bloated origami hype, Compal sees big growth from Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) in 2008. According to DigiTimes, this belief has prompted the giant, Taiwanese ODM to dedicate an entire team to the mobile platform unveiled by Intel in April 2007. As such, MID devices will receive special attention, away from their laptop and UMPC efforts. If nothing else, we find it reassuring that somebody out there can understand the difference between a UMPC and MID device with such clarity.

Hello Kitty has certainly claimed her fair share of cellphones in the past, but she's going totally diva on the Okwap C150T. From top to bottom, side to side, this GSM handset is smothered in cuteness, and reportedly, it boasts a built-in media player, a two-megapixel camera, and a myriad Hello Kitty themes / backgrounds. Regrettably, there's no word on a price just yet, and it's doubtful you'll find this thing anywhere in America, but go on and click through for shots of the interface if you just can't get enough.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

Check out the MTube. Sure, the name is weird and maybe a little pointless, but the device itself is pretty interesting. We don't have a ton of detail on the little guy -- which was put together by Taiwan's Science and Technology Advisory Group -- except that it's built atop VIA's Mobile-ITX motherboard, features a 2.8-inch, 640 x 480 touchscreen, 8GB of flash memory, a 1GHz VIA CPU, and is running some form of Linux. The new, miniscule ITX form factor apparently also includes a CDMA baseband chip, which opens up wireless connectivity possibilities for devices of this type. Right now this is just a prototype, but production is planned for 2009, and once VIA's credit-card sized motherboard hits the market, we suspect we'll be seeing all kinds of new gadgetry like this popping up.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

i-SOBOT, long the holder of the "world's smallest bipedal robot," finally has a proper rival, in the form of GeStream Technology's 15-centimeter-tall gold-colored bot. The latest tiny robotic overlord has 16 degrees of "freedom," which computes to something like 65,536 possible movements, and will be sold in unassembled so that owners can customize the look and functionality of the miniscule bot. With the price rumored at around $185 to $200, the company is laying claim to the "smallest, lightest, and cheapest in the world," though it wouldn't be surprising to see those titles usurped by some like-minded competitor. No word on availability, but as soon as we can get the Engadget offices crawling with a lethal army of these, we'll let you know.

[Thanks, Daanish]

Earlier this year, Inventec Appliances (spun off from Inventec Electronics) was raided as prosecutors began looking for evidence to support charges of alleged insider trading, and now it looks like nine of the firm's employees could be headed to the slammer. Taiwan's Banciao District Prosecutors Office "alleged that nine executives and one lower level employee failed to publicly reveal a steep drop in iPod orders until after they had sold off nearly $22.4 million worth of stock," and although the employees knew of the order cuts as early as January 19th, nothing was publicly revealed until mid-March. Purportedly, prosecutors "are seeking the stiffest penalties against the two top executives," and if the evidence sticks, we have all ideas that Inventec will be huntin' a new Chairman (and President, too) in the not-too-distant future.

[Via TUAW]