Computex2011
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Acer TravelMate 8481 lands late August, £700 price tag in tow
Back in May, we caught a glimpse of Acer's TravelMate 8481, rocking an extra thin bezel and up to 13 nine hours of battery life for the road-weary sojourner. At the time, Acer was touting a mid-June launch, but we've just received word that the Core i7-packing notebook won't make it into carry-ons until late August. As of now, we've only got UK pricing -- £699, to be exact -- leading us to wonder when the thing will make the journey stateside. As per usual, we will keep you abreast of the details as they roll in. Until then, you can peep the full PR after the break.
Sharp Aquos SH-12C 3D smartphone hands-on (video)
Towards the end of our recent trip to Taiwan for Computex, just as the hustle and bustle was winding down and we'd settled on a bit of sightseeing, we stumbled upon a rare beast -- a smartphone unicorn of sorts -- the Sharp Aquos SH-12C. This 3D-capable Android handset for NTT's Docomo network was imported from its native Japan by a Hong Kong resident who was also attending the epic trade show. Like the HTC EVO 3D, this device features twin cameras and a glasses-free stereoscopic qHD display, so we decided to combine work and play by getting some hands-on time with this mysterious phone right on the observation deck of Taipei 101. Take a look a our gallery below -- complete with foggy views from the 89th floor at dusk -- and hit the break for our hands-on video, first impressions and some camera samples.%Gallery-125920%
SSI's rugged Spark S9T brings triple-screen computing to power-hungry road warriors (hands-on)
A portable desktop tower with three LCDs mounted on its side, you say? Why yes, there is such a thing. At Computex, we spotted SSI's camouflaged booth demoing this eccentric Spark S9T rig: a rugged ATX case sporting a handle, a keyboard with a touchpad, plus three 17.3-inch 1920 x 1080 LCD panels. As you've probably already guessed, the keyboard and the screens can be folded up for storage convenience. Let's be clear, though: you'll still need to find a wall socket to power this beastly machine, but such all-in-one solution should still appeal to video editors, military personnel, or even gamers that are regularly on the road. Alas, we couldn't get a price for single purchases, but feel free to check out the full detail over at SSI's website -- maybe a nice postcard will get you a deal. %Gallery-125379%
Zotac unveils new ZBOX mini-PC, powered by VIA's dual-core Nano X2
We covered lots of ground at this year's Computex, but here's one gem that slipped past our radar: the new Zotac ZBOX mini-PC, powered by VIA's latest dual-core processor. Measuring 12 x 12 x 4cm, this little beast runs on VIA's low-power Nano X2, which is available at speeds of either 1.2 or 1.6GHz, depending on your preference. It also comes equipped with native 64-bit software support, VIA's PadLock data encryption engine and is compatible with the company's other processors, including the Nano, C7, C7-M and Eden. Plus, there's an SD card reader, two USB 3.0 ports and HDMI and DisplayPort outputs. Availability and pricing remain a mystery, though we're certainly hoping it won't be as exorbitant as some other bite-sized PCs we've seen in recent months. Steer past the break for the full PR.
Utechzone Spring eye-tracking system hands-on (video)
In the midst of fiddling with tablets and laptops at Computex, we haven't been thinking much of eye-tracking technologies until we saw Utechzone's booth. What we have here is the Spring, a TW$240,000 (US$8,380) eye-tracking rig that was launched in March 2010 and is aimed at users with limited mobility. The package consists of an LCD monitor, a computer, and an external sensor that utilizes infrared to track our pupils. Also included is an eye-friendly software suite that lets users play games, browse the web and media files, send emails, communicate with caretakers, and read PDF or TXT files. We had a go on the Spring and quickly learned how to control it with our eyes: much like the Xbox Kinect, in order to make a click we had to hover the cursor over (or fix our eyes on) a desired button until the former completes a spin. The tracking was surprisingly accurate, except we had to take off our glasses for it to work; that said, the other glasses didn't exhibit the same issue, so the culprit could be just some coating on our lenses. Another problem we found was that it only took a quick jiggle with our eyes to cancel the spinning countdown, so full concentration is required to use the Spring. This shouldn't be a problem outside a noisy event like Computex, anyway, and if you need more convincing, we were told that a disabled Taiwanese professor managed to hit 100,000 Chinese characters within three months using phonetic input on the the same rig -- he's planning on releasing a new book soon. Have a look at our eyes-on video after the break for a better idea on how the Spring works. %Gallery-125350%
MSI's Afterburner Android app makes GPU overclocking as easy as Facebooking
Back in our day, overclocking one's PC was akin to a fine art. It took skill. Precision. Effort. Cajones. These days, it's just about as simple as blinking. Or winking. Or winking while blinking. MSI's made the simplification of PC overclocking quite the priority over the past few years, with OC Genie and an updated Wind BIOS from last decade putting all sorts of power into the hands of mere mortals. At Computex this week, the outfit took things one step further with the Afterburner Android app. Purportedly, the GPU tool enables users to monitor the temperature, voltage and fan speed of their graphics card via a WiFi connection, and if you're feeling froggy, you can overclock and overvolt to your heart's content. Details beyond that are few and far betwixt, but we're hearing that it'll soon work with GPUs from other vendors, and that an iOS variant is en route.
Visualized: Acer's Iconia Tab A500 is 'a better choice' than the iPad (update: video!)
We were making our way through Taipei's sublime metro system this week and what did we see on the side of the stairway? Why, it was a collection of iPad images, but rather than an Apple-funded advert, this was an Acer-instigated bit of spec sheet trash talk. The captions beneath the images read, in order: "no open operating system, no high resolution display, no Dolby Surround Sound, no Flash, no microSD, no USB port. Why do you want to choose this type of tablet?" Gracing the opposite wall was the tablet that ticked the "yes" boxes to all those items, Acer's own Iconia Tab A500. Perhaps once Acer figures out the answer to its own question, it can stop overhauling itself and get back to the job of chopping the iPad's market share down to size. Check out the full ad in the gallery below. Update: Looks like there's a video ad to go along with the print campaign! Check it out after the break. %Gallery-124902%
MasterImage touts 4.3-, 7- and 10-inch glasses-free 3D displays, interest from 'first tier' device makers
MasterImage and its parallax barrier 3D technology have been around for a while. Though nothing major -- excepting the Hitachi H001 in Japan -- has ever come of this company's efforts, it's back at Computex this year with a trio of reference display, showing off glasses-free 3D at 4.3-inch, 7-inch and 10-inch form factors. Resolution on both the 7- and 4.3-inch panels is 800 x 480 at the moment, but there's a 1280 x 800 7-incher in the works that could be ready for production by the end of this year. The parallax barrier allowing for the autostereoscopic effect to happen adds only 1mm to the screen's thickness, though it does halve vertical resolution -- meaning an 800 x 480 screen will only show a 400 x 480 image when flipped to 3D mode. MasterImage builds the LCDs and controllers in these 3D imagers and is currently in discussions with what we're told are "first tier" manufacturers of both smartphones and tablets. You can see the 7-inch display on video after the break -- we found it able to match the 3D effect produced by displays requiring glasses, which is a good thing in relative terms, but as you see above, the two frames can and do get split up if you're not perfectly positioned to soak up the third dimension. %Gallery-125331%
Champtron's 65-incher can recognize two-finger touch, make for a decently spacious second screen (video)
If you can never have enough screen real estate while working, you might want to give Champtron's 65-inch behemoth a look. It's a 1080p Sharp panel imbued with the ability to recognize two touch inputs at a time -- which can be fingers or "any" other sort of stylus -- which should prove pretty damn useful when you're trying to Photoshop a little extra sheen atop Steve Ballmer's glorious dome. As an added bonus, the dimensions of this screen make the Windows 7 UI extremely finger-friendly. Hell, it borders on being fist-friendly when exploded to a 65-inch size. See video of this champ after the break. %Gallery-125329%
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3-iSSD motherboard eyes-on
We're not normally all that stoked with motherboards, but Gigabyte's awkwardly named Z68XP-UD3-iSSD just about got our attention at Computex. The highlight here is the Intel 20GB SLC SSD latched onto the board's mSATA slot, which is right next to the LGA1155 CPU socket and the four DDR3 RAM slots (together supporting up to 32GB). Alas, Gigabyte says it won't be offering upgrade options for the SSD, though there are certainly alternatives out there in the wild if you dare to venture. But if none of this interests you, then there's always our multi-screen Angry Birds hands-on video after the break. %Gallery-125344%
Eee Pad Transformer caught playing nice with PS3 controller (update: hands-on video)
Earlier this week the Eee Pad Transformer scored itself a sweet upgrade in the form of Android 3.1, and with it came USB host support. When we did our hands-on with the Honeycomb update we couldn't demo the feature because, well, the Xoom doesn't have any USB ports. But that Transformer keyboard dock has a pair of 2.0 jacks and someone was kind enough to post a YouTube vid of a PS3 controller and the ASUS tablet getting their game on. Theoretically, this should work with any USB gamepad, including those for the Xbox 360. The only drawback? You've got to be wired in -- no Bluetooth support here. Follow the break to see it in action and satisfy your Android-loving curiosity. [Thanks, Ben] Update: We managed to have a quick go on the same setup at Computex, and the tethered PS3 controller worked perfectly. Unsurprisingly though, we had no luck with the Bluetooth connection. Quick hands-on video after the break.
PhotoFast i-FlashDrive does USB on one end, 30-pin dock connector on the other
Apple's iOS devices may lack native memory expansion, but PhotoFast has now come up with solution that just about bests the official camera connection kit. What you're looking at here is the i-FlashDrive, a memory dongle that sports both a USB plug and an Apple 30-pin dock connector, and it comes in three flavors starting from 8GB at $95 up to 32GB at $180. What's more, the drive also works with a free Cupertino-approved app that provides both external and internal file management (for music, photos, movies, and more), contact backup, and native MP3 playback. Want one? Then head over to Taiwan for a mid or late June launch, or watch out for its US debut shortly afterwards. Demo video after the break. %Gallery-125290%
Compal's 'Ultra Mobile' Ultrabook eyes-on
Intel's already teased Compal's "Ultra Mobile" Ultrabook from afar, but when this Ivy Bridge laptop popped up on the show floor after the Computex keynote, we decided to give it a closer look. While this prototype isn't quite in the same league as ASUS' gorgeous UX21, do bear in mind that we're still looking at a relatively slim package for a 14- to 15-inch Core i7 rig. Also visible around the machine are a couple of USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI-out port, a LAN socket, and an SD card reader. Until we hear more about this Ultra Mobile, enjoy our eyes-on photos below. %Gallery-125292%
Leadtek AMOR 8218 DECT phone with Tegra 2 Android tablet hands-on
While combing through the show floor at Computex, our fortunate selves stumbled upon a new phone-tablet duo at Leadtek's booth. Oh, don't worry, this isn't yet another phone-in-pad design; but actually a VoIP / home phone docked next to an Android tablet. Dubbed AMOR Multimedia Phone 8218, the idea here is that the docking station acts as both a DECT base and a WiFi router, but also packs ZigBee radio to relay data from compatible devices (for healthcare, home surveillance, home automation, etc.) to the web. Alas, there's no direct interaction between the phone and the tablet, but we were still intrigued by the latter's specs: Android 2.3 (although this demo unit had 2.2), Tegra 2, 7-inch 1,280 x 720 LCD, HDMI-out, and a front-facing camera for video calls. For a home device, this is actually a pretty powerful package and certainly a significant upgrade from the AMOR 8210 announced earlier this year. No word on US availability, but Taiwanese buyers will be able to grab hold of an 8218 starting in September. %Gallery-125294%
Gigabyte M2432 laptop with GeForce GT 440 graphics card dock hands-on
Gigabyte's no stranger in the field of dockable computing devices, and its M2432 laptop shown off at Computex is yet another example proving just this. Let's focus on the actual machine first: here we have a Core i5-2410M (2.3GHz to 2.9GHz) rig packing a 14-inch 1,366 x 768 LCD, Intel HD Graphics 3000, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 500GB 7200rpm hard drive, and a DVD burner that can be swapped with a secondary battery. You'll also find 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, HDMI-out, VGA-out, 1.3 megapixel webcam, an eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port, and two USB 3.0 ports on this Windows 7 Home Premium laptop. All of this weigh 1.8kg (3.97lbs). There's a bit of a surprise inside the expansion dock: by laying the M2432 on top of it, not only are you adding six extra USB 2.0 ports plus DVI-out and another HDMI-out, but you're also kicking up its graphics power with the built-in desktop-class NVIDIA GeForce GT 440 with 1GB video RAM. So essentially, the dock doubles as an external graphics card. No word on prices or availability just yet, so stay tuned. %Gallery-125293%
j5 Creates a Wormhole, enables keyboard and mouse sharing with just one cable
There are already plenty of keyboard and mouse sharing solutions out there, but alas, most are not foolproof nor affordable enough for the average Joe. As such, we fell in love with j5 Create's Wormhole KM Switch and Wormhole Station at Computex. The former, pictured above, is simply a cable sporting a USB dongle on each end; whereas the latter is an aluminum, externally powered expansion dock rod that comes with an intergrated KM switch, two USB 3.0 ports (which requires a USB 3.0 host for full potential, of course), a power button at the end, and card readers for microSD, SD, and MemoryStick. After the one-click setup using the built-in installer, you can set your preferred method to toggle the keyboard and mouse switching: either by clicking the middle mouse button, by clicking a user-defined hot area on the screen, or by simply moving the cursor off one side of the screen. As you'll see in our hands-on video after the break, the switching was seamless, and we had no problem with drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste across the two PCs. If either the Wormhole KM Switch or the Wormhole Station sounds like your kind of gadget, then keep an eye out for them at Fry's soon for $29.99 (about $10 cheaper than IOGEAR's USB Laptop KVM Switch) and $129, respectively. Additionally, there'll also be a Mac-compatible KM Switch available next month for $39.99. Update: We're certainly aware of the free, cross-platform Synergy software solution, but it's not ideal for those who are less tech-savvy, plus it doesn't handle drag-and-drop across computers. %Gallery-125233%
Honeycomb on Oak Trail gets benchmarked on prototype Compal tablet, numbers ensue
We know that Intel is gunning for ARM with its Oak Trail platform, and indeed there were a few early tablets at Computex following that very path to Honeycomb. The question on everyone's minds, of course, is how well this dual-core 1.5GHz platform can compare to the Tegra 2 competition. If you believe the results from a suite of tests that tweakers.net ran on a prototype Compal unit, then the answer is "not very well." On benchmarks like CaffeineMark, Linpak, and Quadrant the platform was largely left in the dust by ARM competition with bigger biceps, but the Oak Trail machine did clean the floor with everyone else on the SunSpider browser benchmark. What does it all mean? Not a heck of a lot at this point, we're afraid. It's far too early to be drawing performance conclusions about a platform based on a prototype fresh out of the fabricator, and we have our doubts that these benchmark apps are optimized for the new platform -- so don't give up on 'ol x86 just yet.
Slimmer 5.25-inch internal optical drive gets wolf-whistled at Computex
Fatty internal optical drives have so far been content to sit back and watch their external cousins do all the figure-slimming push-ups. But this low-profile 5.25-inch slot-loader clearly got bored of being XXL. It was spotted eating carrot sticks and taking up significantly less than its allotted bay space inside an Antec Solo II chasis at Computex. According to AnandTech, it represents a new industry standard that will start hitting the market by the end of the year -- along with new cases designed to hold it. Slot-loaders may not appeal to everyone, but if you're in the market to buy or build a small form factor PC then this baby might just turn your head.
Qualcomm takes sci-fi one step closer to reality at Computex 2011 (video)
While flying cars are still a pipe dream, other technologies are quickly transitioning from the stuff of sci-fi movies into the very tangible realm of reality. This was definitely the case at the Qualcomm booth here at Computex where we got to experience two interesting new technologies -- zero shutter lag and the ultrasonic pen. What if when you pressed the shutter button on your phone the camera captured 2 frames before, one frame during, and 2 frames after that instant? That's the idea behind Scalado's zero shutter lag and Rewind, which speed up the process of taking pictures on a phone by letting the camera continuously sample images and allowing the user to create a composite shot from the content available in up to 5 frames.Also on display was Qualcomm's ultrasonic pen that we already played with at MWC. By using an ultrasonic transducer attached to a pen and a phone with 3 microphones (like the MSM8660 Mobile Development Platform), the ultrasonic signal can be triangulated to determine the location of the pen. Once calibrated, the phone is able to accurately capture handwriting either on the screen itself or on a standard sheet of paper up to 30cm away. We noticed that accuracy and distance appear to have improved since February -- at this pace, perhaps we'll all have flying cars soon after all? Check out the gallery and hit the break for our hands-on video.%Gallery-125105%
OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 and RevoDrive Hybrid hands-on (video)
We got a chance to spend some time with the lovely folks from OCZ here at Computex for a tour of their latest and greatest SSD products, the RevoDrive 3 X2 and RevoDrive Hybrid. Both are PCIe x4 cards featuring up to 4 SandForce SF-2200 controllers and RAID 0 (striping) for blazing performance. The RevoDrive 3 X2 is available in capacities from 240GB ($699) to 960GB and improves upon the RevoDrive X2 with TRIM support and double the performance. We were treated to a demo that achieved truly ludicrous speeds -- 1.5GBps reads and 1.2GBps writes -- the kind of numbers that'll perk up even the most jaded PC enthusiast. The RevoDrive Hybrid builds upon the same SSD technology as the RevoDrive 3 X2 to cache the contents of a 2.5-inch hard drive, with capacities starting at 500GB with a 60GB cache ($350). OCZ's demo showed a 20 times performance improvement going from a regular hard drive to the RevoDrive Hybrid. Both products are expected to ship in July, but we suggest you ogle them right now in the gallery below and in our hands-on video after the break. %Gallery-125104%
