PC technology takes center stage at Computex

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The attentions of the IT hardware industry were once again focused on Taipei this week, as vendors unveiled their latest products and showed off advances in computing technology at the Computex exhibition.

Normally held in June, the annual trade show — one of the world’s largest exhibitions of computing hardware — was postponed for three and a half months due to the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) earlier this year. With fears of the disease and its impact on the IT industry now a distant memory, leading hardware makers from Taiwan and elsewhere put their latest products on display at the show.

In the spotlight at this year’s Computex exhibition was Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s (AMD’s) 64-bit Athlon 64 processor, which was unveiled in the U.S. on Tuesday.

Leading motherboard makers, including Micro-Star International Co. Ltd. (MSI), Asustek Computer Inc. and Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd., showed off a range of new boards that support the Athlon 64. They were joined in their support for the Athlon 64 by chip vendors, such as Via Technologies Inc., that put on display their latest chip sets for the new processor.

One standout in the crowd of Athlon 64 motherboards was Abit Computer Corp.’s K8MAX3. Based on Via’s K8T800 chip set for the Athlon 64, the motherboard incorporates a microcontroller, called µGuru, that is designed to improve system monitoring and make troubleshooting easier.

The µGuru microcontroller serves four functions: hardware monitoring, overclocking management, BIOS update and a troubleshooting-assistance feature called Black Box.

The Black Box feature records system operating conditions in the event of a hardware failure. If a problem does occur, users can use Black Box to send their PC’s system information to Abit’s technical support via e-mail, making it easier for the company to diagnose what went wrong, said Scott Thirlwell, a spokesman for the company.

The K8MAX3 will be available worldwide in mid-October for around $220.

Looking ahead, Abit has plans to incorporate µGuru on all of its mainstream motherboards and add additional features, including a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) management tool designed for gamers, Thirlwell said. Normally associated with corporate computing applications that demand data backup and quick recovery, RAID will let gamers improve overall system performance, by allowing the PC to read from and write to multiple hard disks simultaneously, and will protect against data loss in the event of a hard-disk failure, he said.

While Athlon 64 motherboards were seen in abundance at Computex, the new processor is in limited supply. That means PCs based on the chip aren’t expected to appear in large volumes until early next year, companies said.

AMD has told PC makers that 100,000 Athlon 64 chips will be available worldwide during the fourth quarter, according to James Chen, the head of Acer Inc.’s desktop PC products line.

Calling that number “too small,” Chen said Acer plans to hold off on the introduction of Athlon 64-based PCs until next year. The company will roll out its first Athlon 64 systems in Europe during the first quarter, with worldwide availability during the second quarter, when more Athlon 64 chips are expected to be available, he said. 

In addition to Athlon 64 systems, Acer has several other new computers that are scheduled to start shipping in the coming months.

The company plans to ship two new notebook models before the end of this year, according to Campbell Kan, the chief officer of Acer’s notebook products line.

The Aspire 2000 notebook has a 15.4-inch widescreen TFT (thin film transistor) LCD (liquid crystal display) and offers the choice between viewing DVDs under Windows XP or in a Linux-based, instant-on mode that allows users to access the laptop’s DVD playback function within 10 seconds, Kan said. The company will also update its line of Tablet PCs, with the introduction of the TravelMate C300, which has a 14.1-inch screen that can be rotated and folded back, flat against the keyboard. This feature allows the C300 to be converted from a notebook form factor into a tablet.

Both the Aspire 2000 and TravelMate C300 are based on Intel Corp.’s Centrino platform and will be available during the fourth quarter for around $2,000, Kan said.

On the desktop side, Acer will update its Aspire home PC line with new models that are expected to be launched by the middle of next year, Chen said. Among the features that will be added to the new Aspires, Acer plans to add support for Microsoft Corp.’s Smart Display technology. This will allow two users to access a single computer from a remote display. The software will also support video streaming to the remote display over 802.11a or 802.11g wireless networks, he said.

Acer plans to sell two versions of the Smart Display, a 12-inch model and a 17-inch model, Chen said. While pricing for the Smart Displays has yet to be finalized, the company hopes to sell them for 80 percent of the cost of a second PC and pricing for the 12-inch model could be as low as $400, Chen said. They will be announced in tandem with the new Aspire PCs, he said.

Acer wasn’t the only company showing off new PCs at Computex, as desktop computers in a wide variety of form factors — from widescreen displays to potted plants — made an appearance at the exhibition.

Mitac International Corp. took the wraps off its Pentium 4-based E8181D widescreen PC, which resembles a 17-inch flat-screen television that can be tilted back to an optimum viewing angle. The PC’s components are hidden from view and integrated into the rear of the display’s base. Pricing for the system has not been determined and Mitac is currently holding talks with vendors that are interested in selling the PC under their own brand, said Royce Chang, a spokeswoman for the company, noting that the PC will begin shipping in October. 

For users who want a Pentium 4-based PC that can be seen and not heard, Hush Technologies Ltd. unveiled its Hush ATX computer, which uses heatpipes instead of noisy cooling fans to prevent the computer from overheating. More closely resembling a high-end stereo component than a computer, the PC features stunningly good looks, with an aluminum case and heat-dissipating fins along its sides. Available at the end of October, the Hush ATX will be offered with a selection of different processors from Intel and AMD, and is priced starting from €1,049 ($1,204). 

Intel showed off the lighter side of PC design at its booth, with a display of whimsical Pentium 4-based PC designs, ranging from one that looks like a potted plant, one in the shape of a cow, and one designed to look like books set atop a desk.

The potted-plant PC, built by Hsu Yu-nong, hides components like the motherboard in the plant’s pot, with a squeezable lighted berry functioning as the power switch. The book PC, designed by Tsai Syh, resembles books and other desktop items, such as a family photo. A stapler hides the PC’s power button and a toy car is activated to let users know that the computer is running.

Finally, a couple of tiny components designed for mobile devices and very small computers made their first appearance at Computex.

Nvidia Corp. took advantage of Computex to unveil its first graphics chip designed for handheld devices and cellular phones. Approximately the same size as a fingernail, the GoForce 2150 includes a 64-bit 2-D graphics controller and supports over 70 different display interfaces, including TFT (thin-film transistor), LCD (liquid crystal display) and OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screens with a resolution of up to 320 pixels by 480 pixels, Nvidia said in a statement. Volume production of the chip will begin during the fourth quarter. 

Also making its first appearance this week, Via’s Nano-BGA (Ball Grid Array) C3 processor is set to begin volume production during the fourth quarter, according to Wen-Chi Chen, the company’s chief executive officer. Measuring 15 millimeters by 15 millimeters, the 1GHz Nano-BGA C3 will be the smallest PC processor when it begins shipping at the end of this year. Pricing was not disclosed.

Via has paired the Nano-BGA C3 with a new motherboard form factor, the Nano-ITX, which measures 120 millimeters by 120 millimeters and is significantly smaller than the smallest current form factor, the 170-millimeter-by-170-millimeter Micro-ITX form factor. The first Nano-ITX motherboards, which are designed for very small computers, will be available from Via at the end of the year, Chen said.