Patrick Schmid

The WiMAX standard will help to provide Internet access where wired technologies such as DSL or Cable fail. Thanks to a plethora of WiMAX hardware available now, developing countries and rural areas can soon enjoy Internet access.

FSP decided to ship its new top model PSU in a stylish aluminum box. It also showed off a boxed power supply with adjustable voltage for mobile computers.

SonyNEC Optiarc is one of the key players in optical drives and related technology. We talked to the specialist to get some idea on when Blu-ray drives will have their breakthrough.

LEDs provide an intensive light, which is brighter than the light emitted by bulbs of any kind. The car industry is working on LED head lights, but you could start with using an LED desk lamp by epro/Prodisc Technology.

We wrote about Coolermaster’s 80plus Silver certification, which stands for 87% maximum power efficiency. The Taiwanese PSU manufacturer CWT, Channel Well Technology, now claims to have reached 90%.

Single-Level Cell flash memory (SLC) is fast and expensive, so Multi-level Cell flash (MLC) makes more sense to reach high capacities. Apacer now mixes both types to combine capacity and performance on a single drive.

How familiar are you with SAS cabling? There aren’t only the internal data and power connectors, but fan-out cables, MiniSAS connectors based on Infiniband hardware, external PCI Express cabling and others. We found a great overview at Uniconn Corp.

The HDD Docking Station is a known accessory, as it allows inserting a 3.5” drive into an external device and connecting to a PC via USB 2.0. The new version supports two drives at the same time and supports eSATA.

There isn’t much news on the graphics side at the Computex showfloors, as both AMD and Nvidia are not yet ready with their next generation products. Yet we found two interesting products.

Small isn't always beautiful, but it is convenient. SanDisk is adding new, shriked Flash SSDs to its portfolio to be able to equip ultra-portable PCs and lowest-cost solutions with cheap flash storage instead of hard drives.

From what memory maker GeIL told us, product reliability can be increased by burning-in memory to detect faulty parts early. Read how GeIL intends to compete with the big players such as Kingston.

If the graphics business could do better and memory also doesn’t sell well enough, why not create a bundle? Walton Chaintech now ships an attractive kit that includes a GeForce 9 series graphics card and 4 GB of RAM. Is it time for an upgrade?

With Intel phasing out its Xscale processors, storage vendors have to look for other storage processors. Thecus, despite being an Intel Storage Member, decided to go with AMD’s Geode for its home NAS products. The results are nice.

3Gen seems to be just another NAS vendor. But its products, the IntelliNAS for four HDDs, and the 3Gen Restore, provide appealing value for SMBs and enthusiast users.

Have you ever dreamed of carrying your cell phone on the wrist? Man Power Hi-Tech and Marble Watch Manufacturing now offer the Cell Phone Watch MP2008B.

Conventional SATA interfaces are too massive for 1.8“ or smaller drives, hence Supertalent has presented a 1.8“ 120-GB Flash SSD based on MicroSATA.

Forget about boring air coolers. Noiselimit offers a product that is based on a closed liquid circle and a radiator, and the firm is working on a massive thermal module for desktop cooling.

While Hitachi was the first to release a terabyte 3.5” hard drive, the next generation desktop product hasn’t arrived. We saw the new 320-GB 7,200 RPM notebook drive and a new 15k Ultrastar with 450 GB capacity instead.

Flash memory has reached densities at which the manufacturers now focus on reducing the product size. Supertalent impressed us by providing its press release on the smallest thumb drive we’ve ever seen.

Ever thought about throwing a DVD into your computer vertically? GMC offers several cases that allow a vertical installation of your optical drive.

We encourage our readers to rate their favorite Computex 2008 product designs! Ten items made it through our pre-selection process, and it's yours to decide who will win the Gold and Silver Computex 2008 Design Awards. Be a part of it!

Computex 2008 isn’t only growing, but it is transforming. This year, Computex has two different venues and it is emphasizing environmental by trying to be green - literally.

Power supplies still have opportunities for improving power efficiency. Coolermaster is the first PSU manufacturer to release a unit that complies to 80plus silver, reaching between 85 and 88% efficiency.