Computex 2007: Storage, 4+ GHz Quad Cores and Systems

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Multimedia

Aten Switches Four HDMI Displays

The product manager of Asus' new Xonar line of sound cards was very clear when he said that the only interesting sound cards for enthusiasts come from Creative, and that there is always room for a second player. The Xonar cards will not be cheap: expect a MSRP of $199. In exchange you will get one of the highest quality audio products around, with support for EAX, OpenAL (audio language) and a feature called Analog Loop Transformation (ALT) that allows you to copy copy-protected audio content. Luckily, Asus provides the software you need to do so. EAX HD is not supported by the Xonar cards, because Asus says that it's not worth implementing with only 10 EAX HD titles available, and few on the horizon.

When we walked through Hall 1, we found an interesting demonstration of water-resistant fans at the San Ace booth (Sanyo Denki). At first, the staff did not allow us to take any pictures - I wondered why they were exhibiting products if they didn't want people to spread the news and talk about them. However, it seems as if they believed we were competitors; when we revealed ourselves as members of the media, we were allowed to photograph the demo.

It was inside an aquarium filled with roughly 10" of water. Three working fans of different sizes were mounted onto a round board of acrylic glass. Once the carrier board rotates, each fan will partly be under water, which was a very visual demo for the water-resistant fans. San Ace has fans, blowers and all sorts of CPU coolers. Its product brochure can be unfolded like a map, and it includes detailed technical specs.