CES, CeBIT, IDF and now Computex. This is one of the last big expos of the year (its heads-down to actually make and sell devices after this!) and according to feedback I’ve had from various people that are going out there, its one of the craziest. ‘Take cash’ said one. ‘Make sure you get into all the hotel meetings’ said another. ‘The Wifi coverage is crap’ was the most recent tip!
I was a gnats-hair away from going but due to cost and the Solar UMPC tour preparations I’ll be setting up camp VTF here in Bonn and covering it from afar. In order to keep the coverage fresh and detailed I’ve teamed up with Epiacenter.com , a site that covers VIA’s low-power and small form factor Mini-ITX domain. The guys from Epiacenter will be out in Taipei for the whole exhibition and will be following the Ultra Mobility track in the VIA technical forum (VTF) on the 6th June. I expect this to be the day when we’ll see the official announcements on new devices, technology and roadmaps. VIA have recently published the agenda and speaker list for VTF and its nice to see that Otto Berkes, father of the Origami Project, will be speaking. Also interesting is a keynote slot for Packard Bell. What are they up to? And why are AMD paying $5K to be a Gold Sponsor?
High up on my watchlist is ASUS who were showing the T83 at CeBIT. I’m also keeping an eye on HTC who won’t surprise me if they announced a VIA-based version of the Shift. A VIA-based Q1 Ultra isn’t out of the question either. Raon Digital are also overdue for announcing the next version of the Vega (AMD based.) I’m hoping that we’ll hear information about silicon developments from VIA in the CoreFusion range. ‘John’ was announced a year ago and its about time VIA brought it to market, hopefully DirectX9 capable. There’s a chance that we might hear about the roadmap for future Ultra Mobile processors (C8-M perhaps?) and of course, there are bound to be a few surprises.
Computex kicks off on the 4th June with some press conferences. The main exhibitors show starts on the 6th June and VTF is all-day on the same day. I’ve already set my alarm for 0400 on the 6th. 7 days to go.
