Introduction
A view of some of the Computex booths from the fourth floor of the convention center.
It’s hot and muggy in Taipei. It gets even hotter when you are jammed in with hundreds of other people in tightly spaced show floor alleys. This show’s floor plan isn’t built for the portly, which pretty much discounts most of your average tech journalists. Day one of Computex is upon us.
The world’s tallest bulding is rising up alongside Computex. Oh, in case you didn’t know, they have earthquakes here, too. Hmmm.
Computex has changed a lot in the last five years. If only in so far as it has gained more prominence in the minds of the average of PC enthusiast. However, it is still, in the main, a trade show, not something put on for the benefit of end users. That means you have to take a lot of what you hear with a grain of salt. Companies are positioning themselves for sales in the fourth quarter, and trying to bind customers to themselves. So, the future is often oversold; many companies will include support and enthusiasm for features in their products, hedging their bets against the possible winners and losers of the future. Or, as is the case with the phony war between USB 2.0 and Firewire, they’ll support whatever is going.
The prevalent trasportation mechanism in Taipei is the scooter. Apparently, these vehicles are best ridden with little movement of the head, in case someone should get the idea that you are watching where you are going. They do, however, make fat baby boomers on $30,000 Harleys look shameful.
At Computex, the future is now. If it is coming, everyone is going to have it. And if it isn’t there when the time comes? Everyone will have moved on to the next biggest thing. A mobo on display here isn’t a mobo in the hand until you see it on a store shelf or at a dealer. Just remember that when you read about all the wonderful things everyone is showing off here.
Nvidia’s next generation nForce
World exclusive! Whoohoo! Nvidia’s next generation nForce!
Yup, I thought I had it. The first pictures of Nvidia’s next generation nForce. There it was in the Soltek booth.
My first picture of Nvidia’s next generation nForce.
At first, the people from Soltek said that they couldn’t discuss it or let me take a picture because of their NDA (non-disclosure agreement). Then, some Nvidia dude gave the thumbs up, and I clicked away.
However, a few booths down the lane, and I saw this.
It’s Nvidia’s next generation nForce in the main display of the ASUS booth.
So, is this a secret or what? I mean, when is this thing going to come out? Apparently, it will ship in August, and Nvidia will officially launch it in July. But I was a little confused by the show, or rather, the lack of show approach taken to this product. After all, the vendors claim it will have GeForce4 MX graphics performance. I mean, that’s worth a big bunch of happy-making press releases. I decided to fish around a little on the show floor.
The Nvidia Crush 18 is ready for its close-up in the ASUS booth.
Well, the first thing that is apparent is that this is a product designed for the Athlon, and AMD is moving to the K8 in the beginning of 2003. That means, if the information I have is kosher, the next generation nForce has a window of opportunity of about five or six months to make a big splash.
The next generation nForce IGP will support both DDR333 and DDR400. It will come in a “D” version, without the GeForce4 MX class graphics. The next generation MCP will also come in two versions. One will be a basic setup with USB 1.1, ATA133, HyperTransport, and a single Ethernet line. The Plus version will support USB 2.0, Dolby Digital, Firewire, ATA133, and have two Ethernet lines.
The mobo vendors are still convinced that the nForce comes at too high a price, but those that stick with Nvidia do so because the company has tremendous clout and brand recognition. That some of you Nvidia fanatics are driving mobo prices up is another way of putting it.
The good news/bad news for Nvidia on the next generation nForce is predictable. They cannot get into the OEM channel at the high-end without Pentium 4 support, so nForce high-end with all the graphics etc. is aimed at precisely those users who are likely to buy an Nvidia add-in card. On the other hand, with the next generation nForce they now have a broader range of chipset offerings and cover the lower end of the spectrum instead of being pigeonholed at the top. They’ve pushed their way in at the top and got everything on down the line, too. Just like they do in the graphics business.
I don’t know what this is, but it was very friendly and didn’t mind having its picture taken. Maybe Nvidia needs a real mascot like a fluffy chicken or a bear or something. Mascot suggestions to Nvidia marketing, please.
AMD’s betting on K8 – Intel has all the cards
Before we get into the usual AMD love fest that seems to plague some sites, a reality check is required. Since Intel firmly placed itself in the DDR camp, it gained control of pricing. Intel can quite happily and aggressively move its pricing and squeeze AMD on its profit margins, enough to leave AMD grateful for the fact that Intel needs to keep it around to ward off the Justice Department.
It is apparent that Intel’s fourth quarter aggression this year is going to be relentless. This puts the pressure on AMD to get K8 to market as early as possible. While the consensus of opinion seems to be that AMD will have the K8 ready by the beginning of 2003, the company is telling some mobo vendors that it may be able to bring forward its launch to the end of this year. In the absence of a K8 demonstration, AMD made news by showing a four way Opteron demo at a press conference today.
MSI is aggressive on AMD’s next generation CPU. In fact, finding K8 mobos around the show is not a problem. They just need a K8.
Yet, showing the four-way Opteron configuration at Computex seems to be a mystifying PR stunt. Taiwanese vendors don’t make four way mobos. There’s something amiss with AMD’s marketing, and they had better fix it soon. Clearly, Intel has wised up to Computex this year. Intel has plastered every inch of this show with its logo and presence, compared to years past when the compnay would have done just enough to be visible, but not much more. This fourth quarter is going to be a bloodbath, and I don’t think AMD is going to come out of it unscathed.
Is Gigabyte all ATI, now?
Gigabyte was one of the first on the nForce bandwagon, but this year, the company seems to have a fair amount vested in ATI. It is clear that ATI doesn’t enjoy the visibility and recognition that Nvidia does among the board vendors here, but Gigabyte seems to have a lot vested in its Radeon graphics boards. The branding and packaging look pretty good. Gigabyte also had Radeon 8500XT boards on show, the only ones we saw around, and having not heard from ATI at this show, there isn’t much else to go on for now. I expected to see more from ATI in terms of presence.
Iwill – high-end mobo maker plans ahead
I met with Mason Su, general manager of Iwill. Smart man, and the only guy to make me sign an NDA, so I can’t talk about the coolest thing that there is to see at this Computex. This is a highly unusual state of affairs in a trade show that treats proprietary information like water through a sieve. Shame, what I saw was really cool, and I mean really cool, but I am under NDA.
Iwill’s general manager, Mason Su.
Iwill focuses primarily on server and workstation mobos. The company essentially wants to be the leader in dual CPU systems. As a result, Iwill tends to lean towards Intel because of the acceptance Intel has in the server market. However, Iwill was showing its KK400 with support for single AMD CPUs.
This board has CPU overheat protection, Iwill’s proprietary interface for portable media, FI, and USB 2.0, among other things.
Iwill – high-end mobo maker plans ahead, Continued
Among the trends that Mr. Su foresees, surprisingly, RDRAM is still considered a viable option. Mr. Su is convinced that RDRAM is still the best performing memory solution on the market, and he doesn’t believe that Rambus should be discounted so quickly. Not even with the possibility of dual channel DDR. However, without Intel’s tacit support, Rambus is unlikely to survive in the PC market, but Mr. Su also recognizes that the PC market changes so rapidly it would be foolish to predict what Intel is going to do next with RDRAM.
On I/O, Mr. Su’s company is putting the emphasis on Serial ATA, not because it brings any performance benefits, but for the overall design of the new interface. On the CPU front, Mr. Su doesn’t believe that AMD’s Opteron will be able to carry favor in the server market initially. The trust isn’t there from the market, and that’s the key. So, Intel is still going to be the dominant platform there and the main focus of Iwill’s server products.
Additionally, Iwill is branching out into more consumer-oriented products with USB-based hard drives, a four-port USB hub, and mobile memory products.
The Iwill SmartPanel is designed to interface to Iwill mobos with something called Fantastic Interface (FI).
Refreshingly, because Iwill is focused on the more conservative workstation and server markets, the company doesn’t pre-announce products which could leave it open to a charge that is brought against some mobo vendors – that the product doesn’t have the features advertised. Mr. Su acknowledged the some mobo vendors do drop features from products before they are released, but not Iwill.
Soltek keeps expanding its product line
Johnny Huang of Soltek got it right when he said, “There are too many motherboards.” There are, indeed, too many motherboards. Product lines continue to expand, and it is hard to keep track of who has what products on offer. Mobo makers want to simplify their product lines, but they are at the mercy of chipset vendors and the CPU makers.
Soltek had micro-ATX and ATX versions of its new 845G and 845E boards on display. Micro-ATX boards are primarily targeted at the channel and OEM markets, while ATX boards remain the mainstay of the retail market. Intel is telling its mobo partners like Soltek that it expects 70% of its chipset business this fourth quarter to be integrated graphics. The combination of aggressive pricing on the P4 and its chipsets has many vendors believing that Intel is going to be reclaiming market share it lost to AMD this year.
The Soltek SL-85MIR-L – a micro-ATX board based on the 845G chipset.
The SL-85ERV-L – an ATX 845E board.
Soltek is also selling its own line of Nvidia-based graphics cards. It seems that, while integrated graphics are not everyone’s cup of tea, many of Soltek’s customers like to buy a mobo and graphics card at the same time.
Soltek is in the graphics card business too these days.
BioStar is K8 ready
The BioStar booth was smack dab in the heart of Mobo Hall 2 at Computex.
Biostar is using Computex to highlight the launch of its P4TDK and P4TDG mobos based on the 845E/845G/845GL as well as a P4TDQ line for the Celeron and entry-level market. On the other hand, the company is also displaying, quite prominently, its K8 offering.
The show floor is littered with Via K8HTA-based K8 mobos.
In talking to a couple of the sales guys at Biostar I got the clear impression that demand for high-end PC platforms doesn’t seem to have many drivers this coming fourth quarter, and most of the mobo vendors are focusing on adding extra features to drive customers to buy their products. So, Biostar is going to put more emphasis on feature-laden mobos rather than any specific focus on a new CPU or memory technology.
Most of BioStar’s focus is on its P4TDx line of 845-based mobos.
Computex is wireless happy – So, is MSI
Computex is beginning to look like its US counterparts with theme pavillions like this one for wireless.
It looks a lot like your typical CeBIT or Comdex deal – a special interest pavillion. This time, it is wireless, and it is at Computex. The importance of wireless networking is clear now that we can see it get its own platform at Computex.
Of even greater relevance was a setup of about three boards from MSI with Bluetooth- and 802.11-enabled mobos. If wireless features find their way into the feature set of the mainstream board vendors it can only mean one thing: wireless has finally arrived.
In a big boost for wireless, MSI was showcasing mobos with integrated 802.11 and Bluetooth.
From the initial walkaround of the show, MSI seems to be the only major mobo maker to put on such a wireless display, but it’s a very positive sign. Coupled with the fact that for the first time, ever, Computex has created a separate wireless area, not to mention the staggering amount of wireless products on show in the main bazaar, wireless is hot.
Sights and sounds from the show floor
There’s always something fun to do at Computex. Take these theme cases, for instance, from Sungmin of Korea.
You can love your computer, but you mustn’t lurve your computer. These cases are designed for animal activists and Linux lovers.
Not bad. However, if you want something a little classier you might want to go for these Casetek products.
Something classier might be this line from Casetek.
Admittedly, there aren’t a lot of people who need to scan 35 mm film or slides so, traditionally, the cost of doing so would be prohibitive. But, when you get products for under $200 that do the job, you have to give it a second look. The PrimeFilm line of film scanners from PacificImage Eletronics are very cool.
PrimFilm film scanners at around $199 MSRP? Limited appeal, but if you need film and slide scanning, this is a great deal.
Another in the tradition of cool things is this Internet Video Server VIS-201W from link-server.com. It can take inputs from a wireless camera and serve them over the Internet. I’ve always wanted to set up a security system on the cheap, and monitor it with my PC. This seems like an interesting way to go.
The VIS-201W has built-in 802.11b, and is Web configurable.
This wireless mouse from 3G Corp wasn’t bad. I’ve used a couple of wireless pointers before, but this was the first one that I could use comfortably with my left hand (I am right-handed). One reason for wanting something for my left hand is the obvious fatigue factor, but there’s the added attraction of being able to lean back in my chair, work my PC with this mouse in my left hand, and have my right hand free for taco eating. That’s a challenge that 3G Corp seems to be up for. Just a word of warning, 3G Corp’s Web site has the URL www.3g-green-green-globe.com, which is enough to give anyone carpel tunnel syndrome.
The one great advantage of a mouse like this is that you can switch hands. I used it with my left hand, and gave my right a rest from the point and click routine. It makes a difference.
Finally
I ran into industry analyst John Latta who publishes a free newsletter, The Wave Report, and has been pounding the beat at Computex for over five years. John probably goes to more shows and conferences than anyone in the business, and may actually be able to get into some record book. He made some interesting observations. First of all, show attendance is down, and there aren’t as many foreign buyers as in years gone by. Secondly, there seems to be a lot more savvy and polish to Computex this year.
Korea has its own pavillion at Computex, which is now the gateway to the biggest market in the world, China.
Having been to a show in Shanghai, he also noted the competition seems to be for the Chinese market. And that’s the main point to take away from Computex this year, the Taiwanese market is looking at the next great opportunity, China. It’s apparent in the number of interactive appliances (IAs) that you can see around the show. These are not products that are ever going to find their way into the US market. Low cost, low maintenance devices for an emerging market that isn’t hampered by the legacy of bloated Wintel machines.
The upshot of all this is that, as users, you are likely to find competition for your dollars being very strong this fourth quarter, which means plenty of bang for your bucks. On the down side, the PC industry still can’t seem to shake off its Internet bubble headache. But, that doesn’t bother anyone here. The world is Computex’s oyster.
Please follow-up by reading Day 2 of Computex – Sassy, SiSy, Saucy.
