Taiwanese firms strut their stuff at electronics show

Taiwanese electronics firms have jumped at the chance to flaunt their latest wares at the annual Interna-tional Consumer Electronics Show, which opened on Saturday in Las Vegas.

"We wanted to take the opportunity to display our new cutting-edge products," said Ryan Yang (楊順益), product marketing manager with Micro-Star International Co (微星科技), at a pre-show press briefing in Taipei last week.

Micro-Star, one of Taiwan's leading motherboard makers, is highlighting the company's first medical notebook computer that incorporates an electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis function targeted at time-starved white-collar workers.

The concept notebook, called HATO (Heartbeat Audition Transceiver On-the-Go), keeps track of a patient's ECG and transmits the data to hospital, where physicians can monitor and diagnose the user's condition in real time.

"The medical business is flourishing and we are upbeat on our future prospects with this product," Yang said.

The unit is Micro-Star's latest attempt to explore yet another untapped market. The company exhibited a prototype of a solar energy laptop at last year's show, which attracted international attention, Yang said.

Other products on display at this year's show include the P660 -- a new MP3 player that boasts 70 hours of battery life, giving listeners a long-lasting digital music experience.

Meanwhile, Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), the world's largest motherboard maker, is showcasing the XG Station and a computer supporting Vista's SideShow at the exhibition.

The XG Station is an audio-visual workstation for notebook computers. It is equipped with a powerful graphics chip, Dolby output and a bank of USB 2.0 ports, offering users better graphics and audio-visual effects when connected to their notebooks.

In addition to the powerful G1 and G2 gaming notebook computers, both equipped with high-end graphics chips to enhance the gaming experience, Asustek will also display its 12-inch W5Fe -- a portable computer supporting Vista SideShow.

The laptop will have a display panel on the lid, much like the external display on a clamshell cellphone. SideShow display can be used to easily view the critical information users need, whether the laptop is on, off or in sleep mode.

The convenient feature will save time and battery life by allowing a quick view of meeting schedules, phone numbers, addresses and recent e-mail messages without having to start up the laptop.

Chi Mei Corp (奇美實業) is showing off a series of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) TVs and monitors as well as flat panel proprietary technologies.

The LCD televisions range from 19 inches to 52 inches, with several units utilizing the company's latest mercury-free backlight technology.