This year’s Computex is expected to provide visitors the earliest opportunities in the world to put their hands on a variety of Windows 8 devices, an executive of the show’s co-organizer said yesterday.
“As Windows 8 works across a number of different platforms, visitors can expect to see a variety of Windows 8 devices at the upcoming Computex,” Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 台北市電腦公會) deputy secretary-general Chang Li (張笠) said on the sideline of a product award ceremony. “Visitors can also expect to see devices running the operating system’s preview version, such as tablets for medical, military and security purposes.”
Taiwanese information technology companies are good at making tablet and notebook PCs and that is where they have focused in developing Windows 8 devices, Chang said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
More than 10 brand vendors and original design manufacturers across platforms will debut their first Windows 8 devices at this year’s Computex, which is set to be held at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Halls 1 to 3 and the Taipei International Convention Center in Xinyi District (信義) as well as Nangang Exhibition Hall, from Tuesday through Saturday next week.
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) plans to unveil a number of 10.1-inch tablet PCs running on the touch-enabled Windows 8 operating system at Computex, with a 1366x768 resolution, which is lower than what Asustek’s current premium lines use. This is because Microsoft has asked manufacturers to follow certain specifications when producing the first wave of Windows 8 tablets, according to the company.
Unlike in the past few years, British investment bank Barclays PLC expects this year’s expo to generate more excitement, as in 2007 when netbooks were first introduced.
“We will, for the first time, be able to see actual working PCs running on Windows 8 [preview version], in addition to various models of Ultrabooks running Intel Corp’s Ivy Bridge CPU,” Kirk Yang (楊應超), an analyst at Barclays in Hong Kong, wrote in a note.
TCA, the co-organizer of the annual trade show, yesterday hosted a pre-show conference that showcased winning products of the 11th Best Choice Award BC Award.
There were 425 product entries for this year’s BC Awards selection and 37 of them were recognized as winning products, with nine crowned the Golden Award. TCA said this year’s winning products feature thin-light, portable and mobile computing qualities.
The nine Golden Award winners include AAEON Technology’s (研揚科技) IP65 Rugged Tablet Computer, Asustek’s Transformer Pad TF700 series and PadFone, and Elan Microelectronics Corp’s (義隆電子) Smart-Touchscreen.
Asustek’s Transformer Pad TF700KL is the company’s second tablet computer supporting 4G wireless broadband communication. The tablet will hit stores in the US and Europe next month.
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia