Virtual-reality (VR) products and food-related Internet of Things devices are diverting consumers’ attention away from notebook computers, smartphones and cameras at the annual Information Technology (IT) Month, which started in the Taipei World Trade Center’s Exhibition Hall 1 on Saturday and ends on Sunday.
IT Month, the largest consumer electronics show in Taiwan, hosts the traditional final wave of promotions by notebook and smartphone vendors before the end of the year.
While offering discounts on consumer electronics products, the exhibition also gives visitors the chance to try the latest products and applications, such as VR and augmented reality (AR) devices.
The Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 台北市電腦公會), the event’s organizer, said it expects the number of visitors to climb 5.5 percent annually to 950,000 this year, as VR, AR and Internet of Things products attract consumers.
The central area at the exhibition hall has been set aside for VR and AR vendors, such as Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and Virtual Reality Technology Co, to showcase their products and allow visitors to try VR devices.
Visitors are lining up from 10am to 5pm every day to try the VR headsets and experience the technology, staff at the exhibition said.
Sony Corp, occupying a corner of the exhibition hall, became one of the most popular spots at the exhibition with its PlayStation 4 and newly launched PlayStation VR.
Staff at the Sony booth said that for three consecutive days, the company’s limited daily supplies of PlayStation VR packages, priced at NT$16,480, were sold out within five minutes of the exhibition’s opening.
Internet of Things products manufacturer Bowhead Technology Co (巨鯨網路科技) showcased its “smart” water bottle, Gululu, which allows parents to use a smartphone app to monitor the amount of water their children drink via sensors installed on the bottle.
Artsome Eco-Tech Trade Co (勃翔股份科技) introduced its “smart” cube for people who want to grow vegetables or herbs at home, allowing them to monitor the plants’ growth via a mobile app.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day