Computex Bits n Bytes – Last days

Paperless reading is the green way to go
A cabal of companies have thrown their weight behind the e-reading phenomenon here at Computex Taipei, proclaiming it to be not only the technological way forward, but green to boot.
BenQ, Vishay, STMicroelectronics, Ralink Technology, Nationalize Technologies, Freescale and others have been talking the e-reading talk this week, as new figures emerge predicting that the market for e-readers in the US alone will reach 6.8 million this year.
Also, with content providers said to be mulling a telco style subsidization model, that number is set to grow exponentially, not to mention the emerging global scene. For starters, one million e-books are set to fly off Chinese shelves this year.
Oddly enough, the industry is thanking Apple’s iPad for the surge in interest in paperless reading, although the players in the e-reader space know full well that the line between catalyst and competitor is a thin one indeed.
Not much was said about how to quantify the e-reader as a greener reading experience, but the words “eco-friendly” and “paper-less green solution” were bandied around with abundance. The fact e-readers still need batteries, however, not exactly known for their eco-friendliness, still leaves us skeptical.
Memory module firms turn to mobile market
With computing becoming increasingly mobile, some might think memory module companies – who have typically focused on high end desktop and notebook platforms – are looking at a narrowing road ahead. But Kingmax, a local Taiwanese firm, believes the key is to simply adapt its strategy slightly, and focus in on the mobile market.
At Computex this week, Kingmax announced it would be bringing its significant know-how to the wonderful world of mobile phone batteries, even introducing a range of products for mainstream phone devices.
Lowrence Chang, Kingmax’s president, noted that his firm had seen “high growth in smart phone products worldwide and therefore expect rapid growth for accessories/applications in this sector.”
He went on to say that most smartphones today needed a backup battery, but that what the industry really needed was “the branded, long lasting and high quality mobile phone battery that Kingmax is now able to offer.”
Broadcom waxes wireless
Wireless chip giant Broadcom seems to be having a fantastic year and was singing it from the rooftops at this year’s show.
The star of Broadcomm’s show was its much lauded InConcert series Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo chip which not only brings together the two things mobile users love the most but also saves space inside the device.
The firm sees tablets as yet another great opportunity for expansion and believes its strong position in the cellular market will make it a first choice for many ODMs when it comes to designing the upcoming devices.
Broadcomm also has a vested interest in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor, having invested in it.
Talk to the mouse
Today’s world is all about multi-tasking, so when we spotted a three-in-one  combo Audio Mouse here at Computex in Ole Taipei, we realized just how much we wanted one.

At a slim and svelte 15mm, the mouse is also a lightweight at just 50 grams. A fold out mouthpiece with inbuilt mic, as well as built in speakers make the device into a veritable wireless VoIP phone for all your Skyping fancies too.
RCR was assured that the mouse phone also worked outside on either WiFi or 3G.
Security – No strings attached
The combination of networking and media is growing at a voracious pace, with a plethora of firms starting to put out devices allowing users to stream video content – live or otherwise – from one place to another. While this model has plenty of fun applications, it also has some rather serious uses for the security industry, especially in terms of IP connected cameras.

One firm RCR talked to at Computex, Compro, was showing off its 802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN supported IP-70 camera, with 12x optical zoom, advanced 340 degree panning and 100 degree tilting mechanical design.
The IP-70 can stream rather high quality video straight to a user’s laptop, PC or even mobile phone. Not only that, but the camera can also dual stream in two different formats to beam footage to both a PC and cell phone simultaneously.
Also, thieves beware, the camera has some super powerful nightvision capabilities. Intelligent network-based camera indeed!