CeBIT 2009 - Part 7 and the Finale
In our final leg for the CeBIT 2009 coverage, we cover booths from Akasa, G.Skill, Patriot Memory, IDSbox, Jetway, Kingmax, OCZ, USB Implementers Forum group, Zotac and a few others like the Green IT hall and even the Singapore Pavilion.
Akasa's Booth
Known as the Apache, these casing fans promise 30% more airflow thanks to its blade design, yet operate silently with hydro dynamic bearings
Here's the Voretex Neo graphics cooler from Akasa that's compatible with ATI Radeon HD 4800 series graphics cards and that of NVIDIA's GeForce 9800 series.
These are your drive bay enhancement devices and they come with all sorts of useful connectivity needs in addition to temperature monitoring.
G.Skill's Booth
Looks like most memory vendors are dipping into the SSD market to try and grab a share as early as possible. This G.Skill 128GB SSD unit using MLC flash chips is rated for 155MB/s and 90MB/s for read and writes respectively.
And for even more extreme performance, G.Skill has their Titan series of SSD drives that are available in capacities up to 256GB and is rated for 200MB/s and 160MB/s for read and writes respectively.
Patriot Memory's Booth
Patriot Memory was busy showcasing the gaming edge their memory modules possess.
They did have other notable highlights such this Warp speed 256GB SSD. No speed ratings mentioned though.
And from the makers of the first super-speed 32GB USB drive, Patriot brings us the Xporter Magnum 64GB drive. Hopefully we would be able to get that in soon for some comparisons against the older Xporter XT 32GB.
IDSbox's Booth
The guys at IDSbox are squarely focused on providing a simple and straightforward method for backing up data for SME & SMB users and we think they've got a breakthrough. Though introduced sometime last year, they must be doing the right thing to have had several success stories to share at the show.
This is the simple and straightforward IDSbox that provides fast confidential, secure and automatic backup of data anywhere in the world. The magic is in the firmware of this Linux based box that does all the magic for you. A purchase of an IDSbox actually comes in pairs � one for the critical system/server/office to be backed up and another to be placed off-site, for example in a secondary office or the boss' home. These pairs have the intelligence to find out where they are once connected to the network and begin their routine maintenance/backup schedules as you've assigned.
The beauty of this system is that it doesn't perform blind backups of your server/office data, but rather it copies only what's pertinently required. For example, there may be several DLL files in each program that are quite likely identical. So it saves just one of them and builds a data structure table to point to the right source or for re-building the data from scratch. For different versions of a file, the box copies only the differential info. As such, a basic 1TB drive can in fact backup many times more than its actual size. Also, should one of the IDSbox devices be damaged due to an unforeseeable physical event to the premises, all you need is the secondary box to get all systems working as usual.
Each IDSbox pair costs 2500 Euros. If a service vendor wants to utilize these to offer a service to its clients, it can actually buy an entire server specialized to manage multiple IDSbox devices for about 6000 Euros, and then have the client pay a nominal monthly fee for this backup service.
OCZ's Booth
OCZ's Booth.
OCZ's triple-channel memory gets to feature the Intel Core i7 seal of approval as they are highly compatible.
The Solid series of SSD drives are OCZ's basic solid state drive solutions.
The Apex series have an internal RAID 0 architecture for much higher read speeds.
For the even improved performance, the Summit series offers up to 220MB/s read and 210MB/s write speeds with the help of 64MB of onboard cache.
For the ultimate in storage performance, the Z Drive is made up of 1TB of MLC-based SSD with 256MB of local cache and is built with a hardware-based RAID controller. The Z Drive works off a PCIe x8 interface and offers up to a staggering 600MB/s read speed and up to 500MB/s write speed. Sizzling fast indeed.
Jetway's Booth
Jetway had some interesting motherboards on display.
The Jetway HA08 Combo (AMD 790GX) motherboard is the world's first AM3 motherboard that supports both DDR2 and DDR3 memory options on the same board. It has four DDR3 slots and a pair of DDR2 slots. Surprisingly nobody has yet made one of these boards yet.
Jetway also has a lower cost BA-130 (AMD 770) motherboard with DDR2 and DDR3 memory options on the same board (and a world's first too).
Jetway doesn't only make mainstream boards, but also enthusiast level Intel X58 boards too.
And here's their upcoming H105, Intel P55 motherboard for LGA 1156 processors.
USB 3.0 and Wireless USB Demo @ USB Implementers Forum Booth
Yup, the folks from the USB Implementers Forum group were there at CeBIT to showcase what the next generation of ubiquitous connectivity can handle and they had demo systems running for both USB 3.0 (USB SuperSpeed) and Wireless USB too.
First, the demo on USB 3.0. Here's a prototype external hard drive using a native USB 3.0 interface connected directly to the system which is also using a prototype USB 3.0 host card.
To give us an idea the speed at which this interface operates, they prepared a 230MB video file to be copied from the system to the USB 3.0 prototype external drive. The time taken? Instantaneous! The second you 'paste' the file over, the transfer is done! It really does feel terrific to have such fast transfers, but it is to be expected when USB 3.0 has a theoretical transfer speed ten times of the current USB 2.0 standard.
Here's another simple transfer rate test to show us of the throughput.
These are the various connectors to support USB 3.0 SuperSpeed connection. The one on the left is actually a mini connector for small mobile devices like a mobile phone. The Type A connector on the right is a normal sized connector which is backward compatible with existing interfaces. Type B is also electrically compatible, but its receptacle size differs, so it may not mechanically fit into a USB 2.0 Type B interface. In general though, USB 3.0 devices interoperate with USB 2.0 platforms and USB 3.0 host support USB 2.0 legacy devices.
Here we see the ASUS Wireless USB capable monitor in action as it receives video data from a Wireless USB enabled host PC, and it works very well.
Here's a bunch of Wireless USB dongles and hubs which are already available in the market should you want to hop onto this bandwagon.
Zotac's Booth
Zotac's Booth
Zotac is one of the earlier vendors to receive newer GPU revisions and have updated board designs that claim to save up to 40% more power. Sounds impressive and we'll try them out when we get our hands on them.
Here' their Infinity edition GeForce GTX 295 with custom water blocks and heatsinks.
And this is the Zotac GeForce GTX 285 Infinity Edition, which could probably be one of the fastest single GPU card at the moment.
Zotac is also toying with a remote desktop control (the little white unit) for usage within your home using either wire or wireless network to control your 'home server' within your room from the living room. This can be another option instead of media extenders or multimedia NAS and control your PC from your living room just as if you were in front of it - except that you're now using it with a big screen and a home entertainment system.
Here's a bandwidth utilization graph on a 100Mbps Ethernet, which despite at least half the utilization and some spikes, is quite smooth when playing HD video for example from the host machine. A great degree of compression schemes are required to compress your raw video output over LAN, including your input controls and is usually a costly device for workstation solutions - albeit with a lot of security protocols and the likes. Zotac is hoping to make this a much more affordable solution for the home user, without those extra layers required in business usage.
A simplified version of how it works. The host card rides on a PCIe interface and takes in video data from your graphics card's output before sending it over with compression to the white Zotac Portal box. This is still a prototype product and no word of when it might actually retail yet.
The Green IT Hall
A big focus throughout CeBIT 2009 was all about efficiency and power management. To drive this message even further, there was even one hall dedicated to Green IT. Much of it was on server/workstation management, consolidation and the likes to operate more efficiently, but there were some displays that are more end-user oriented such as the below:-
Fujisu Siemens was proudly displaying their 0-watt monitor from last year's CeBIT and their 0-watt PC from this year's exhibition. These figures are for standby and to prove that, these PCs were hooked up for our trials to check on the power meter:-
And indeed it drew no power on off-state or in standby-state.
The Denon AVR-2309 A/V receiver is also another device that has good power savings on standby with about 0.7 to 0.8 watts of consumption.
How about a power saving television on standby? Check out the Toshiba Regza 32CV505D monitor which consumes 0 watts.
The Singapore Pavilion
Besides Californian companies and many others around the world, tech companies from Singapore too made their way up to CeBIT to garner more business opportunities. Here's a sample of few companies we met up to find out what they were offering to the rest in the industry:-
Corbell International Pte. Ltd. was present at CeBIT 2009 and they were presenting their LongSong brand of audio systems - designed and manufactured by them. They have over 10 years of such experience and are specialists in mini Hi-Fi / audio systems such as these shown here.
Notice a subwoofer for these tiny integrated audio systems? The company has several years experience on bringing the best audio out from small enclosures. They also use quality parts like toroidal transformers and that make up for the heavier than usual weight of these petite systems.
They are also the OEM designer and manufacturer for other companies and brands, such as Nakamichi.
Idea Interactive is another company that made their mark at CeBIT 2009. These guys are marketing their IdeaPen which acts as an interactive whiteboard, wireless mouse and laser pointer. The novelty of the product isn't only in the hardware, but that of the easy to use software that works with it.
You can scribble, write, draw on the provided sketch program - all on the projected wall or screen. Better still, make changes, add notes, pointers, highlights and more to the presentation all with the IdeaPen on the projected presentation. Plus save all the changes. If you few of your members weren't able to attend your presentation, no sweat. The IdeaPen allows you to save your entire presentation with voice and all the changes/notes made via an AVI file and can be viewed later very much the same way it was presented, minus your physical self.
It is also able to discern your writing and convert it to text.
The only learning curve is handling all the functions via the IdeaPen, which though tricky at first, it should come out fine with practice and familiarization.
The Singapore Pavilion - Continued
MobileGear also showed up with a broad variety of peripherals. Shown here are their new optical (ms81) and laser mice (ms41)
The same folks are also in charge of distributing earpiece headsets from David's Formula. Mind you though, these are not aimed at the mainstream users and thus are a bit on the pricey side. Worn on the right attire to match, they can look quite fashionable.
Here's a closer look at one pair.
The last company we checked out from the Singapore pavilion was that of t+t netcom who specializes in industrial handheld devices. Shown here is their highest-end tt8000 model that is ideal for high volume inventory and logistics handling environments. Key advantage of their solution is the overall design, ease of use and integration with other vendor's application through a SDK. And since it's using a Windows CE.Net 5.0 operating system, it's bound to be easily interoperable.
Besides its default configuration, it can be upgradeable to intake several modules such as an Imager, laser scanner (for various distances), camera, power-scanner and more.
For simpler and more cost effective needs such as in catering business, restaurants or healthcare sectors, this non-upgradable tt5000 model comes with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 1D-scanner.
Other Sights
Kingmax had quite a variety of memory products, but their new waterproof flash memory interested us most.
Here are some SDHC cards immersed in water for show.
Panasonic's booth had quite bit of business systems and infrastructure solutions, and outdoor displays for advertising.
This however might be a familiar sight, but what's special of this 103-inch monster plasma screen is that all 103 inches of it is a touch screen! Picture resizing could be quite a workout with a multi-touch interface.
Elsewhere at Hyundai, they had these super elongated LCD screens for advertising purposes.
A nice towering display of power supplies.
Sapphire had their very own HTPC system solution. Its specs are an AMD Athlon 2650e, microATX AMD 780G motherboard, 2GB of memory and Windows Vista Ultimate.
While BlackBerry had their own booth, they had this fancy trailer/bus for closed discussions and meetings.
IBM was e-educating its visitors of cloud computing and its concepts with this fancy array of brightly lit spheres strung on wires and computer controlled to unfold the story.
Here's another formation.
Before we end our CeBIT 2009 coverage, here are a few parting shots of a couple of halls. This one is from the Websciety section that binds web services, marketing, advertising and other web related companies into this special section.
A shot across one of the bigger halls from the second floor.
And a final shot from Hall 2.
And that brings us to the end of our comprehensive tech-heaven coverage at CeBIT 2009. Overall, the event this year had more segmentation and proper marketing for each of them, such as the Websciety, Green IT, e-Health and e-Government and more. These were previously randomly inserted in older shows, but with proper focus areas this time round, it make it easier to locate the industry of interest and of course gives the show an overall better focus of who and what's involved in the world's largest technology fair.
Everywhere we went, there was emphasis on efficient computing products and those that are more power saving than their predecessors, thus compelling existing organizations to consolidate and update aging portions of their infrastructure for better long term savings and wellbeing of our environment.
CeBIT has long outgrown its PC technology exhibition only roots and is now a major focus for software, info-communication technologies and of course the computing hardware that is the base for all those mentioned. While some of the Asian and PC component brands gave CeBIT a skip this year, here's hoping CeBIT 2009 did make a positive impact to those who were present and hopefully join in the next round along with even more brands. CeBIT in 2010 is slated for 2nd March and will last through the 6th of March. See you again next year!
For those who just can't get enough of it, keep a look out for our Computex trip next quarter as the www.hardwarezone.com team brings you even more tech updates across all the vendors in Taiwan.
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