Sights & Sounds of Computex 2012
As we roundup our coverage of Computex 2012, here are other interesting gadgets and sights we saw from the show floor along with what all of you've been waiting for... the booth babes!
Unique Customized Casings
Computer casings can be fairly boring things. Seriously, how many ways can you design a boxy, rectangular object whose main purpose is to house all your system’s components? That said, computer casings need not be boring objects as the following customized casings we’ve see will can surely attest.
All that Glitters is Gold @ ECS
It seems to say “pirates” on the side, but this highly-detailed casing was placed in a Diablo 3-themed exhibit. Seems like everyone wants to jump on the Diablo 3 bandwagon. Anyway, this casing has an elaborate treasure chest design and features lovely gold-plated innards with what looks like an ECS Black Extreme motherboard.
The casing is full of details, with highly-textured panels, a gold-painted chassis and a skull decorating the front bezel.
In keeping with the gold and pirates/diablo theme, this system features an ECS gold-plated Z77 motherboard.
Aerocool's Military Power
The Aerocool Strike-X Air might not be new, but this customized version of it proves that all it takes is a little creativity and some hard work to breathe new life into an otherwise regular casing. Taking full advantage of the open-air design of the original Strike-X Air, Aerocool has commissioned a professional case-modder to produce this exquisite piece that turns the otherwise bland Strike-X Air into a unique piece of computer casing art.
This customized military-style casing comes complete with a turret. Pity it doesn't fire. Also, the paint job on this customized piece is really detailed.
The case also comes with an LCD panel that displays the system's temperature and fan speeds that uses one of Aerocool's Strike-X series based dual-bay front panel device.
All Aboard the Lian Li Express
The PC-CK101 resembles a traditional steam engine train and it moved up and down a set of tracks at the Lian Li booth. The chassis measures 185mm in width, 258mm in height and has a depth of 515mm. During its locomotive demonstration, it had "steam" wafting up from its chimney.
The PC-CK101 fits a mini-ITX board and supports a single slim ODD. It features one 3.5-inch HDD bay slot and another that measures 2.5-inch. It has two USB 3.0 ports and supports a single 12cm cooling fan.
Ban Nguyen and Bitspower's ASUS ROG Creation
This chassis marked the collaboration between the Vietnamnese modder Nam Nguyen and Bitspower to build this chassis in ROG colors. The design of the chassis was inspired by hydro-electric dams and he decided to embark on this "Dam Awesome Power" chassis with the help of Bitspower.
The chassis houses an ROG Maximus V Formula motherboard and an ASUS HD 7970 graphics card.
And here's the same case with its cage-like build closed up.
USB Flash Drives for Petrolheads
If you love cars, you’ll definitely dig these automobile-styled USB flash drives. These are from a Hongkong company called Welly Die Casting and they specialize in making automobile-themed products such as USB flash drives, USB hubs and card readers. The die cast models are fully licensed by the car manufacturers and are produced in roughly 1:68 to 1:72 scale. And judging from the models on show, we have to say that its look very much like their real counterparts.
These drives are of the USB 2.0 variety and comes in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities.
Lamborghini's latest V12, the Aventador, now doubles up as a storage device. The company makes drives in the form of the Murcielago too.
Flash drives modeled after what is arguable the most bang for buck performance car in the world - the Nissan GT-R.
Something more cutesy for the ladies perhaps? The retro-chic Fiat 500.
For fans of VW, the company also makes flash drives in the form of the new Scirocco and the classic Kombi van.
There are only just some of the models they company makes. Some other models include:
- Mini Cooper
- Aston Martin V12 Vantage
- Audi R8
- Land Rover Defender
- Porsche 911
- Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
- Volvco C30
Welly is also in talks with other car manufacturers such as Bentley to expand on their portfolio.
Casings and PSU
In Win was showing off this daring prototype casing at their booth. It's certainly looking robotic in nature.
Meet Be Quiet's Dark Power Pro, an 80 PLUS Platinum certified PSU with an excellent industrial design to boot. Seen here is the 850W edition.
Another view of it from the opposite end, showing off its all-modular design.
Interesting Graphics Cards
All passive heatsink based graphics cards often bring out the most interesting designs and the Sapphire HD 7770 Ultimate 1GB graphics card is no different with a giant radiator array of cooling fins and heat-pipes to quickly disperse heat from the GPU core clocked at 1000MHz.
All that glitters is gold? ECS certainly thinks so. After the gold-plated Z77H2-AX, this is the ECS GeForce GTX 680 Black Series. The gold-plated custom cooler cover acts as a radiator, dissipating heat into the environment.
One of the many customized GeForce GTX 680 cards on the show floor was Galaxy's GeForce GTX 680 GV version. The card comes with a dual-fan custom cooler, higher clock speeds and a whopping 4GB framebuffer.
Of Speakers...
Gavio's Metallion Sgull - galvanized aluminum stereo headphones.
If you need a conversational piece that's small, affordable and something anyone would go wow, you got to check out ATake's dancing water speakers. Simple and compact, it's well executed. Works with a PC or functions as a stand-alone with other inputs via 3.5mm audio jack, the speakers have an output of 6 watts and run on USB power.
On the other end of the scale, we saw these luxury boutique speakers at the show. These Alljack speakers are truly exquisite masterpieces of workmanship.
And Attention Grabbing Booths
ASUS had this amusing display mimicking a chess board showing off superior power components facing off traditional old-school MOSFETs, chokes, inductors and capacitors.
Aiptek didn't really have a lot of new or breakthrough products for show, but what they did manage is a very creative and cozy booth partitioned into 3 themes to showcase their products - casino, lounge and cafe.
SonicGear and PowerLogic’s Armageddon Casing Gear Booth
GPS speciality brand Papago! had this interesting setup that attracted attention.
A demo of a transparent display out of vending machine.
Iron Man - powered by power banks to keep him going!
Not sure what environmentalists or animal welfare activists will make of this, but Strontium's booth had a tank with two sharks in it.
Booth Babes (Part 1)
Booth Babes (Part 2)
Booth Babes (Part 3)
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