Samsung has been charging full speed ahead with their product releases, the most obvious evidence of this being in their increasing number of LCD products available locally as “local release” models. It’s a heartening thought that the Philippines is increasingly being considered a mature market that can garner high-end model sales as well as the more bread-and-butter mid-range LCDs and even CRT units.

PC component buyers are a fickle group. Not only do they have to have products matching up to their budgets, they also need to match up their specific needs to specific features of the same products. Regardless, manufacturers are happy to oblige, and thus today we have a virtual smorgasbord of models, sub-models, special variations and overclocked versions of videocards in the market. Out of all of the dross, we pluck out a unique card coming out from the Manli camp: the Manli 9600OC 512MB.

Being tops isn’t always the glorious experience it’s made out to be, especially when the title of “best” or “fastest” can be snatched away from you at anytime. Such is the competitive arena in the CPU space that Intel cannot afford to rest on its laurels with their excellent Core2 series of processors. With this in mind, Intel put the “tock” of their tick-tock strategy into motion with the release of the Core i7 processors last November 21, 2008.

It's no secret that netbooks are hot items on the tech market at the moment, and Asus is one of the biggest players in this relatively young niche product line. It is a very healthy indication of just how big a player Asus is that they organized and hosted a 5-day, 4-night tour extravaganza to Shanghai as a dealer's appreciation event, bringing together over 40 members of the Philippine's many computer retailers.

                                             Asus' Philippine dealers and distributors near one of Hangzhou's numerous gardens.

It’s always the little things that tickle our fancy. Unlike the 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens camera, the quad-band, Wi-Fi, and fast 3.5G HSDPA connectivity, or the touch-sensitive Navi Wheel that bludgeons you over the head with their sheer high-tech flavor, the first thing that the editors here at HWM remarked upon with the N79 was the “smart” Xpress-On back covers that carries microchips to tell the phone to change to the corresponding color/theme when a new backplate is snapped on.

The rising popularity of projectors, evident in the increasingly affordable prices seen on many models in the market, as well as the availability of tiny “pico” projectors and advances in miniaturization as seen in this post.signal an exciting time for established brands and their products – one of which is Epson.

“Nuclear power” isn’t the safest thing to mention in front of conservationists and the ecologically conscious, even if only due to the bad rep it has. So this new product to be released by a company called Hyperion is certain to raise some hackles and start some kind of outcry – if it really delivers on its promise – that is, to provide a potentially long-lasting source of power in a device not much bigger than a small tool shed – a “mini” nuclear reactor.

                                              Size illustration for the truly "mini" reactor - it actually weighs "just" 8 tons.

NAS products are a little less common than motherboards and videocards on our “to-review” list, and thus it was a pleasure to finally be able to take a closer look at the long awaited Western Digital ShareSpace, in our case a 2TB version running in striped RAID mode.

In an absolutely “why didn’t I think of that?” moment, BenQ hit upon a most logical rationale for some of their latest products – the 16:9 aspect ratio for LCD monitors. True, there is nothing new in this aspect ratio, but recent LCD releases have mostly been of the 16:10 variety, which by itself is not at all something to comment about, except for the fact that most DVD releases are released in the standard, traditional widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, not 16:10.

                                            Just a select few of BenQ's products.

Although not as cool-looking as the HAL wearable exoskeleton, Honda’s Walking Assist Device with Bodyweight Support System did not go out of its way to look cool – it is meant to help the naturally mobility-impaired.

Initial reactions upon hearing “Microsoft Hardware” range from blank puzzlement to outright, snap-the-finger realization – corresponding to the perception that Microsoft = software, and the realization at the other end of Microsoft’s Xbox consoles. Yet there’s another aspect of “Microsoft Hardware” that’s less well-known – peripherals such as keyboards, mice and webcams.

                                             Mr. Ian Tan, Marketing Communications & Partnership Manager of the Entertainment & Devices Division kick off the session.

The problem with halo products is people focus on them to the exclusion of most everything else. Nearly all tech companies have been in the business of presenting and showing off halo products which after all serves their purpose of showing the best efforts of a company or brand to the high profile, high-end product range where all of the press focuses their attention on – AMD knows this all too well, and in gathering the press together last November 3, convincingly showed that a product line, like a story, is composed of more than just the header.

It always surprises me when any particular brand that I associate with a certain type of product turns out to also produce other devices. In the case of BenQ, it’s less of a surprise as the company has been spreading out their reach into all aspects of consumer items and PC components, not the least of which are the LCD series slowly being filled out as a complete product line.

Robots are some of the most popular subjects in this here HWZ blog, and example like this, this, or this only prove that there’s a robot in the future for all of us. Along that thread of thought, we can then surmise that there will be many types of robots for many kinds of people, and this blog entry shows a robot that’s perfect for people who like them creepy: enter the MSR-101 Hexapod.

Note: Original article and all pictures are from www.maximumpc.com.Credits go to them.

It’s finally come to pass that the once super-hardcore in personal computers have become merely mundane. None of the traditionally enthusiast and modder-exclusive features, like clear side windows, cathode lights, water cooling, and overclocking, remain their exclusive domain, as all of the above can be had simply by buying the most relevant parts – generic casings with acrylic side windows, the whole sunbeam tech lineup, Cooler Master’s Aquagate, and most any respected motherboard maker you care to name – all corresponding to the above “features”.