This year’s Computer Manufacturers, Distributors and Dealer’s Association of the Philippines (COMDDAP) seemed more compact, yet more packed than ever, no doubt due to the presence of none other than HardwareZone Philippines, plus the simple fact that there’s simply more products being displayed this year, from all of the usual suspects plus a couple of new entrees.

                                            As with last year's comddap, Canon had one of the biggest booths during the event.

Samsung’s Pixon Launch held at A.Venue on December 3 was an all-out party bash that surprisingly was not celebrating the launch of a cell phone per se, the whole event revolved around the Pixon’s strong performance as a camera and multimedia device on top of its seemingly more mundane call phone functionality.

                                             Samsung's Pixon launch hosted many interpretative performances perfect for sampling the Pixon's photographic prowess.

“Established in 18xx”. Have you ever seen one of these pronouncements proudly displayed in front of a snooty, well-respected establishment? These establishments boast of brands that have been in their respective trade for hundreds of years. They trade on their perceived long experience and the traditional values of old, implying a product that has resulted from long refinement of a basic but sound concept. If GELID Solutions is any indication however, being long-established isn’t the only way to produce quality products that can instantly endow a formidable impression on a company.

                                              One of GELID's "Wing" case fans.

In street racing, there’s a type of vehicle that’s called a “sleeper” – not because it can double as a camper or mobile, overnight accommodation, but because it slips “under the radar” and remains unnoticed in the face of the mag-wheeled, rear-winged, overly loud street racers that just begs to be stared at. Tech industries and the products it produces have their own versions of sleepers, and from these types of products we get the term “sleeper-hit” or “sleeper-sizzlers”, describing products that are very capable but does not draw too much attention to themselves.

                                            Sanyo executives, including Mr. Joseph Sanchez, Product Manager for Imaging, and Joseph Chua, GM for Sanyo Philippines (2nd and 3rd respectively), flank some of the launch models.

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.