It’s one thing to declare a company’s readiness to adhere to the “green” convention while describing a program being implemented in a manufacturing plant thousands of kilometers away, and it’s a totally different matter again when you have actual products and concrete plans to show the audience while declaring your company’s “green” mission and credentials. Sharp knows this well and takes the exact line in presenting their company strengths and the programs that support this strength.

Like a particularly good movie franchise with millions of fans and very good production values, Canon’s Image Nation celebration comes out swinging with part two (for this year only!) in this fourth quarter introduction of Canon cameras, printers, projectors and scanners.

MSI’s Wind has been out in the market for some months now, and most, if not all reactions to it has been positive. Everything, from the looks, portability, expandability, screen, and power, while not so different from that of its competitors, were put together so well, with such good build quality, that the Wind soon became a favorite for many people looking for a secondary PC. All except for the battery – a 3-cell that is merely adequate for a portable device.

                                             It's the MSI Wind - I'm sure you've seen it before, but this one has a different twist to it...

There’s no real technical innovation involved in the creation of Salavador DaBot - unless you count the integration of super-fine robotic control, world-class image recognition, intricate real-life modeling for the arm movements, and speech synthesis that doesn’t sound stilted – all combined into one package and dashed with a little bit of whimsy.

There’s fans, then there’s the fanboys (and girls) – the crazily devoted peons of a franchise, an idea, or more often these days – a fictional character. Many things can indicate the difference between the mere fans and the fanatic, and the most scarily convincing show of devotedness can come from the calculated and well thought-out tribute to the original. The object of fanboy-ism this time is Meta Gear Solid, which is by now in its fourth outing and is named “Guns of the Patriots” – fitting, as this tribute is of the gun carried by the hero of the game – Solid Snake – with some smart modifications.

I can get pumped up by the smallest of things, if its about tech or gadgets. In this case, the device I’m talking about is literally very small – a two inch LCD panel made by Casio. Two inches you say? Surely the 150” monster over yonder makes your blood pump all that much faster? Well if put that way, then I’d just have to clarify that this little ‘ole 2” screen is as exciting a development as the 150” monster. How so? Read on to find out.

                                             You'd think that the above title had a typo, but in fact, while this pictures looks like that of a huge screen, it's in fact only 2" - but sports 546 ppi.

Explain to your wife/girlfriend/mother/sister why you need that multi-thousand peso thingamajig when a perfectly cheap alternative exists. Yes, I am speaking for the most part to the males with the typical male failing of wanting that more powerful power tool, that bigger big-screen TV, that Toyota Avanza with every option in the book attached to it making it cost as much as a Fortuner. Is it something that can be explained? I’m not sure, but someone in geek heaven is surely trying to throw up some alternatives.

It’s the mark of a maturing PC components market that there are now more videocard brands in than there are honest MMDA personnel. Competition is always a good thing, and the companies that jump into our local market already know that there is always a chance to make it big and sell thousands of units a month, that is, if they can find that special mix of price and performance that is so important to our penny-pinching enthusiasts. Manli , with their 9600GT videocard duo, may be hitting a sweet spot here.

                                              The two 9600GTs from Manli, one overclocked, the other stock.

In the well-beaten path of conventional tech writing, we inevitably see descriptions of devices with adjectives like “innovative”, forward-looking”, and “nifty”, but that was before this editor saw this device. Fashioned by Jamie O’Shea of the “Office for the Development of Substitute Materials”, this prosthetic/accessory set for the pedestrian who’s always in danger of falling asleep on his/her feet allows for a vertical sleeping arrangement, and is naturally called “The Vertical Bed”.

Picking up where we left off, we take a look at the Imaging and Printing Group’s newest offerings, in this second part of HWM’s coverage of the recently concluded HP Big Bang event held in Hong Kong. For a look at part one, please follow this link.

We expected HP’s regional Big Bang event to introduce a multitude of products, but we did not expect it to be the virtual smorgasbord of ideas, technologies and innovation that it turned out to be. HP’s Big Bang Regional Product Launch held in Hong Kong from September 8-11 took on the event theme of “Engage. Excite. Experience", and stayed true to it, if the sheer number of great products are any indication. HWM goes into the thick of things and emerges with vital information, presented in this two-part feature, for the computer user intent on staying ahead of the technology curve.

                                             Christopher Morgan, SVP for the Imaging and Printing Group for HP Asia Pacific and Japan is on the left, while See Chin Teik, SVP for the Personal Systems Group for the same region stands on the right.

Dell’s Consumer Launch held at the Ayala Tent was only the second launch event held by Dell locally, but one wouldn’t know from the energy and casual yet accomplished atmosphere prevalent during the event. Which is no accident – Dell wants to project a relaxed, “colorful” attitude to the consumers who desires ease-of-use and friendly features from their PCs. Backed by quality and reliability, the new Dell PCs consisting of the Studio Laptop series, the Studio Hybrid PC series, and the highly anticipated Inspiron Mini 9, stand ready to welcome new Dell customers into the fold.

The Ayala Tent venue looked spectacular in person, but is informal enough for the purposes of Dell's launch - a chic place but not overwhelming like a hotel events hall.

There always comes a time in a PC gamer’s life when he feels he absolutely, positively needs to upgrade his PC, or be left in the dust and debris of old, obsolete games. This is not true for everybody of course, but for the select few who needs to play the lates games at the highest possible resolution that their hardware (and wallet) is capable of, they have benchmarks that change from generation to generation that reflect the needs of the gaming industry so much that they become the basis of “leetness” and determines how updated your hardware is.

                                             Luxury didn't factor into the building of the Warhead PC.

I guess it was inevitable with the march of progress and the incessant convergence of technologies. The “Scan Toaster” puts everything you need with breakfast onto a slice of bread, that is, if your typical breakfast consists of bread and a quick look at current events from your favorite broadsheet.

                                           This isn't even close to being a "fancy piece of toast".

Samsung has always been a good bet for a good bash, and for the Innov8 multimedia phone/mobile entertainment phone, Samsung has one of the most compelling reasons to throw the biggest bash ever, as the Innov8 is their first 8MP camera phone and one of the first to have a full 16GB of storage already on-board. Combined with the sheer number of features that it brings to the current, local market, Samsung felt it was high time for a party, timed just on the eve of this phone's launch date. The launch did not just involve a party and dinner during the evening, there was also an Amazing Race style event which unfortunately was not attended by yours truly. Instead, our stalwart Editor-in-Chief had the honor of representing the whole HWM team.

                                             The Innov8 hogging the spotlight(s).