The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) is a non-profit industry group and support organization for the advancement and adoption of Universal Serial Bus technology as defined in the USB specifications. There are currently more than 1,000 member companies worldwide. This year, USB-IF and its members showcased new USB capabilities and products within a community on the 4th floor of Nangang Exhibition Center at Computex Taipei 2018. This is the eighth consecutive year USB-IF attended the show to highlight its latest technical developments and progress. In this interview, we got the opportunity to talk to Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF's president and chief operation officer about the newest USB-IF developments.First of all, the USB 3.2 specification was finalized and announced in September 2017. This latest standard maximizes the potential of existing cables by enabling the development of hosts and devices to support two lanes of SuperSpeed USB or two lanes of SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps, for a maximum performance of 20 Gbps.Meanwhile, USB Power Delivery (USB PD) adoption continues, expanding the USB ecosystem. USB PD fulfills the charging requirements for PCs, tablets and other mobile devices along with data over a single cable.Ravencraft said optimistically the three key elements of USB - SuperSpeed USB 20 Gbps data transmission rate, USB charging, and single-cable ease of use with USB Type-C(TW) - are making USB the best physical wiring interface for electronics. The silicon IP vendors, chip makers, testing certification laboratories and equipment suppliers are working together to provide the solutions for optimizing business and to further accelerate the adoption of USB technologies.USB-IF new certified logos for less confusionAccording to an IHS report published in December 2017, USB Type-C is forecast to dominate mobile devices, PCs and other consumer electronics, plus the automotive market, with an estimated five billion devices by 2021. Ravencraft highlighted that with USB charging capabilities up to 100W and data transmission up to 20 Gbps, USB is more complex than ever. Given the complexity, power and performance capabilities of these specifications, it is important for manufacturers to devote the necessary resources to build compliant products and submit them for testing by the USB-IF Compliance Program to achieve USB-IF certification.The current logo system includes original USB, SuperSpeed USB, SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps and USB charging certified logos for devices, cables or chargers. Once a product successfully achieves USB-IF certification, the company can a sign logo license agreement and then use the certified logos for identifying the performance and charging capabilities supported.USB Authentication helps protect devicesCertified USB logos display functional features on devices, cables and chargers to indicate that these products are certified by the USB-IF. But there remains yet another potential hazard for example, if consumers use faulty products such as chargers or cables, they are putting their devices at risk. For these reasons, the USB-IF has established USB Authentication, which is an optional security protocol. USB Authentication is a way for hosts, like laptops and desktops, to authenticate devices that are connected to it and thereby protect against faulty chargers, cables and other devices before equipment is damaged.During the USB Authentication process, the host has the ability to verify many parameters of any given product, including whether the device has been certified by the USB-IF. A host will likely implement a policy on how to manage products based upon what it can authenticate for the device. For example, security professionals have long warned of the potential for unknown USB drives to infect a PC with malware. If implemented, this feature would address a persistent weak spot in enterprise security, stemming from the willingness of people to stick any USB drive they find into their machines. Another use case for smartphone owners, at an airport for example, is the ability to set a policy that restricts the phone to charging only from USB-IF certified charging solutions.Continuous momentum to promote USB Type-C across all electronicsThe USB PD controller chip makers announced more semiconductor solutions to support the secured mechanism for connection between PCs, smartphone, peripherals, home robotics and other electronics that charge over USB. The USB PD 3.0 standard has supported power ratings from 7.5W to 100W, and the bus voltage from 5V up to 20V maximum to increase the flexibility of design. A single USB Type-C cable could provide the service for all of them.On the other hand, leveraging the ability of USB Type-C standard, DIGITAL EUROPE recently announced a "Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)" on the future common charging solution for electronics, as it reaffirms the industry's firm commitment to provide unified charging solutions by building on the success of the first MoU from June 2009. This MoU is helping USB Type-C become more and more prominent in the marketplace and will most likely make it the mainstream charging solution in the years to come, gradually replacing existing interfaces in a broad range of electronic devices.USB Type-C boosting automotive applicationsWith more benefits from new USB standards, the transition to USB Type-C is well underway across industries. The automotive market is one key example of this adoption and major chip makers are providing solutions tailored to the needs of the automotive applications. In addition to ADAS, USB is also a key interface for Infotainment SoC. The infotainment SoC needs to support connections to a selection of input and outputs such as the navigation system and user capabilities.The use of the USB Type-C standard in automotive applications is expected to increase, as it's simply the most robust and ubiquitous interface that provides designers and end users with the greatest flexibility for use and expansion. As Level 3 autonomous cars are launched in the second half of 2018 and the coming years, these new self-driving cars are able to take complete control and allow drivers and passengers to carry out other tasks like playing video games or reading a book. The driverless car is a great case study for every industry facing disruption. Many use cases are under estimation and study. But there are needs for exchanging data or fast charging mobile devices in cars. This will help USB Type-C standard to be used in the cars of the future.The Certified USB Charger Logo & Compliance Program from USB-IF supports the evolving device and computing markets as more products adopt USB Type-C and USB Charging.IHS predicts nearly 5 billion devices will utilize USB Type-C by 2021.USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) President and COO Jeff Ravencraft.

APD Group took part in Computex Taipei in June 2018, showcasing many products, including networking power, medical power, to consumer electronics power, alongside many other applications.At the exhibition, APD's customized power solution wowed visitors from abroad. "When a client needs to differentiate, they need customized solutions. APD has benefited from its R&D strength in conducting needs-specific customization, with the help of flexible high efficiency automated production to quickly satisfy the needs of our clients," APD's Power System Business deputy general manager Mark Tang says.On the trending topic of quick charge, APD has demonstrated its light and compact USB PD power that supports the latest PD3.0 and QC 3.0 quick charge standards, with an exceptionally high power of 65W. Size wise, the latest adapter has been reduced by 10-30% compared with its predecessor. APD's diverse design can help clients set their products apart from the rest of the market.As a long-time partner with major international medical brands, APD Group also showcased many of its medical power supplies at this exhibition. Regarding safety requirements and performance, all APD power products comply with EU's latest COC Tier 2 performance regulation. The products also passed the ISO 13485 Certification for Medical Device Quality Management System and IEC60601 standard for medical safety in 2015. Indeed, all APD products meet the market's stringent requirement of "high quality, high stability, and high safety standards".APD's Power System Business deputy general manager Mark Tang (left)

Amazon Web Services (AWS) made its first-ever appearance at the Computex Taipei trade show this year. Its exhibits were a highlight among other AIoT-themed booths. AWS has hosted tech forums, such as AWS Summit Taipei, that were highly-praised and well-attended by high-tech communities and AWS partners in Taiwan. At Computex 2018, AWS presented achievements by its partners in technology developments and the IoT ecosystem and provided opportunities for them to exchange thoughts, making its activities highly anticipated.The AWS team held several important seminars at the event, which not only introduced major AWS platform technologies and features but also shed light on new IoT development trends. The seminars received positive reviews and provided new perspectives on IoT applications and solutions as well as upfront observations on market dynamics.The IoT is a target area where Taiwan has been engaging creative energies from governments, industries and academics over the recent years. Worldwide-leading cloud service providers are keen to bring their technologies and wide-range of solutions to Taiwan. By promoting and demonstrating a myriad of business models, they help give the Taiwan industry a direction for innovative applications. Among them, AWS plays a particularly important driving force to assist startups in Taiwan to burgeon, connect Taiwan with worldwide industries and help Taiwan develop its own IoT ecosystem and supply chain.AWS hosted a four-day exhibit of IoT solutions and a series of IoT-themed seminars at North Lounge, third floor, Taipei International Convention Center (TICC). The company showcased AWS Greengrass, AWS IoT Enterprise Button and usage case examples of Alexa-based voice assistant services. AWS demonstrated its great ambition toward IoT services by giving a detailed introduction on the tools Alexa for Business provides. Furthermore, AWS also jointly presented IoT solutions with partners including ASKEY, CyberLink, LITE-ON, Microchip, QNAP, SMC, Tomofun, wiAdvance, ZYXEL and NETFOUNDRY.A superb collection of solutions were on display, including wiAdvance's smart healthcare solution which uses the AWS platform to realize an AI-based system helping doctors read MRI or CT scan images and make diagnosis on brain or liver tumors.ASKEY's car fleet management system is software-hardware-integrated solution that combines with a LTE communication module, GPS and camera systems to provide management and services for the cars on the road.U Webinar introduced by CyberLink is a live video streaming system for businesses to conduct remote presentations and training sessions. It allows enterprises to easily stream live video using computers, smartphones or tablets anytime anywhere.ZYXEL looks to enhance business operation efficiency from the perspective of network equipment. As enterprises generally have a large number of management reports and information security log files from their network equipment such as firewalls and gateways, it consumes a great amount of time and effort to manage the data. Leveraging AWS technologies to allow businesses to manage the data over the cloud, convenience and efficiency are significantly improved and information security is guaranteed.Focusing on video surveillance systems for use by individuals or small businesses, SMC also aims to enable convenient and easy-to-use cloud-based platforms. The recorded video footages are saved on the cloud side and multiple intuitive control functions and applications for different use scenarios are available.There was also a demonstration combining solutions from LITE-ON and QNAP. LITE-ON brought forward a range of applications combining different sensors with Lora or NB-IoT wireless communication modules. The gathered data including temperature, humidity and other important parameters measured for a factory working environment was sent to QNAP's NAS system, which was integrated with AWS edge computing to deliver data analysis services for automation control or process monitoring.NETFOUNDRY, a subsidiary of India's Tata Group, enables companies building IIoT or industrial applications to tap AWS IoT Analytics services over fast network connection and complete security architecture. Additional AWS-enabled products on display at Computex this year included Astra's face recognition solution, Tomofun's pet camera and Microchip's security ICs.All these solutions and products on exhibit make use of important technologies available on the AWS platform. Built for a variety of applications, they demonstrate a wide range of examples of how the industry can use IoT to create more innovations and business models. With the partnerships, AWS, although is centered on providing platform technologies and services, is still able to observe any new application development in an open mind and this is also serving as a driving force pushing AWS forward. This is the mutually beneficial and win-win IoT business model that people speak commendably of.Engaging partners in Taiwan, AWS creates new IoT opportunities

Audi unveiled the all-new A8 luxury car in 2017 at Audi Summit, showcasing the first car to reach Level 3 autonomous drive. This is an indication that the car industry is shifting gear fast towards a car revolution. Starting from this year, more automakers will be making big moves to advance their autonomous car efforts. Keeping pace with same momentum, the much anticipated Level 5 autonomous car will hit the road in 2025, according to predictions by industry observers.During the past few years, the development of autonomous driving technology has been in the fast lane. Topics such as lithium battery for the electrical vehicles, ADAS and Internet of Vehicles (IoV) are getting most attention from the public.Digitimes, at the AIoT Ecosystem Forum it held during Computex 2018, devoted a session to the discussion of the trends and opprtunities concerning self-driving cars on June 7: "Car Tech and AIoT, Driving Innovation," with keynote speakers coming from global leading companies of semiconductor and electronics industriesWhile technological development continues, the upcoming business model of autonomous vehicles or robo-taxis (or shared self-driving taxis) is expected to give a big boost to sharing economy.Automotive innovations have increasingly been enabled by semiconductor-based solutions. Around 80% of the core automotive innovation comes from semiconductors, according to an estimation from one of the major automakers. And Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) is paving the way towards full autonomous driving. In addition, other applications such as those related to comfort and convenience, infotainment and wireless data connectivity are driving semiconductor use in the automotive sector.At the forum, ARM talked about the scope of silicon architecture for future autonomous car development based on ARM core IP. The automotive industrial standards like functional safety of ISO 26262 and cyber security are inevitable topics in auto space and need to be addressed in the chipset level from the beginning stage of IC design.Dialog Semiconductor talked about the solution of Haptics on touch screen. This semiconductor solution, combining with different types of hardware such as linear resonant actuators, makes use of vibration feedback to simulate button clicking more interactively and optimize user experience while more and more flat panels and touch screen technologies are installed onboard the vehicle. This ultra-low power consumption of Dialog's haptics driver IC makes it easy to implement engineering design compared with existing competitors.The automotive market will see the adoption of high capacity memory led by emerging trend of autonomous driving and in-vehicle infotainment. Silicon Motion leverages its leading technology and strong customization capability in NAND flash memory controller along with multi-chip package solution to introduce Ferri solutions (single-chip storage solutions), including Ferri-eMMC and Ferri-UFS, to the automotive market. For automotive non-volatile memory sectors, the company relies on quality products and flexible engineering design capability for customized specifications.New self-driving technologies and the increasing number of functions within motor vehicles mean that automotive manufacturers have to develop more and more safety systems. TUV Nord talked about the automotive safety standards covering ISO 26262 and ASPICE. For cyber security considerations, the standards of IEC 62443-X and SOTIF ISO PAS 21448 were also discussed to highlight the new challenges of the industries.Texas Instrument (TI) showed its new development of millimeter wave radar CMOS IC solutions. TI's offerings are boosting miniature radar products suited for automotive market. The millimeter-wave SMT packages for automotive radar sensors could be reduced further to 3X3 centimeters of PCB board size. It pushes the limits to fulfil the requirements of new Level-3 self-driving cars.Level 3 self-driving cars will be on the road in 2020. And the 2019 Audi A8 might be the first Level 3 vehicle available on the market.While more and more electronics are featured inside the vehicles, the opportunity of automotive industry shows big potential, though the entry barriers may be high.Digitimes Car Tech and AIoT Technology Forum Photo: Digitimes staff

To encourage entrepreneurs and startups to innovate, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) on June 7 during Computex 2018 hosted InnoVEX 2018 Roundtable, a seminar gathering executives and professionals from IT startups, enterprises, upstream manufacturers, international buyers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and accelerators to exchange thoughts and ideas.TAITRA president and CEO and the roundtable host Walter Yeh, in his opening speech, expressed his gratitude toward the participants of the roundtable and the support for InnoVEX 2018 from their organizations, enterprises or venture capitals including Amazon Launchpad, Business France, Garage+, Colopl Next, European Business Innovation Center of Murcia (CEEIM), JAFCO Asia, Digitimes, Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Center (MaGIC), Telefonica, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and more.Yeh noted that the first day of InnoVEX 2018 was a success with visitors and exhibitors both reporting satisfactory experiences during their tours. Computex 2018 attracted 1,600 companies from 30 countries worldwide and there are also 388 participating startups from 21 countries at InnoVEX 2018 with a total of 13 country pavilions at the show, up from three in the previous year. InnoVEX has already become an important platform for startups, venture capitals, accelerators and buyers and have attracted increasing numbers of venture capitals with the total of visiting venture capitals reaching 200 this year.With fresh assistance and support, Computex is able to transform from a traditional ICT trade show covering mainly hardware innovations to a worldwide technology event showcasing emerging applications such as Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) and pushing the development of Taiwan's entrepreneurship, said Yeh.The first topic of the round table was: With the growing popularity of emerging applications including 5G evolution, blockchain, quantum computing, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) and AI, how can governments worldwide assist startups to face the rapidly changing industry trends? Yeh first invited Josephine Chao, president of the Epoch Foundation and founder of the Garage+ project to share her observations and experiences in these new business areas and her thoughts on how government can assist startups over the changes.Chao noted that these fancy technologies are actually not new as many companies such as Google, Amazon have been developing these applications for many years and now they have suddenly become the latest trends simply because the markets are ready. Although the technology is important, what governments worldwide should focus more on is the human capital: the younger-generation is an important asset to a country's future, but such an asset is now growing weaker.Kar Sin Ng, manager of International Partnership and Outreach, ASEAN Center of Entrepreneurship from MaGIC, noted that MaGIC is a government agency that has been looking into emerging industries and they are currently conducting a few projects including gathering startups, government units and companies to talk about the problems that startups are facing as well as regulations that could potentially influence startups to fulfill their ideas, a sandbox that provides a safe environment for startups to test their ideas and products. MaGIC has also been making recommendations to the government to improve startup environments as well as negotiating with multi-national companies, persuading them to provide their expertise to startups as well as cooperating with them to help them grow.Yeh then asked Prakash Somasundaram, head of Global Projects at Amazon Launchpad, about how venture capitalists and accelerators choose startups and what resources they provide to support.Somasundaram responded that when Amazon Launchpad started, the first thing it noticed was that were a lot of funding opportunities for startups. But the problem is that once these startups build their ideas and validate them and they have a product that is ready to ship, how can they get the product discovered by all its customers they try to reach and even distribute the product to them? This gap will be a good spot for Amazon Launchpad to jump in. Currently, Amazon Launchpad is more interested in startups making physical consumer products such as baby food or new products that are expected to have good demand from regular consumers. Amazon Launchpad has an online store to show their products. We give startups guidance to set up their products for sales and help them promote through our system.For the second topic, Yeh asked about how venture capitalists are adopting different strategies compared to corporative venture capitals and he first invited Jackey Wang, co-founder of Tickle Labs and a venture partner of 500 Startups, to talk about her opinions over the potential competition between venture capitals and corporate venture capitals.Wang noted that in her personal view, there is no competition between corporate venture capital and traditional venture capital. Although both of them are looking to make profits, corporate venture capital has a different purpose over startup investment than traditional venture capital as they are more like government funds, focusing on investing in new technologies and seeking to create a new industry.Another issue is that corporate venture capital will have difficulties participating in many of the startup events as finding startups is not their main work.Venture capitals actually have a more variety of roles to play in startup investment as sometimes they raise their money from corporates and sometimes government. In some cases, corporate venture capitals are actually relying on regular venture capitals to help them find new investment targets.Ines Oliveira Ribeiro, fiinance manager, Wayra Spain, and head of Crowdworking Gran Via Open Future, agreed with Wang, saying that there is no competition between corporate venture capitalists, accelerators and venture capitalists. Telefonica as a corporate venture capital has good relationship with regular venture capital.Edward Lee, director of JAFCO Asia, believes there is competition between corporate venture capital and venture capital, but he noted that they are healthy competitions. Lee said that both sides are in the venture capital business because they want to make money and investors are looking for good targets for investments, and it is natural to see some competitions.Lee noted that there are broad selections of investments worldwide and assisting startups to find good partners is also a job for venture capital. Compared the two, corporate venture capital has more flexibility as it can withstand long-term investments, and is able to provide business resources to help startups grow.Chao then shared her thought on the topic from the startup's perspective. She believes startups are able to receive much help including credibility enhancement, strategic partnerships, mentorship and go-to-market partners from corporate venture capital, but the support may turn out to become crisis, which is something startups need to be aware of.Wang added that now is the perfect time for entrepreneurship as there are many programs and policies that favor startups. However, she noted that the founder of a startup needs to think carefully when the opportunity of being acquired come. Wang said that the scenario of the startup founder leaving the company after being acquired happens quite often. Wang also noted that she has been creating programs to help startups match with venture capital.For the last topic, Roger Huang, senior analyst and deputy director of Digitimes Research, did a presentation on how Taiwan's upstream component supply chain and hardware manufacturing service providers can provide assistance to startup communities to materialize their ideas.Huang noted that how to leverage Taiwan's supply chain to build a creative startup ecosystem as well as how organizations such as TAITRA can set up a new platform to help startups explore the global markets under trade protectionism are key issues that Taiwan needs to think about.Huang believes from 2015-2025, there are four major digitalization drivers: realtime big data, AI, super connectivity and cloud, all of which will significantly boost Taiwan's presence, and Taiwan's comprehensive supply chain is the biggest asset to become the best partner of worldwide innovations.Huang also noted that Taiwan-based large enterprises have already been talking and cooperating with startups to create innovations and are set to launch several projects. Their targets are not just startups in Taiwan, but startups worldwide, and they are looking to have them join Taiwan's ecosystem.Yeh added his thought to the topic, saying that matchmaking startups with venture capitalists, accelerators and OEM/ODM worldwide, and bringing everybody together is an important task for TAITRA and Computex, and the platform is now serving as an important bridge connecting these players.Seung Hee Oh, manager of KOTRA, noted that they have been assisting startups to form collaboration with accelerators in Taiwan and afterward the agency can also help the startup to connect with suitable venture capitals.Emilia Shih, executive deputy director of exhibition department at TAITRA, noted that TAITRA is an accelerator and its task is to help startups grow and create a platform to connect them with venture capitalists and resources and will be looking to create more activities to help Taiwan's entrepreneurial market grow.Gia Dinh TO from Business France noted that Business France is setting up offices around the world with local workers, as a success business model in one place may not guarantee success in another. She believes team work is an important factor deciding success.Walter Yeh, TAITRA president and CEO, presides over InnoVEX 2018 Roundtable at ComputexParticipants of InnoVEX 2018 RoundtableRoger Huang, deputy director of Digitimes Research, at the roundtable

Asustek Computer has unveiled at Computex 2018 new products, including ZenBook Pro 15 and ZenBook Pro 14 with ScreenPad input device, ZenBook S, a full lineup of VivoBook notebooks, and the VivoWatch BP wearable blood-pressure monitor.As part of the new ZenBook and VivoBook introduction, Asustek announced a partnership with Hollywood actress, Gal Gadot, as brand ambassador for Asus PC product lines.The company also gave a sneak peek at Project Precog, a concept device and a convertible dual-screen notebook equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) features. The dual-screen form factor is designed to provide a set of intelligent capabilities, including Intelligent Touch and Intelligent Charging."Over the last three decades, Asus has focused on delivering meaningful innovations to market as well as refining every meticulous detail to perfect the computing experience," said company chairman Jonney Shih. "We aspire to bring out the best in everyone by helping them unleash their creative power with beauty, performance, innovation and state-of-the-art technology including AI."New VivoBook models include VivoBook S15 (S530) and VivoBook S14 (S430), a pair of lightweight notebooks available in a choice of five colors and several textured finishes. Also announced was VivoBook S13 (S330), which features a 13-inch display in an 11-inch body and is the first Asus notebook to feature a four-sided NanoEdge bezel, which enables an 89% screen-to-body ratio for a maximized viewing area. The VivoBook S15, S14 and S13 are powered by 8th Generation Intel Core processors.New ZenBook notebooks include ZenBook Pro 15 (UX580), ZenBook Pro 14 (UX480) and ZenBook S (UX391). ZenBook Pro 15 and ZenBook Pro 14 run Windows 10 and feature ScreenPad, a new way to interact with ZenBook. ZenBook Pro 15 is a professional powerhouse with an up to 8th Generation Intel Core i9 processor, GeForce GTX 1050Ti GPU, 1TB PCIe x4 SSD, gigabit speeds with Intel Wireless-AC and Thunderbolt 3 ports. ZenBook Pro 14 delivers performance with an up to 8th Generation Intel Core processor, GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q gaming graphics, 1TB PCIe x4 SSD and ultrafast storage accelerated by Intel Optane memory. ZenBook S is a premium 13.3-inch Windows 10 ultraportable notebook that meets military-grade MIL-STD-810G durability standards.The VivoWatch BP is a wearable blood-pressure monitor equipped with Asus HealthAI technology that analyzes the wearer's blood pressure measurements and daily lifestyle habits to provide recommendations for controlling blood pressure.Asus' products are on display at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, booth #M410.

At Computex 2018, QNAP Systems, Inc opened its technology suite at the Taipei International Convention Center (TICC), Meeting Room 201E, to bring visitors a profound, in-depth experience. Together with new NAS models and solutions, NAS-based machine learning and AI applications in healthcare are being demonstrated to display QNAP's commitment to AI development. There is also a sneak-preview of the exciting advancements for the upcoming QTS 4.3.5 NAS operating system.QNAP's AI solution for the medical industry and remote healthcareQNAP offers both software and hardware strengths to comprehensively fulfill AI computing and storage, and exhibits solid results in ophthalmology. A powerful QNAP NAS running the "QuAI" package demonstrates the absolute power to perform as an AI computing center with machine learning capabilities, trained to identify specific eye diseases. It not only improves medical diagnosis, but also creates possibilities to aid organizations that lack medical resources. All the DICOM images can be backed up to another NAS which operates the Orthanc as a picture archiving and communication system (PACS), which is beneficial to disease management as well as realizing remote healthcare.QVR Pro video surveillance solution with intelligent event managementThe QVR Pro surveillance solution runs alongside the NAS OS as an independent operating environment. Administrators can allocate dedicated storage space to QVR Pro and the performance will not be impacted by other NAS applications. Optimized for surveillance management, QVR Pro delivers enhanced usability and the incorporation of NAS functionalities such as cross-platform client monitoring and management, CMS concepts, failover capabilities, and expandable storage. More powerful features include comprehensive camera management and support, smarter event management, and Intelligent Video Analytics (IVA) for face recognition.Maximized NAS performance with GPU-driven computing and iSER accelerationThe upcoming TS-x77XU NAS series adds rack-mountable models to the QNAP's range of AMD Ryzen-based NAS. The TS-x77XU features great support for graphics cards for empowering AI machine-learning tasks with higher performance. Graphics cards can also be passed through to virtual machines to provide them with higher performance potential. In aspects of virtualization applications, the support of iSCSI Extensions for RDMA (iSER) boosts the data transfer performance of the TS-x77XU NAS as VMware ESXi storage and reduces the CPU load of the ESXi server. iSER can significantly increase performance, providing an essential tool to optimize demanding virtualization applications.Sneak-preview of QTS 4.3.5: A revolution in networking and storageAlongside QNAP's expanding lineup of 10GbE-capable NAS systems, 10GbE switches, and wireless adapters, the upcoming QTS 4.3.5 QNAP enhances the Network and Virtual Switch app to visualize physical/virtual connections with a network topology map that significantly eases the challenging network management. QNAP's proprietary QBelt VPN protocol is being developed to help encrypt traffic when accessing sensitive data and to decrease the chance of being detected. Advances in storage efficiency go parallel to high-speed networking in response to prevailing 10GbE requirements. From SSD over-provisioning that improves write performance to fully utilize the 10GbE potential to flexible snapshot configurations, QNAP NAS is truly an all-round storage/computing solution.New products at a glanceTVS-951X: Honored with the Red Dot Award (2018) and Computex d&I Award (2018) for high-quality product design, the high-capacity-compact-size 9-bay NAS features a 14nm Intel Kaby Lake 7th-generation Celeron 3865U low-power dual-core 1.8 GHz processor, and supports 10GBASE-T connectivity, multimedia transcoding/streaming, and 4K HDMI output as a multifaceted NAS solution.TS-1635AX: A high-capacity and affordable 16-bay NAS with a high-performance Marvell ARMADA 8040 ARMv8 Cortex-A72 64-bit quad-core 1.6 GHz processor, dual 10GbE SFP+ ports, two M.2 2280 SATA SSD slots, and two PCIe Gen3 slots, supporting Linux virtualization, SSD caching, Qtier 2.0, and more business-ready apps.TS-251B: An economical 2-bay NAS designed for home users, powered by an Intel Celeron J3355 dual-core 2.0 GHz processor and supporting PCIe expansion, multimedia transcoding/streaming, and 4K HDMI output with optimal cost efficiency.TR-004: A USB 3.0 Type-C hardware RAID external enclosure that supports up to four SATA 6Gb/s drives and features portability and plug-and-use convenience for QNAP NAS, Windows and Mac computers - perfect for applications that require high capacity and RAID protection.QNAP Systems at Computex, Taipei International Convention Center (TICC), Meeting Room 201E

Computex 2018, as a benchmark for global B2B professional technology exhibition, highlights six themes - artificial intelligence (AI), 5G communication, blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), innovations & startups and gaming & VR. Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) expects advances of the six major technologies will introduce innovative applications and infuse new energy into Taiwan's economy.A glimpse at the exhibits at this year's event - which started on June 5 - shows that AI has become an industry-wide focus of new product R&D. Centralized computation architectures can hardly cope with the requirements by growingly diverse AI applications. As such, equipping end devices with sufficient edge computing capabilities is now an important market trend. A wide variety of edge computing implementations are being showcased at Computex 2018, with self-driving cars, drones, robots, VR/AR/MR devices, surveillance cameras particularly grabbing visitors's attention.Visitors entering TWTC Exhibition Hall 1 will not miss the large-size drone put on display by Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) at Computex. With a wheelbase of 3.75m, ITRI's unique hybrid power drone features a flight duration of 45 minutes when carrying a 30kg payload. Compared to pure battery-powered flying vehicles, ITRI's drone stays in the air longer. According to ITRI, running on both batteries and internal combustion engines, the drone is easy to maneuver and flies long distance thanks to the combined benefits of the high sensitivity of batteries and the high power output of gasoline.The high-payload and high-duration drone can be used for long-range missions, such as dropping off supplies to disaster areas, inspecting bridges and cleaning power lines. ITRI emphasizes that using the drone to clean power lines is a perfect example demonstrating its tremendous value. Contaminants on the insulators of an electrical power line can cause an electrical fault and must be periodically cleaned and maintained. ITRI's drone can help a power company carry out such a task. In the case of Taiwan, this can increase the total power output by 1%-2%.Aside from drones, self-driving cars are also a highlight of edge computing applications. Elitegroup Computer Systems (ESC) is showcasing a 10.1-inch 2DIM in-vehicle computer with a 3-second boot time as required by automakers. With self-driving cars now a confirmed trend, an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) that processes data sent back from a range of sensors in real time is essential. In view of this, ESC builds its automotive system with dual ARM processors��Cortex M and Cortex A7, operating system software as well as WLAN and Bluetooth communication. ESC is supplying the product to automakers in Taiwan and China.ESC also has a mini remote-control self-driving car integrated with the company's ADAS on display at Computex. The ESC ADAS enables blind spot visibility and 360-degree surround view. It can be applied to trucks longer than 20 feet and resolves the blind spot problem for large vehicles with its camera and image processing capability, thereby enhancing road safety.The service robot moving around at TWTC Exhibition Hall 1 is the smart robot AYUDA developed by SYSCOM Group, a leading system integrator based in Taiwan. AYUDA is also the first police robot that the New Taipei City Police Department is deploying in remote mountain areas to provide local citizens with police administration messages. AYUDA is also being used to provide services at banks and hospitals.According to SYSCOM Group, AYUDA has a built-in indoor positioning system and therefore can navigate an indoor area using its internal database. It also has face and voice recognition capabilities, allowing it to analyze a visitor's speech and give an appropriate response. To avoid delay in response resulting from back-and-forth communication via network connection, AYUDA on display at Computex operates offline, interacting with visitors using its built-in processor and database. In addition, AYUDA allows a high level of customization to accommodate wide-ranging customer needs in robot appearance, communication protocols and cloud connections.Virtual reality (VR) has inspired worldwide users with never-before-experienced visual enjoyments. However, those who have used VR glasses feel limited and inconvenienced by the VR glass cable. In response, Silicon Line introduces VR Optical Links featuring high-speed data transfer, high-resolution display, lightweight form factor, ultra-flexibility and long-range transmission to enhance VR user experiences.Using optical cables, VR Optical Links enable data transfer speeds far surpassing those of traditional copper cables. The advantage of high-speed data transfer is that the transmission range can be up to 10m and it allows the transmission of high-resolution images so the VR effects are more refined and lifelike. Furthermore, as optical cables are 70% lighter than copper cables, VR glass users will feel much less incumbered.With respect to image processing, security surveillance has become an important AI application in recent years. VIVOTEK's 360-degree panomorph fisheye camera FE9391-EV with built-in deep learning algorithms can easily detect and identify people and objects in an area and accurately calculate the number of people and the length of time they stay in the area.VIVOTEK's FE9391-EV is equipped with edge computing capability that allows it to perform front-end image processing and then send the results to the back-end, thereby offloading some work from the cloud platform. This way, the front-end device can respond more quickly. According to VIVOTEK, the product can be put to use in diverse scenarios. For example, the police can use it for security surveillance in public areas. Retailers can use it to check how long consumers stay in front of a particular shelf and figure out a hot spot to display their merchandise. They can also use it to monitor how long a line is at a checkout lane. When it exceeds a predetermined limit, the system can automatically alert other cashiers to support so retailers will be able to enhance service quality.Edge computing is rising to become an important trend in recent years. End devices with capabilities to perform real time computation and make smart responses will soon be everywhere in our lives. At Computex 2018, there are multiple products putting edge computing to practical use and they will continue to boom as the industry infuses more technological advances and creativity into their developments.ITRI's large-size drone can be applied for long-range missions such as dropping off supplies to disaster areas and inspecting bridges

In recent years, governments and businesses alike have been keen on the development of 5G. However, most operators around the world only just kicked off their 4G services in 2012 (2014 in Taiwan). After only six short years, they have yet to see positive returns on the large sums they invested in their 4G licenses. So why are they rushing to come up with the next generation communication standard- According to Yong-Fen Hsieh, chairwoman of Materials Analysis Technology Inc (MA-tek), 5G communication will enable high-speed transmission that will make possible a great number of applications that existing technologies do not allow. 5G networks will provide high-speed connections to back-end cloud data centers for everything from transportation, healthcare, and pollution control infrastructures to consumer devices. Many countries and companies around the world are aggressively pursuing the development of the next generation communication technology in view of the numerous possibilities it offers.Take the development history of mobile communication in Taiwan for example. 2G (GSM) began in 1998, 3G (WCDMA) in 2005 and 4G in 2014. Mobile communication standards underwent three major changes over that short, 20-year period, each of which introduced broader bandwidth and faster networks that enabled different data transfer applications. In the 2G era, GSM was focused on voice communication. The availability of various 3G CDMA technologies made sending texts and photos a norm and allowed limited access to the Internet and online videos. Going into 4G, mobile communication officially moved into high gear, paving the way for a myriad of applications for city infrastructure, healthcare, manufacturing and even entertainment. The advent of 5G will expand the smart foundation, allowing wide-range and higher-quality applications. High-frequency and high-speed 5G communication will enable 3D image transmission, face recognition, fingerprint authentication, voice control and real-time video transmission. Couple 5G development with cloud servers and increasingly advanced computational devices and the sky is the limit.Considering the great IoT opportunities that 5G has to offer, governments around the globe are scrambling to establish new standards in an attempt to gain market dominance. At present, EU has decided to allocate the 694Mhz-790Mhz band to 5G communication, and major telecom operators can expect to receive 5G licenses by June 2020. In the US, the largest wireless communication service provider, Verizon Wireless, is working with Korea-based Samsung to begin 5G deployment and testing in five cities. T-Mobile US Inc also plans to kick off 5G services in 2019 and complete nationwide roll-out by 2020. China's state-led 5G development is based on its Made in China 2025 initiative. They completed the world's largest 5G trial network in March 2017.In Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom, the 5G Technology Program Office of the Department of Industrial Technology of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industrial Technology Research Institute and the Institute for Information Industry co-founded the Taiwan 5G Alliance. Their goal is to begin testing of a 5G trial network in late 2018 or early 2019 and launch a pre-commercial 5G network by 2020. However, Hsieh comments that the Taiwan high-tech industry specializes in product design and manufacturing. The establishment of standards will largely be determined by market scale and how fast the technology can be developed and widely adopted. Taiwan-based vendors have an advantage in OEM manufacturing. They cannot bet on one standard in a market still split between many standards. They will have to closely monitor market dynamics to stay ahead of the game.Hsieh also points out that the Taiwan high-tech supply chain can target China as a 5G IoT market. From a system perspective (e.g. city infrastructure, banking and finance), China is strong. It has a large market, and its system integrators have mature technologies and extensive experience. Taiwan-based vendors, on the other hand, have a great deal of experience in the design and production of individual components. They are able to produce premium products and respond promptly to customer needs, so manufacturers in other parts of the world have a hard time competing with them. It will take China some time to foster talent in this field. As such, Taiwan and China complement each other very well.As to using 5G technologies for IoT development, Hsieh thinks there are still challenges to overcome. One of the main challenges will be signal interference. Generally, communication standards used to involve a single protocol, like GSM, CDMA, WLAN or Bluetooth. Electronic devices usually operate on a single communication protocol. It was not common for multiple standards to operate concurrently, so interference was not a serious issue. However, IoT devices often need to use multiple communication protocols for data transmission, so it is typical to integrate several types of communication chip into one device. Furthermore, current IoT devices mostly use low-frequency and low-power-consumption communication standards, which already causes interference problems. The situation will only get worse when 5G protocols are also incorporated.The industry may be able to overcome the challenge by incorporating test mechanisms. But, with the requirements set by IoT device manufacturers, testing one single communication standard is no longer enough. Test laboratories must provide integrated testing services that validate not only the chips that combine different standards but also the entire fabrication process of chips supporting a single standard to ensure glitch-free operation of IoT devices. Experience and up-to-date testing equipment are essential for labs that aim to provide integrated testing services, said Hsieh. Take MA-tek for example. MA-tek is among the few Taiwan vendors capable of providing standardized commercial services for material structure and fabrication process analyses. MA-tek has acquired state-of-the-art instruments, including high-end tools such as transmission electron microscopes (TEM), scanning electron microscopes (SEM), focused ion beam microscopes (FIB), secondary ion mass spectrometers (SIMS -7f), and, more recently, 3D X-ray microscopes, nano probes and next-generation high-resolution scanning acoustic microscopes (SAT). Coupled with extensive knowledge and experience accumulated through years of serving a wide range of high-tech businesses, MA-tek is able to provide outstanding advice and counseling services.Hsieh thinks the combination of 5G and IoT will give birth to an abundance of new opportunities, but it is uncharted territory for most equipment and system providers. With no successful examples to follow, they have to rely on in-house simulations and testing to validate all their designs. Hsieh suggests that vendors work with highly-experienced labs to conduct comprehensive tests on equipment and systems before delivery to guarantee reliable and smooth operation.Yong-Fen Hsieh, chairwoman, Materials Analysis Technology Inc, holds that integrated tests are vital to IoT systems seeking to incorporate 5G technologies.

The embedded systems and industrial PC industries are driven by the invention of various vertical solutions and technologies with different kinds of microcontrollers and since then it has evolved into various forms, from primarily being designed for machine control applications to much broader ranges of fields such as smart medical or robotic systems. In recent years, however, there is a revolution in the domain of industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and AIoT (the artificial intelligence of Things) embedded systems with the advent of increasingly powerful and more power saving processors. These trends make the embedded systems transforming themselves into really complex systems, thus creating newer opportunities and challenges to develop more powerful, energy efficient systems, peripherals and other accessories.Founded in 1979, SECO is an Italy-based embedded system and leading industrial solution provider with dedicated focus on designing standard solutions up to custom embedded systems fulfilling the needs of customers. The product matrix is ranging from board-level controllers to a complete system. SECO provides the engineering services over the entire design cycle to mass production of embedded solutions. In an interview, Marty Chen, vice president of SECO Asia Pacific, talked about SECO's development in Asia's embedded system market sectors.Meanwhile, during Computex Taipei 2018, SECO will showcase a full range of products at Nangang Exhibition Hall 1, booth No K0102. The live demonstration will include the solution of Qseven, COM Express and SMARC product lines to allow visitors to have a good chance to see the advanced solutions provided by a leading European embedded solution vendor.Having a wide processor range is the key to a successful business for SECO. The new tiers of supporting listings are from NXP i.MX8, Intel Apollo Lake and Coffee Lake, AMD V1000 embedded CPUs. The most popular product series of SECO is the small form factor computer on module (COM), such as Qseven, COM Express and SMARC. It embraces a cross-platform philosophy with the modular design aiming to provide flexibility to switch between different processors with the same form factor standardsCustomers could select the CPU chips from x86 to ARM-cored processor, or change different grades of ARM-cored chips. These COM boards come with SECO's very unique bundle design layout of carrier boards, which gives the freedom to switch CPUs without adjusting any dual inline package switch (DIP switch) or changing jumper settings. The benefits of this design satisfy the versatile applications with intensive computing requirements in various embedded systems, which allows both extreme flexibility and vast scalability. And most of all, system makers save the development time and tackle the cost consideration, meeting dynamic demands of end customers.During Computex 2018, SECO also showcases at its booth its new UDOO platform, an educational DIY electronics and open-source hardware board. UDOO is now used by tens of thousands of users all over the world, including universities and marquee research groups. This newest creation of UDOO single-board computer board is the fourth generation version combined with an Arduino-compatible platform to support both x86 and ARM cored CPUs. The new feature sets are for sensing and programming the physical world dedicated for developer communities or creators of Kickstarter. The newest UDOO provides an outstanding computational power with 4K resolution display features, which comes in handy for applications like edge computing, computer vision, virtual reality, augmented reality, client-side 3D rendering and real-time analysis of big data.One of the most important factors for embedded solution providers is the capability of vertical integration. SECO maintains its own factory operation in Italy. But for entering Asian markets to service fast growing embedded customers, SECO is planning to leverage Taiwan's strengths in the electronics industry and build cooperative projects with Taiwan system makers. It is counting on the SECO flexible and fast time-to-market solutions. Furthermore, Chen highlights that SECO will establish a solution center in Taiwan and recruit more engineers to service Asian customers.In recent business development of the European market, SECO has successfully introduced various medical solutions covering the computation modules of ultrasound equipment to complete healthcare tablets. For entering Asia, Chen added, the current development will continue towards smart medical solutions. Over the past few years, SECO has been keen on building partnerships with targeted first-tier customers in Japan and South Korea; it will gain the benefits of sales performance in next few months. And it is further expanding its operations to China at a rapid pace, Chen noted.SECO is participating in Computex 2018. SECO's booth is at K0102.Marty Chen, vice president of SECO Asia Pacific