Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is expected to start making an integrated AP/GPU solution for Apple, using 20nm SoC process technology, according to Digitimes Research analyst Nobunaga Chai.Chai indicated that TSMC could now be working on engineering samples of Apple's chips at 28nm although the foundry's first chip orders from Apple are unlikely to happen in 2013.Previous reports cited various Chinese-language media outlets as saying that TSMC would secure orders from Apple later in the first quarter of 2013 to manufacture A6X processors using 28nm process technology. The new 28nm version of the existing A6X will power Apple's next-generation iPad and iPad mini devices, which will be launched around the middle of 2013.In addition, Chai noted that though TSMC with its 20nm SoC process will most likely secure its first chip orders from Apple, the foundry's 16nm FinFET process will play a key role in Apple's "breakthrough" product.TSMC's 20nm SoC process should be able to enter mass production between fourth-quarter 2013 and first-quarter 2014, followed by a newer 16nm FinFET node in less than one year, Chai said.

A recent Bloomberg report cited unnamed sources as saying that Apple and Qualcomm had been rebuffed in separate attempts to invest cash in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in a bid to secure exclusive access to smartphone chips. Digitimes Research analyst Nobunaga Chai has commented saying that he sees no good reason why TSMC should accept the investment.TSMC will have no problem dedicating some production lines or even specific fabs to just one customer looking to secure enough capacity for their high-volume products, Chai noted. However, having some particular clients invest in TSMC could satisfy the foundry's short-term benefits, but will not be in line with its long-term sustainable interests, Chai said.If TSMC allows one particular client to pour cash into its operations, such strategic investment will put trade secrets at risk, for example, Chai indicated. TSMC, which serves customers in sections ranging from consumer mobile devices to industry and military grade products, should put more focus on its achievements over 30 years, not just the past three years, Chai said. Whether Apple can still lead the market in 30 years is really unpredictable, Chai added.During a Q&A session at TSMC's most-recent investors meeting, company chairman and CEO Morris Chang told investors that it makes complete sense to dedicate a whole fab, or two whole fabs, to just one customer.According to the Bloomberg report, Apple and Qualcomm hoped to separately invest more than US$1 billion in TSMC to set aside production dedicated to making chips exclusively for them.

For a country to begin and maintain industrialization, infrastructures such as railroad systems, highways, bridges, ports, buildings, roads, and most important of all, electricity, are necessary. India, one of the world's largest emerging countries has been growing at an average rate of 7.37% (from 2000-2012). This astonishing growth requires even faster electricity growth. Nevertheless, India continues to be an electricity-starved country.This week, when India should be celebrating the 1GW solar power milestone, half of the country has been suffering from power outage. According to PV Magazine, India's solar installation reached 1,030.66MW with most of the installations located in Gujarat.Coal, ignite and hydro-electric are the main source of power generation in India, according to BBC News. In addition, homes and farms consume more power than industries and businesses, said the news outlet. According to Brisbane Times, demand for electricity in India regularly exceeds supply by 10% during summer. This means India is no stranger to power outages.India has been seen as an emerging solar market with large potentials. Currently, there are still 300 million people without access to electricity. Charanka Solar Park, the world's largest solar power station and a cluster of 17 thin-film solar PV systems, is situated in Gujarat state. On April 19, 2012, 214MW of power was commissioned. When the construction of the park completes, it will host 500MW of solar PV installations. This figure might be small compared to the total installed electricity capacity of 170,000MW of the country, but it will help as per capita of electricity consumption in India has been low, around 107 watt per person (2011). India has lower per capita of electricity consumption than countries such as China, which is 389 watt per person, and the world average is 306 watt per person (2005-2012).The government has been proposing energy bills to promote the use of solar power. In addition, to protect the domestic solar industry, the government has begun anti-dumping investigations against China-based solar firms. Despite the efforts, India is still in need of more power. Some believe the problem is not about generating power but to reduce the power losses during transmission and distribution. BBC News noted that in India, "transmission and distribution losses have leapt from 22% in 1995-1996 to 25.6% in 2009-2010."For a country that hopes to continue growing at the current scale, a strong and powerful grid would certainly help.

Compared to countries in the same region, Poland seems promising. From the printed version of The Economist on June 9, Poland's latest GDP was 3.5%. This relatively high GDP only falls behind countries such as Russia, Turkey and Norway and it does not fall far behind. Nevertheless, the country also has a relatively high unemployment rate at 12.6%, just lower than two of the PIGS countries, Greece and Spain.There may be a solution for the high unemployment rate.According to the article "Renewable energy: Green electricity sector will grow faster when it gets head of wind" by The Financial Times on June 13, 10.4% of the country's electricity has been produced by renewable energy. But most of the renewable energy is produced by burning wood or straws at thermal power plants. The report said Poland is actually just utilizing 0.2% of its solar and wind potentials.Poland is a windy country, especially in the northern parts. The country knows that the potentials are there. The report noted that wind turbine installations in the country grew 20-fold in the past six years, and the Polish renewable energy growth has so far generated 25,000 jobs.The 25,000 jobs created do not seem too many for a country with a population of 38 million and an unemployment rate close to 13%. But if Poland can fully develop its renewable energy resources, it will create more jobs and ease its unemployment problem.It has the potentials, but the Poland government needs to come up with a clear policy for building its renewable energy sector.

The following is an excerpt of an interview with Summer Luo, Chairman of BIG SUN Energy group and TOPPER SUN Energy Technology. In 2010-2011, solar firms around the world adopted massive capacity expansions which caused sales of related equipment to increase significantly. Oversupply problem occurred. Coupled with price competition from China-based solar firms, many Europe- and US-based solar firms declared bankruptcies because of ineffectiveness in cost-downs. Commenting on such market conditions, Summer Luo, Chairman of BIG SUN Energy group, holds a positive view: "This is the beginning of solar power replacing other energy sources. Commercialization of solar power can only be achieved when it is cheap enough." It is generally believed that once the price of solar modules reach US$1/W, the penetration of solar power will accelerate, and obviously that time has come, judging from the fact that global solar PV system adoption in first-quarter 2012 reached 10GW, a 174% increase on year. Luo added, "I predict the total global solar PV systems in operation will exceed 30GW this year, which is a significant amount of demand. Nevertheless, the supply chain will continue to experience oversupply. Therefore, except for the furthest downstream system makers and distributors, as well as customers, who will benefit, others - from module makers to others further up the supply chain - will not be able to obtain sufficient profits." "Vertical integration" business model is best among peers Under such market conditions, BIG SUN continues to accumulate profits that outperforms peers (highest first-quarter 2012 profits among Taiwan-based peers), and the key lies in the "vertical integration" business model of the firm, beginning from the production of monocrystalline solar cells to its subsidiary TOPPER SUN Energy Technology's production of high-efficiency solar modules, rooftop and ground-mount solar PV systems, and designs and sales of solar tracking systems. The firm has been successful in constructing solar power plants such as one at a large-size traditional poultry farm in Yiju Township in Chiayi County, Taiwan. The firm remodeled the poultry farm by adding 500kWp of solar PV systems. The power generated is more than sufficient for the farm's own use, and extra power is sold to Taiwan Power Company. Annual rate of return by selling power is 12-15%. In addition to "vertical integration," Big Sun has core competence of strong R&D capabilities. The R&D team led by Luo has accumulated close to 100 patents in six years. In particular, Luo, with astonishing strength in R&D, personally owns more than 50 patents. One of the best proofs of the firm's strong R&D is the recently launched "Intelligent Solar Tracking System." Luo indicated that "compared to other solar tracking systems by peers, our product can increase efficiency by 30-40%." Solar tracking systems have not been widely used by current solar power plants around the world because the systems are too expensive. Most solar tracking systems adopt a structure using ball screws and oil pressure poles. These parts are costly and hard to maintain, hence limiting the popularity of solar tracking systems. However, TOPPER SUN's iPV solar tracking system adopts a different structure. The solar tracking system's simple design breaks through the cost bottleneck The core technology allows TOPPER SUN's tracking system to adopt two steel cables to replace such parts as oil pressure poles, air compressor poles, and ball screws. The system can track the sun from all angles with accuracy comparable to solar tracking systems that adopt expensive parts. Due to the adoption of steel cables, Topper Sun's iPV solar tracking system is much cheaper compared to others. In addition, the simple design reduces maintenance difficulties significantly. Topper Sun's tracking system also has great durability against wind. For solar power plants, this product is a solution that offers low cost and high accuracy benefits. Luo emphasized, "This product uses an innovative structure to debottleneck problems with costs and maintenance and can effectively increase procurement willingness of solar tracking systems for solar power plants. The system's ability to increase power generating efficiency significantly makes it a revolutionary product." As solar power generation enters the era of low feed-in-tariffs (FITs), the importance of solar tracking systems has become more apparent. This is because in the past numerous governments provided high FITs for power generated by solar PV systems, allowing power plants to profit even though power generation was low. Now, prices have been falling, prompting power plants to do their best to capture maximum sunlight. Therefore the value of solar tracking systems is now treasured because of their capability of automatically following the sun in all angles. Therefore, the launch of the new solar tracking system by TOPPER SUN can be described as "the right product at the right time." Quality recognition and success in international markets For other solar firms, this year may still be an unstable year. However, for BIG SUN, in addition to the introduction of the new solar tracking system, Germany's UmweltBank (Environmental Bank) has agreed to give substantial loans to customers who adopt TOPPER SUN's own brand solar modules. This major breakthrough is adding advantage to the firm's overseas deployment. The agreement aforementioned gives 90% loan for installations that have solar modules less than 25kWp without going through the screening process. For installation between 25-50kWp, the bank will contact TOPPER SUN's Germany office by phone to make sure TOPPER SUN's products are used. After the confirmation, the bank will provide a loan of 90% of total costs. For installations above 50kWp, the bank will conduct credit checks. Luo emphasized that Germany is the most important solar product market in the world and the substantial loans provided by UmweltBank are like a guarantee of the quality of TOPPER SUN's own-brand solar modules. In fact, not only the quality of the solar modules has been recognized, the quality of monocrystalline high efficiency solar cells from BIG SUN has also won acclaim. The best proof is that the product has successfully entered the solar market in Japan. Luo indicated, "During the first financial crisis, our status as a firm providing the best monocrystalline conversion efficiency in Taiwan gained preferences by the Japan solar market. Japan continues to be an important market for us." Unlike other Taiwan-based solar firms that purchase patented technologies from large-size firms, BIG SUN has been developing its own R&D strength since the founding of the firm. This ensures BIG SUN can continue developing products from a firm foundation, avoid market turbulences, and move strenuously towards the goal of cleaner energy sources. Armed with in-depth understanding of "The Art of War" in the face of harsh challenges The bright future for the human race ties closely with clean energy, a belief that enthused Luo to enter the solar industry. Luo's determination has never changed, and he has steered the company through storms time and time again by invoking the success strategies he has learned from in-depth study of "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, that is the five constant factors: the Moral Law, Heaven, Earth, The Commander, Method and discipline. Furthermore, in addition to the "vertical integration" business strategy and superior R&D strengths, BIG SUN embraces the five values ascribed to the Commander: wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness. These are the hidden factors that have allowed the company to remain solid when others in the industry struggle. Observing the future of the solar industry, Luo pointed out, "The elimination has yet to be over and will likely last till the second quarter of 2013."In this worsening market condition, BIG SUN has been bravely investing in R&D and introducing innovative technologies. The firm obviously is equipped with the crucial qualities to survive and win in the industry. Summer Luo, Chairman of BIG SUN Energy group and TOPPER SUN Energy Technology

Solid state storage is one of the fastest growing segments in the IT industry, with SSD shipments alone forecast to see a CAGR of 63%, to reach over 201 million units in 2016, according to IHS iSuppli. Whether it is increased durability and lower power consumption as required for the new wave of ultrabook PCs and tablet devices, or unmatchable data access speeds for servers and large storage arrays, solid state storage is superior to magnetic traditional hard disk drives in almost every metric. And as NAND flash production continues to improve, alongside continual developments in controller ICs, the remaining hurdles for solid state, cost per gigabyte, lifecycle and storage density, get lower with each generation.Digitimes recently had the opportunity to sit down with Alex Mei, CMO at OCZ Technology to discuss the company's plans during Computex Taipei 2012 and its outlook for the year ahead.Q: What are the hot products OCZ will be showcasing at Computex 2012?A: The main highlights will include our new enterprise class 2.5-inch SATA SSD, the Intrepid 3, which utilizes the Indilinx Everest 2 platform with optional power fail protection. We will also showcase our new Kilimanjaro platform based product the Z-Drive R5 PCI Express (PCIe) SSD, which is co-developed by Marvell and OCZ, and is the ideal SAN accelerator solution, utilizing native PCIe to deliver exceptional bandwidth for enterprise and server storage. We are making a major push into the enterprise segment, so attendees can also expect to see next generation client solutions including our award winning Vertex 4 and an upcoming external SSD named Lightfoot that leverages the ultra-fast Thunderbolt interface. Q: How did OCZ and the storage market as a whole perform over the past year?A: Solid state drives now play a fast growing role in the overall storage market and the overall total addressable market (TAM) continues to increase fueled by adoption by OEMs, the DIY market and the enterprise space. In our last fiscal year our SSD revenue was US$338.9 million, up 154% compared with US$133.2 million in fiscal year 2011. Fourth-quarter 2012 SSD revenue reached a record US$103.2 million; an increase of 77% compared with fourth-quarter 2011 SSD revenue of US$58.2 million.Q: What are the main differences between the markets for consumer (client) and enterprise storage, and how do you go about designing and manufacturing products for each market?A: Consumer and enterprise SSDs can be equally fast when it comes to bandwidth but they are ultimately designed to address two very different markets. On the consumer side key requirements include performance, reliability, endurance and affordability. On the enterprise side these elements are also important but with the added measure of price per IOPS (Input Output Per Second). There are also unique challenges that enterprise clients face in terms of deployment, maintenance costs and having to deal with managing and complex storing data sets 24/7/365. There are also different interface requirements, for example SAS is much more prevalent in the enterprise space where drop in replacements into existing infrastructure or dual-port functionality is required. Both markets are experiencing growth and yet there are only a few companies that possess the actual technology and infrastructure to address both the client and enterprise solid state storage markets. We believe that we can add real value in these markets through innovation in both hardware and software design and have built up a strong technical organization to support the unique requirements of both. Our research and development also benefits from designing and manufacturing for both markets; for example advanced technologies that are designed to improve performance and endurance on our enterprise Z-Drive PCie SAN accelerator SSDs have been implemented on our RevoDrive3 PCIe SSDs which are targeted at gaming and workstation applications.Q: What makes OCZ enterprise drives different than the client parts?A: These are two very different product lines, for example our Z-Drive R4 PCIe and Talos SAS solutions are designed specifically for enterprise and server storage and can be customized to match a client's specific application and data pattern. These drives are available with numerous flash options including MLC, eMLC and SLC and also feature enterprise options like power-fail protection. These solutions are designed for deployment into mission critical environments where heavy workloads and data accessibility, data protection and endurance are required.Q: What makes OCZ unique in the SSD space?A: There are many companies out there that address only one side of the market, either client or enterprise, and many SSD companies are simply rebranding products. We have made many acquisitions to bring key technologies in house, examples of these acquisitions include Indilinx which brought in controller and firmware expertise, and Sanrad which allows us to provide virtualization software and is a key element in the delivering enterprise total storage solutions. OCZ not only designs and manufacturers our own SSDs we have the ability and to customize solutions that address the real challenges clients face. This enables us to tailor everything including the form factor, interface and firmware to support the unique requirements of our customers. Whether it is a client or enterprise application we are working diligently to push the envelope in terms of performance, innovation, reliability and superior total cost of ownership for our valued clients.Q: What are you expectations for Windows 8? What opportunities will the new OS present for OCZ in the client segment?A: Any time there is a major OS release it represents an opportunity for hardware developers to optimize and deliver new platforms that utilize the latest software. In the case of Windows 8 the user experience will be enhanced and this is applicable to everything from desktops and notebooks to especially tablet and media center PCs. We will be able to support this launch with our SSDs which are designed to further enhance performance by booting faster, and read and write data more quickly. Our SSD technology is also ideal for mobile devices which require smaller form factor storage solutions which also utilize less power. At the end of the day this new OS release is an opportunity for us to once again provide added value to a range of computing devices and deliver a richer overall user experience.Q: What are the fastest growing SSD interfaces in the enterprise segment? Is PCIe gaining traction? SATA continues to be the largest portion of the market but we are seeing growth in both SAS and PCIe SSDs in the enterprise. We have seen a lot of traction in the workstation and enterprise spaces for PCIe SSDs in particular where customers require increased bandwidth, which would normally saturate other interfaces, and also desire increased density and greater manageability.Q: What are critical factors for SSDs when addressing the SAN acceleration/replacement market?A: It is critical to combine both hardware and software together like our PCIe Z-Drive SSD and our VXL virtualization software to create a total storage memory platform that integrates seamlessly with existing servers at the system bus and kernel level, creating a new flash memory tier and dramatically increasing throughput and application performance while reducing capital and operating costs. These solutions must be easy to deploy, accelerate throughput and reduce latency while reducing maintenance costs and improving total cost of ownership for data centers.Q: How do SSDs fit into cloud computing?A: The cloud has helped fuel the need for faster more reliable storage. Driving down the costs associated with IT is important and the increased bandwidth and improved efficiencies that are achievable by using solid state drives makes them a critical piece of this evolving cloud computing landscape. The ability to create new ways for users to interact and access their data over the cloud is changing the very way that businesses can operate and the fact that cloud computing allows companies to scale their businesses at the rate they choose provides more agility than big investments in traditional large-scale infrastructure. By using SSDs to address the most "hot data" on the top tier, cloud providers can cost effectively deliver the very best experience to their users.Q: Where does Taiwan fit into OCZ's operations?A: Taiwan is, and always has been, critical to OCZ. While our corporate headquarters are located in San Jose, CA. Taiwan serves as our central location for the entire APAC region. Today we have multiple sites in Taiwan including our sales/marketing office in Taipei as well as our manufacturing facility in Taoyuan. Both our client and enterprise solid state solutions are manufactured at our own Taiwan plant and we have recently invested in more than doubling the size of our operations, including adding new SMT lines and the staff to support the new facility. We find the economic climate and skilled talent pool in Taiwan to be excellent, and over the last few years have continued to expand our presence here by increasing our sales and manufacturing operations to support our fast paced worldwide growth.Alex Mei, CMO at OCZ TechnologyLightfootOCZ Z-Drive R5

Elitegroup Computer System (ECS) used to focus on the entry-level and mid-range segments of the motherboard market, but over past two years it has also established a place in the high-end segment.Ahead of Computex 2012, David Chien, VP of Channel Business Unit of ECS, told Digitimes about the company's latest developments.Q: What products will Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) be presenting at Computex 2012?A: ECS is showcasing products under four major categories - motherboard, graphics card, all-in-one (AIO) PC and notebook.In the past, ECS was broadly recognized as a motherboard maker that focused mainly on the entry-level and mid-range segments, but the company has been aggressively transforming its business model over the past two years and has successfully entered into the high-end segment.In 2008, we launched our Black series motherboards targeting the high-end market and we are pushing our latest Golden limited edition motherboards for the extreme high-end products under the Black series for 2012.As for graphics cards, ECS is mainly pushing products based on Nvidia's latest GPUs at the Computex 2012 show.AIO PCs are another important product line that the company will be promoting at the show, as Intel has been aggressively pushing the product segment, setting a goal this year of seeing non-Apple AIO PC shipments grow 20x over shipments last year.For AIO PCs, we see a great business opportunity in the enterprise market and have spent a lot of effort developing the product line and hope to promote the products in the market.With our close relationship with Intel, we will also be promoting products such as Classmate PCs and ultrabooks at the show.Q: What are ECS's strengths and advantages in the motherboard and graphics card market compared to other vendors?A: To enhance our brand image, ECS has been dedicated to develop innovative and functional design for our motherboard products and we are showcasing our latest ECS Z77 Golden limited edition motherboards - Z77H2-AX and Z77H2-A2X, featuring triple-thickness gold plated connectors, at the show.The motherboards have passed the strictest quality tests and will provide users security as the gold plating will not wear out after extensive component upgrades and will safe guard the motherboards from the threat of corrosion.In addition to supporting PCI Express 3.0 for add-on card, ECS 7 series motherboards also feature the company's exclusive QoolTech IV visible temperature technology with the addition of the new Lucid Virtu MVP chip for the high performance of add-on graphics cards and the power savings for integrated graphics.Before the arrival of Intel's mid-range dual-core Ivy Bridge-based CPUs, ECS will work on attracting consumers with our functionality and innovative technologies on our motherboard platform and mainly target the gaming market. Meanwhile, ECS will also continue strengthening our R&D ability to increase our technology gap with competitors.Q: What innovative products will ECS unveil during this year's Computex?A: Among all the designs you may see around our booth at Computex, Nonstop Technology is definitely the main theme of the show.ECS is delivering a hassle free computing experience by resolving common PC hardware problems before they even occur. Nonstop technology is a specially-devised testing regime - far stricter than common industry standards - combined with the highest quality components and shielding to ensure that Nonstop certified motherboards can be trusted for stability and reliability. The technology comprises four interlocking tests and enhancements to protect PCs and solve many of the common causes of hardware failure and system instability problems.ECS' Nonstop technology also includes two major categories and four critical features for PCs. The first category is what we call "Toughest Stability Testing," which consists of the Super Marathon 3X Stability Test and the Sahara Severe Test, while 100% Apache Long-Life Solid Capacitors and 100% Thor Ultra Protection are under our "Ultimate Hardware Protection" category.The Super Marathon Stability Test is named so because each motherboard is run through a testing cycle more than 30,000 times in the course of a strenuous 72-hour workout. This testing regime is devised and guaranteed by more than 30 professional ECS testers.The Sahara Severe Test is a test conducted in a simulated severe environment with a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius. Operating in an environment with a room temperature 125% higher than that of standard tests, the Sahara Severe Test ensures that every motherboard works flawlessly even under extreme environment.Under the Ultimate Hardware Protection category, the 100% Apache Long-Life Solid Capacitors feature ensures ECS' Nonstop technology-based motherboards are equipped with 100% solid capacitors to protect users from capacitor leakage or failure problems. Since 100% solid capacitors have longevity six times longer than traditional capacitors, it will provide support against all potential problems for consumers.The 100% Thor Ultra Protection is a comprehensive electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection. The 100% ESD protection on Nonstop technology-based motherboards is achieved with the company's special design over circuitry, which consisted of dozens of extra components to protect expensive and delicate chips such as the CPU and DRAM from static electricity damage.Q: Can you tell us more about the Golden Limited Edition motherboards?A: The Golden Limited Edition motherboards are high-end black series motherboards that feature Nonstop technology, while also featuring ECS' uniquely-designed gold plated Super Alloy Chokes, a hardware technology that will be unveiled during Computex 2012.While the current industry standard is to adopt iron or ferrite materials for the magnetic cores of the chokes, ECS has created chokes with a new material that not only maximize performance, but also stability.Choke quality is a vital factor in PC performance as even a tiny fluctuation in power input can cause inexplicable system crashes, lockups, failure to start up, and even long-term damage.According to internal analysis conducted by ECS, under full system load, chokes made from standard materials are more likely to burn out and cause a system shut down, while ECS' super alloy material is 150% more stable than standard materials during challenging conditions such as high-temperature environments or overclocking.The reason that the Super Alloy Chokes are able to achieve such great stability is mainly because of the material's extremely wide operation temperature range - more than 25% wider than that achieved by other materials. Even during heavy overclocking operations, ECS' Super Alloy Chokes will still ensure that power supplied to the CPU and critical components remains stable.The Super Alloy Chokes are also more energy efficient, reducing power consumption and electromagnetic interference (EMI) to provide users a safer and more stable operating environment.Q: What AIO PC products will ECS be showing at Computex?A: ECS has been devoted to developing a variety of mini-ITX motherboards to meet the different demands of AIO PCs.For example, the ECS G24 AIO PC will be a major highlight for us. Equipped with a large but thin 23.6-inch, Full HD 1080p panel and supporting HDMI-in, the G24 is available with a build-to-order sales model, allowing clients to pick their desired hardware choices. Meanwhile, the machine's built-in thin mini-ITX motherboard can also be interchanged with an Intel H61 chipset-based motherboard to allow the support of the next generation Intel processors.Moreover, ECS' R&D team has also designed an exclusive plug-and-play portable hard disc drive (HDD) module that enables users to store and carry the information with ease. The users can plug the HDD module into the G24 AIO PC as an optional storage device or even as the operating hard. Users can simply unplug the HDD module for both security and mobility convenience.David Chien, VP of Channel Business Unit of ECSECS Z77H2-AX Golden BoardECS G24 Aura All-in-one PCECS GeForce GTX 680ECS Ultrabook UT40IIECS Wi-Bridge

As early as 1993, IRTouch's R&D team started exploring infrared touch technology. It claims to be the earliest company to have a patent for the technology. In 2003, IRTouch was officially established and focused on developing and producing infrared and optical touch products.At Computex, IRTouch is displaying its new infrared multi-touch products that can detect more than 10 touch points. The products also have multiple hand gesture recognition, faster speed, and a smoother touch experience, the company said. Its large and super-large infrared touch screens also support multi-touch, multi-people operation and multi-gestures. The company has also developed super-thin border infrared touch screens, with the border width reduced to 14mm.IRTouch recently met with Digitimes to elaborate as to how its products have improved, and the developments it is making.Q: How well do you expect the products to sell and what will you be doing to promote them?A: Large and extra-large sized touchscreen panels are becoming more common across the world and IRTouch believes its products have greater environment adaptability and stability. Not only are the products seeing growth in the traditional sector with self-service equipment, they are seeing increasing growth in the touch monitor, educational and exhibition industries as well. IRTouch products have a foothold all over the world and customers are choosing our products due to their superior technology and reliability as well as our efforts to constantly improve quality.Q: How does IRTouch provide different models for various industries to suit diversified requirements?A: IRTouch products all have fast response, a high degree of stability, long lifespan, and are maintenance free. Products are aimed at providing solutions for industries, such as making waterproof and explosion proof products for industries that need high-protective devices. There are also anti-glare products for the aviation and military sectors. In addition, IRTouch has made its products even thinner through a new structure and highly-integrated design. The products don't need to have a control card and have a simple, yet exquisite design that doesn't require a connector cord. This has simplified the assembly process as well as creating an improved visual appearance.Q: What are some market trends you are noticing?A: Products that have multiple touch-screen points need to follow the development of panels and applied software, which IRTouch is very attentive to. More so, the development of touch-screen technology will be related to making machines that are more interactive with humans, so developing movement control, voice control and facial recognition will all be important, which we are actively doing.Q: What kind of role will multi-touch products play in business and society in the future?A: Compared with single-point touch-screen panels, as multiple-point ones provide more interactivity with people, the amount of information they can process becomes more complicated. Users demand multi-touch technology applications that can solve identification misuse, have accurate touch positioning, quick response, and at the same time support stylist and finger touch functions, anti-interference capabilities such as electromagnetism, sunlight and dampness as well as consume less energy. Multi-touch applications will have more segmentation and targeting as a result and will have different functions for different scenarios.In addition, IRTouch also provides different models for various industries to suit diversified requirements and our products have been globally used in education, finance, transportation, retail, entertainment, telecom, healthcare, public information and broadcasting as well as in industries that require stable, durable, and environmentally adaptable screens. Our products are sold to 100 different countries throughout the world and can be seen on ATM screens as well as in subways, automobile shops, schools and major architectural structures such as the Bird's Nest and Water Cube in Beijing.IRTouch touchscreen

Carry Technology, which develops and manufactures card readers as well as other storage products, has launched its Apotop brand for storage solutions and peripherals. The new brand is to demonstrate Carry's aim of being a concept innovator, not a product inventor, according to company president Taron Chang.Taking Apple's success as an example, Apple was not the first company to bring an MP3 player, smartphone or tablet PC to market. Rather than being an inventor, Apple has been working on brand new concepts, ideas to improve the existing products on the market, Chang said. The main purpose of Apple's devices is to provide a truly user-friendly experience to mobile electronics users - the direction Career wants its products to be developed towards.Chang also talked about Carry's new business focus and efforts in diversifying product lines during a recent interview with Digitimes.Q: In 2011 Carry launched the Apotop brand. What made you decide to launch the brand?A: Carry is a 21-year old company listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. We used to focus on OEM business, specializing in card readers as well as other storage products with clients being mostly Japan- and US-based firms such as Buffalo and SanDisk. We also have built up a strong R&D team consisting of 10-20 engineers, which has helped the company move forward to a more diverse future.In 2011, Carry launched the Apotop brand in view of demand in fast-growth emerging markets such as the Middle East and Central/South America. Establishing the brand is part of our plans to gain exposure to these markets.In addition to focusing our development efforts on emerging markets, launching the Apotop brand is also a company move toward diversification.The PC market has gone through several transformations. While demand for notebooks grew at a faster rate than the growth rate for desktops, we knew that the card-reader market would ultimately shrink. Now comes the era where the hot trends are mobile and cloud computing, so diversification is a must for our business development. Carry has therefore decided to shift its focus to the field of consumer electronics and we will showcase a lineup of new products at this year's Computex.Q: Can you elaborate more on the new Apotop-branded products?A: In emerging markets, we market not only card readers but also memory products including DRAM modules, flash drives and SSD devices under the Apotop brand. For the own-brand card reader business, we have developed a more diversified product portfolio including integrated memory card readers.Also, acknowledging the huge demand for Apple's mobile devices, we have introduced an Apotop-branded peripheral line specially designed for the popular devices. Differing from other suppliers of Apple product peripherals, our products are to make the iPhone and iPad more convenient to use by improving the use of the devices.For example, we have developed a series of Wi-Fi products designed specifically for the iPad to bring more convenience for the device.The iPad's simplicity is very much appreciated. However, the absence of cable and USB ports is certainly an inconvenience for some users. For example, I take my iPad on business trips. While staying at a hotel with only wired Internet access, the device without a cable port will become an issue.And with no USB ports and SD card slots on the iPad, you cannot expand memory on the device despite its internal memory of at least 16GB.We have rolled out a travel Wi-Fi router designed for the iPad enabling users to set up their own Wi-Fi hot spots. The router device also comes with a USB adapter for charging the iPad, and uses an elegant white color scheme.We have also developed a more functional Wi-Fi product, which combines a wireless router and USB adapter, and USB port and SD card slot for expanded memory. The all-in-one device is also designed for the iPad.These new Wi-Fi products for Apple's tablets have attracted orders from the Japan and US markets. They will be officially announced during Computex.Q: Which product line will be the growth driver for Carry in 2012? Are there any new product segments that you'll be focused on this year?A: Sales of our Wi-Fi products designed for Apple's devices are expected to drive company revenue growth this year.We will also introduce peripherals such as extensive memory drives for Apple's upcoming MacBook Air, which is expected to be a low-cost version. Sales of the product line designed specifically for the new MacBook Air will be another revenue growth driver for Carry in 2012.Moreover, sales generated from our Thunderbolt-compatible peripherals will also boost the company's overall revenues in 2012. Carry is among the few Taiwan-based firms selected by Intel for its high-speed PC connection technology. During Computex we are showcasing a series of products compatible with the new Thunderbolt technology.In addition, Carry has steady income generated from our OEM business and manufacturing plant which has six SMT lines.Q: Which market segments will Carry be targeting in 2012?A: We are targeting the consumer electronics market, and shifting our focus away from the traditional card reader business. In fact, Carry moved to diversify its products in 2011 and has seen the efforts bear fruit. Our sales doubled in 2011. We expect sales to continue growing this year driven by sales of our brand business and new products targeted at CE applications.Q: The market for portable electronics devices such as smartphones and tablets is expanding. Does Carry have specific plans, such as creating a product roadmap targeting those popular devices?A: Yes we do. As a card reader and memory specialist, we expect to utilize our existing strengths and talents to develop new products for today's consumer mobile devices. For example, the market for storage peripherals used in Apple products has tremendous growth potential.Carry doesn't produce 'me-too' products. Instead, our products are aimed at bringing more value to the popular devices.As I just mentioned, we have created a product line specifically designed for Apple's products. We are also looking to develop other perfect complements to today's consumer technology products, and will also continue to enhance our product diversity.Carry Technology president Taron ChangPhoto: Jessie Shen, Digitimes, May 2012

Leading up to Computex, Digitimes touched base with Intel's Gregory Bryant, VP of sales and marketing group and general manager of Intel Asia-Pacific Region, to find out more about mobile computer industry developments from Intel's perspective.Trends in mobile computingQ: What are the key trends in mobile computing? Can we expect to see some evolution in the form factor and pricing (of mobile devices) this year?A: At Computex last year, we began our goal of reinventing the PC with ultrabooks and that evolution continues. The first wave of ultrabook designs feature thin and light form factors with instant-on responsiveness and long battery life. We're now bringing additional features and capabilities to market with the second wave of ultrabooks. One of these capabilities is touch, which reflects the growing expectation among users that computing devices will respond to touch. We expect the first touch-enabled ultrabooks to start hitting the market later this year.Adding touch capabilities to ultrabooks and other computing devices requires innovation in the design and shape of these devices. To create sleeker, thinner, lighter and more secure ultrabooks requires that the entire computing ecosystem work together and innovate. We need thinner panels and keyboards, and new chassis manufacturing technologies, as well as slimmer optical and hard drives, and new battery technologies. The Taiwanese ecosystem is at the forefront of these efforts.Intel is also helping to drive innovation in these areas through our own technology development efforts and investments that we make through the US$300 million Ultrabook Fund that Intel Capital created last year. For example, Intel recently announced a technology that can reduce the power consumption of LCD panels by half a watt, which helps to improve overall battery life. LG Display plans to integrate this technology into its next-generation displays for ultrabook devices.In terms of pricing, we expect to see ultrabooks hitting mainstream price points by the end of 2012. Ultrabooks will fill a range of price points from US$699-1,199 in 2012. With the first generation of ultrabooks, we saw a number of systems come to market at different price points, and we expect that to continue as the second generation of ultrabooks, based on the third generation Intel Core processor family, come to market throughout 2012.Q: What do you see as the key computing trends in Asia Pacific and emerging markets?A: Asia-Pacific today stands at the forefront of global technology growth and innovation. There is growing demand for computing devices of all kinds across emerging markets in Asia-Pacific, driven by robust economic growth and a rising middle class. Emerging markets, such as Indonesia and India, will account for most worldwide growth in the PC and smartphone market over the next few years, with demand for cloud services and applications on the rise.Asia-Pacific also plays an increasingly important role as a global center of technology innovation. It's no accident that the first companies to bring ultrabooks to market last year - Acer, Asus, Lenovo and Samsung - are all based in Asia. These companies are fearless innovators and they're helping to lead the industry forward. We expect to see this trend continue as Asian companies drive more innovation around ultrabooks, smartphones and tablets in the coming years.Q: What are Intel's themes at Computex outside of ultrabook and Ivy Bridge?A: Our theme this year is "Innovation Connects Us All." We chose this theme to reflect the close partnership that exists between Intel and the Taiwanese ecosystem. We are working closely with Taiwanese companies to help deliver engaging, consistent and secure user experiences across a range of devices and the cloud. The computing industry has evolved beyond talking about technical specifications to focus on how we can enable the best, most compelling user experiences, and you'll see that reflected throughout various Intel keynotes and events at Computex this year. We're also going to showcase the next-generation of Intel technology and the great work that our partners and customers are doing.You'll also see us focus on cloud computing and data centers. Intel is working with our partners to combine cutting-edge manufacturing technology, new silicon features, and innovative software to deliver the building blocks to scale cloud-based applications and services. We're also investing in new approaches to manage the vast amounts of data being created, and providing both software and hardware capabilities to embed security into datacenter infrastructure.Ultrabook and Ivy BridgeQ: Are there specific requirements for a device to be called an ultrabook?A: Yes. Some of the ultrabook specifications relate to the form factor, such as how thin the systems should be, while others relate to battery life, responsiveness, and security.Q: How many ultrabook systems are in the market today? And how many more new ultrabook systems do you expect in 2012?A: More than 20 ultrabook designs powered by 2nd generation Intel Core processors are available in the market today. In addition, we're tracking more than 110 ultrabook designs based on our 3rd generation Intel Core processors. This is just the start of our ultrabook efforts, but we are thrilled with the momentum built up by the first and second waves of ultrabook devices.Q: What is Intel's take on the ultrabook progress so far? Are you still confident you'll hit your 40% goal in the consumer notebook market in 2012?A: The goal we stated at Computex 2011 was specific to shifting 40% of the global consumer notebook market segment to ultrabook systems by the end of 2012. We've set ambitious goals, and we're thrilled with the reception to ultrabook devices so far.Q: What are the key differences between the ultrabook systems with the Sandy Bridge processor versus the ones with Ivy Bridge processor?A: From a technical standpoint, the second wave of ultrabooks based on our new family of third generation Intel Core processors offers improved power efficiency, twice the graphics performance, increased responsiveness, and enhanced security. This translates into a better, more satisfying ultrabook experience for end users with the second wave of systems.Q: Is it a requirement that ultrabook must run on the Intel Core processor? Can an ultrabook system run on Intel Atom processor or Celeron processor?A: Ultrabooks are all about giving users the most complete and satisfying, no-compromise computing experience, and that's only possible with Intel Core processors.Q: What can we expect in the next wave of ultrabooks?A: We saw the first wave of ultrabook devices hit the market last year. Industry and consumer interest in these new devices is high. Over the next two generations, we expect that ultrabook devices will evolve to include features like touch-screens and sensors at mainstream price points - offering a truly no-compromise computing experience.Q: When can we see the US$699 ultrabook coming to the market? And how will Intel collaborate with the industry ecosystem to achieve this price point?A: We expect to see ultrabooks hitting mainstream price points by the end of 2012, as volume economics kick in and companies bring a wider range of ultrabook models to market.Q: How will MacAfee be involved in Intel's ultrabook efforts?A: McAfee is developing anti-theft software for ultrabook devices. Available in the second half of 2012, the McAfee solution will take advantage of unique features built into the silicon of Intel chips that provide device and data protection for consumers, including device lock, data wipe and location-tracking capabilities.Q: Will ultrabook systems be introduced in the business/corporate segment, or is just a consumer device?A: Absolutely. Ultrabooks are intended for both business and consumer. We expect to see Intel Core vPro processor-based ultrabook systems designed for businesses hit the market later this year with our 3rd generation Intel Core processors (Ivy Bridge).Q: AMD also introduces the "Ultrathin" category of device, how will it differ from ultrabook? A: Ultrabooks are about more than just thinner and lighter form factors. Intel's vision is for ultrabooks to deliver a no-compromise computing experience with rich features, exceptional performance, battery life and security in an incredibly thin and lightweight form factor.Tablet and SmartphoneQ: How will Intel position ultrabook device and tablet? What is the difference in your view?A: Tablets and ultrabooks provide distinct and unique value propositions. Intel believes that worldwide demand for computing devices will be larger than ever in the future, not smaller. In other words, for the foreseeable future, we see tablets and ultrabooks co-existing and serving different market segments, as well as different user needs. But we also see an opportunity for convertible and hybrid ultrabooks that eliminate the need for users to carry a second device, such as a tablet.Q: With the Apple iPad taking up dominant share of the tablet market, what are Intel's strategies to win in the tablet space?A: I can't comment on Apple or its products, but we feel very good about the opportunity that Windows 8 presents for tablets based on our upcoming Clovertrail platform.Q: Some Intel-based smartphones have been announced. Does Intel expect any new phones to be launched later this year?A: Intel continues to work closely with partners around the world to develop smartphones based on Intel architecture. The Lava phone was launched in India in April 19, followed by the recent announcements from Lenovo on May 30 for China and Orange for Western Europe.In addition, Intel has announced smartphone partnerships and design wins with ZTE and Motorola Mobility, and both companies plan to introduce Intel-based smartphones later this year.Q: Intel and Lava in India has just introduced the Intel phone in the market, how's the market adoption so far?A: The market response has been great, with very positive feedback from the media and analysts.Q: Any new phones coming to the APAC market this year?A: We don't have anything to announce today, but stay tuned for more phone-related announcements to come in the future.Windows 8Q: Can you share about Intel's collaboration on Windows 8 and ultrabook/tablet?A: Ultrabooks will present a flagship platform to deliver a premium, full-featured Windows 8 experience. Windows 8 presents a significant growth opportunity for Intel to extend our leadership in PCs and expand into new form factors, such as hybrids and tablets.Q: The Windows-on-ARM device in the market is foreseeable. What are Intel's competitive strengths to win in this market vs. the Windows-on-ARM device?A: The combination of Windows 8 and Intel's industry-leading 22nm processors will deliver the world's best client computing experience. Intel has the deepest expertise of any silicon provider in optimizing and tuning for Windows to ensure broad availability, maximum compatibility and the highest levels of performance. Broad enabling for Windows 8 on Intel will happen, as it always does, and we expect hundreds of millions of personal computers to ship based on this combination.Gregory Bryant, VP of sales and marketing group and general manager of Intel Asia-Pacific RegionPhoto: Company