Exhibitors Highlight New Products At Taitronics 2004

The 2004 Taipei International Electronics Show (Taitronics 2004), one of the largest events of its kind in Asia, was divided into two separate exhibits last year: Taitronics Components & Equipment show (held Oct. 8-12) and the Taitronics Finished Products show (Oct. 16-20). Exhibitors showed off their strong research and development capabilities, along with the island's integrated capability in such fields as optoelectronics, information technology, machinery, and high-precision molds and dies, by introducing advanced new products.

The annual show has evolved from the original exhibition of general electronic parts, accessories, and finished products into a display of market-leading items developed by local manufacturers. Industry observers stress that the only way for domestic producers to survive in today's market, especially in the face of fierce competition from mainland China, is to offer products that feature superior design and quality along with the incorporation of the most advanced technology.

Frank Huang, executive director of Taitronics 2004, reports that the show celebrated its 30th anniversary last year with record numbers of exhibitors: 890 companies occupying 2,000 booths in the Components & Equipment show, and 800 companies occupying 1,800 booths in the Finished Products show. The figures were up 20% from 2003. In 2005, Huang says, the two events will be combined into one five-day show.



Your Show of Shows--Product Lineup

One of the innovative new items on show last year was a necklace pendant-like super-slim MP3 player/flash-memory drive, the P6610, developed by Hsuan Mao Technology Co. (a leading maker of videocameras and connectors as well as MP3 player/flash-memory devices), which is only 40mm thick. The company says that the product comes with a built-in lithium-ion battery that can provide power for up to six hours, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) along the edge that indicate the level of battery power remaining. The product enjoys CE and FCC approval and is operated via ergonomic, user-friendly buttons.


Leading Player in Players


More innovation was evident in the Montego portable multimedia player shown off by 2001 Technology Inc., which allows users to enjoy their favorite movies, music, and photos whenever and wherever they want.

A 3.5-inch digital QVGA thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) screen provides fine playback, and a standard 20GB resident hard disk can store up to 30 full-length MPEG4 movies, 250 hours of MP3 sound tracks, or 200,000 JPEG photos. The device has a rechargeable, removable lithium-ion battery pack that can provide continuous movie playback up to 3.5 hours. A built-in speaker provides impressive sound for a multimedia player the size of a palm. In addition, the Montego supports full D1 resolution (with 720 x 480 pixels) of DVD quality, making it perfect for big-screen output display.

Users can also choose from a wide range of accessories, including an infrared remote controller, stereo headset, in-car holder (which fits on the head cushion), and leather carrying case. The net weight is about 500 grams.

2001 Technology was established in 1989 and specializes in the supply of high-end products and accessories for the mobile/wireless communications industry. Over the past two years it has also evolved into a developer and manufacturer of high-tech consumer-electronics products.


What's in a Name? Power


Aacotek Co. introduced its globally patented Instant Power, a mini-size instant power charger that uses the most advanced air-cell technology to generate charging power.

This high-tech product incorporates imported materials (electric fuel-air cells) from Europe that are assembled in Taiwan. It can charge a variety of consumer-electronic products that used under 5.6V of power (such as cellphones, PDAs, MP3 players, etc.) at any time, in any place. It can be used for charging for about 1,000 hours under normal conditions; after that, it can be put back in its plastic bag and disposed of.

Aacotek also demonstrated unique technology for bi- and tri-metal welding, which can greatly upgrade the heat-dissipation efficiency of cooler sinks.


A Friend From Afar


Sanyo Electric Co. of Japan exhibited its latest organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display module, which is an improvement over conventional LCDs. Itabashi Akira, president of Sanyo Semiconductor Taipei, says that the new display combines Sanyo's low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) TFT and Kodak's OLED technologies. The display features improved contrast, a wider viewing angle (with almost no dead angle), greater brightness, a thinner form factor, and a faster response than super-twisted nematic (STN) LCDs, and that it can self-emit to save power.

Akira claims that Sanyo is currently the only company to have commercialized OLED displays, which are used in some high-end Kodak digital cameras and will be used in Sanyo PDAs in the future. The thickness of the OLED module is now 1.4mm (with two-layer glass); in the future, one layer of glass will be cut out and the thickness halved to 0.7mm. The OLED display now consumes 1.5 to 2 times as much power as similar devices, but power consumption is expected to be reduced to about the same level as that of similar devices this year, and to only about half within the next few years.


…and More, and More


3Men Technology Co. promoted a series of high-end brushless DC motors and drivers at the show. The company's sales manager, J.P. Tsai, says that brushless motors are expected to replace traditional carbon-brush motors gradually and become the market mainstay within the next few years, thanks to their smaller size (they are about half as big as carbon-brush models), higher efficiency, lower noise, longer life (more than a five-fold improvement), and better low-speed, high-torque performance.

Sheng Chang Technology Co. highlighted its multiple X1+Y2x2 capacitors, the first ever in the market. The firm's president, Su Wen-tung, says that the new one-piece capacitors integrate one X and two Y capacitors into a single device.

All multiple capacitors, Su reports, are made by welding, and his innovative new product requires a higher level of technology to achieve low cost and small size. He believes that his new 3-in-1 capacitor will capture 30% to 50% of the global market within the next few years.

Asia Technology Investment Group Co. introduced the XL-007 FM transmitter, a miniature device (just 48mm x 32mm x 115mm in size, 50g in weight) that allows users to enjoy music in the car or at home. The new model can be powered through an auto cigarette lighter and beams high-fidelity, full-stereo audio signals from a source player (CD, MD, MP3, VCD, or DVD player, as well as all types of PCs) to a target radio (in the car or at home) within its effective range, with no wires needed: just plug, tune, and play. The XL-700 offers six-channel selectable transmission from 50Hz to 15KHz.

The high-performance M3500A 6.5-digit digital multimeter was the focus of Picotest Corp.'s display. According to the company, the new product is the most technologically advanced model that is made in Taiwan, and that it sets a new standard for full-function multimeters. The M3500A offers stable, fast, and accurate measurement for system testing, including measurement of CD/AC voltage, DC/AC current, two/four-wire mode resistance, frequency, period, diode testing, continuity testing, and temperature measurement, along with a variety of math options. The company claims that the product was designed with 7.5-digit technology, provides the most accurate 6.5-digit measurement, and is priced at the level of a 5.5-digit model.


Government "Smarties" On Hand Too


The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) was commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to develop a technology platform for technology for "Smart Family" home-appliance products, and the results were on show at Taitronics 2004.

ITRI set up the Smart Appliance Alliance (SAA) with a number of major domestic home-appliance makers three years ago, and in 2003 the alliance developed a smart power-communication module along with several prototype smart appliances, including an air-conditioner, washing machine, refrigerator, dehumidifier, and light dimmer. The SAA's top priority is to set up common standards for smart appliances, and to achieve inter-line technical integration with the international market.

Statistics compiled by the MOEA show that the production value of information appliances (Ias) in Taiwan topped US$1.7 billion in 2003, and soared about 125% last year to more than US$3.9 billion, and to rise further to US$6.4 billion by 2005. Smart and digitized appliances, the MOEA points out, will become the mainstream in technology development for home appliances in the 21st century. (Oct. 2004)