COMDDAP 2001: Showcasing the hardware of the future

The long of students queuing around Makati Shangri-La Hotel last Friday morning gave one the impression that this year’s COMDDAP Expo was a widely anticipated event. There was excitement as well as anxiousness as hundreds of visitors waited under the heat to see the latest offerings in technology. The crowd that came was thick from opening time all the way up to seven in the evening near the show’s close.

COMDDAP, which stands for Computer Manufacturers, Distributors and Dealers Association of the Philippines, decided to hold its 15th annual show at Makati Shangri-La’s different ballrooms that could not hold the volume of visitors who wished to see the exhibit area. Fortunately, the registration process was very efficient and the only hassles visitors had to contend with were the tight spaces and the huge crowd.

The show, however, was worth the trouble, not only did it signify a growing interest in technology products but also showcased many of interesting computers, peripherals, audio and video gadgets that will soon be available in the market.

Sony’s surprise

Sony had possibly the most impressive product pavilion and was one of the best reasons to see the show. The Japanese conglomerate has long been known for its well-designed technology and lifestyle products and its offerings did not disappoint. Cutting-edge VAIO desktops and laptop PCs, a range of quality Trinitron video monitors, the sleek Clie line of Palm computers and an array of audio and video players ranging from MP3 devices to small cameras filled the small Sony area.

The real showstoppers at the Sony Pavilion were the Aibo robots that people crowded around to see. The Aibos are sophisticated robot dogs that can communicate with each other, play with rubber balls, react to voice commands and express any of four emotions as well as take photographs. The featured Aibos were the older, generic looking models. Newer, more dog-like models were released recently. This didn’t matter to many who had never seen this advancement in consumer robotics before; to the visitors, these metallic pets were all the rage.

Aibos seem to be a testing platform for mass-produced robotics that many expect to take the form not of animals but of humanoids. Sony’s Aibo as well as Honda’s ASIMO robots can be considered the early stages in the evolution of robotics. These advancements are something we can all look forward to in the very near future.

New and notable notebooks

One thing was evident at the COMDDAP Expo, the number of new notebook computer models far outnumbered those of desktop systems. Judging from the number of interested buyers crowding around the diminutive new notebooks, portables seem to be the favored computing machines of the moment.

New portables from such makers as Asus, Compaq, Mitac, Twinhead, Toshiba, Sony and Compaq range between under P50,000 and P180,000 but their specs rival those of desktop systems. The demand for portables is certainly increasing specially since the newer machines carry powerful Intel Pentium III or at least downtuned Celeron chips. This new hardware can easily handle all but the most demanding applications. Some of the notebooks on display also carried alternate AMD K6-2 chips that help keep prices down.

It was also a good thing that many of the display units were running and accessible to the visitors. This allowed hands-on interaction from possible users who wanted to test the machines first-hand and many responded positively to this, saying that trying out the machines would help them make a better purchasing decision.

Multimedia and digital photography

COMDAPP also had its share of peripheral items such as storage devices and software applications and an assortment of audio and video equipment. This is interesting since many companies such as Intel, Microsoft and Apple have, for the past year, been integrating computers into other lifestyle products such as audio and video equipment and PDAs.

The concept of PCs becoming the hub of people’s digital lifestyle has never been more viable than now. Some of the more exciting exhibits were Sanyo’s wall of large video and TV screens. Numerous DVD devices and sound processing equipment were on display as well. Digital cameras from such makers as Canon and Sony drew interest from many who considered digital photography a future option but were still put off by the prices. A 2 megapixel camera with zoom lens can easily cost up to over P25,000 which can buy you a pretty decent desktop PC with the latest specs and a large monitor.

Looking forward

Interest in technology is still very strong even if fewer PCs have been sold this year due to the overall economic slowdown. Less PCs sold means less peripherals sold and an overall lull in the technology sector. Shows like the COMMDAP Expo are important in showcasing the newest products and technologies as well as the direction they are expected to take in the coming months. These shows also allow makers to get first-hand feedback from the users themselves and this proves to be an invaluable information tool for future product development. – Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla