NYC

Gigabyte's no stranger in the field of dockable computing devices, and its M2432 laptop shown off atComputex is yet another example proving just this. Let's focus on the actual machine first: here we have a Core i5-2410M (2.3GHz to 2.9GHz) rig packing a 14-inch 1,366 x 768 LCD, Intel HD Graphics 3000, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 500GB 7200rpm hard drive, and a DVD burner that can be swapped with a secondary battery. You'll also find 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, HDMI-out, VGA-out, 1.3 megapixel webcam, an eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port, and two USB 3.0 ports on this Windows 7 Home Premium laptop. All of this weigh 1.8kg (3.97lbs). There's a bit of a surprise inside the expansion dock: by laying the M2432 on top of it, not only are you adding six extra USB 2.0 ports plus DVI-out and another HDMI-out, but you're also kicking up its graphics power with the built-in desktop-class NVIDIA GeForce GT 440 with 1GB video RAM. So essentially, the dock doubles as an external graphics ca...

While combing through the show floor at Computex, our fortunate selves stumbled upon a new phone-tablet duo at Leadtek's booth. Oh, don't worry, this isn't yet another phone-in-pad design; but actually a VoIP / home phone docked next to an Android tablet. Dubbed AMOR Multimedia Phone 8218, the idea here is that the docking station acts as both a DECT base and a WiFi router, but also packs ZigBee radio to relay data from compatible devices (for healthcare, home surveillance, home automation, etc.) to the web. Alas, there's no direct interaction between the phone and the tablet, but we were still intrigued by the latter's specs: Android 2.3 (although this demo unit had 2.2), Tegra 2, 7-inch 1,280 x 720 LCD, HDMI-out, and a front-facing camera for video calls. For a home device, this is actually a pretty powerful package and certainly a significant upgrade from the AMOR 8210 announced earlier this year. No word on US availability, but Taiwane...

Intel's already teased Compal's "Ultra Mobile" Ultrabook from afar, but when this Ivy Bridge laptop popped up on the show floor after the Computex keynote, we decided to give it a closer look. While this prototype isn't quite in the same league as ASUS' gorgeous UX21, do bear in mind that we're still looking at a relatively slim package for a 14- to 15-inch Core i7 rig. Also visible around the machine are a couple of USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI-out port, a LAN socket, and an SD card reader. Until we hear more about this Ultra Mobile, enjoy our eyes-on photos below. Compal's 'Ultra Mobile' Ultrabook eyes-on omment

Apple's iOS devices may lack native memory expansion, but PhotoFast has now come up with solution that just about bests the official camera connection kit. What you're looking at here is the i-FlashDrive, a memory dongle that sports both a USB plug and an Apple 30-pin dock connector, and it comes in three flavors starting from 8GB at $95 up to 32GB at $180. What's more, the drive also works with a free Cupertino-approved app that provides both external  and  internal file management (for music, photos, movies, and more), contact backup, and native MP3 playback. Want one? Then head over to Taiwan for a mid or late June launch, or watch out for its US debut shortly afterwards. Demo video after the break. PhotoFast i-FlashDrive does USB on one end, dock connector on the other Stone Ip

There are already plenty of keyboard and mouse sharing solutions out there, but alas, most are not foolproof nor affordable enough for the average Joe. As such, we fell in love with j5 Create's Wormhole KM Switch and Wormhole Station at Computex. The former, pictured above, is simply a cable sporting a USB dongle on each end; whereas the latter is an aluminum, externally powered expansion dock rod that comes with an intergrated KM switch, two USB 3.0 ports (which requires a USB 3.0 host for full potential, of course), a power button at the end, and card readers for microSD, SD, and MemoryStick. After the one-click setup using the built-in installer, you can set your preferred method to toggle the keyboard and mouse switching: either by clicking the middle mouse button, by clicking a user-defined hot area on the screen, or by simply moving the cursor off one side of the screen. As you'll see in our hands-on video after the break, the switching was seamless, and we had n...

Having a gadget encased in ice is always a cool stunt (pun intended), but Fractal took one step further by using blocks of ice cut out of a Swedish river, and then have them shipped  all  the way to Computex in Taiwan. Apparently that's how Scandinavians roll. As for the actual products, frequent desktop builders may have already heard of Fractal for its silent, minimalistic chassis, which recently made their way to the US market. While we didn't get a chance to check out how quiet the live machines were, the cases' build quality was surprisingly solid for their prices, and we were also impressed by the attention to detail on damping noise wherever possible. Hit the source link below to check out Fractal's Define, Arc, and Core series cases. Visualized: the coolest desktop chassis at Computex, literally Fractal

First the ASUS Padfone, then the CMIT TransPhone, and now a third phone-docking tablet but with a little extra spice. Our latest contender comes from a Taiwan-based startup dubbed ICE Computer, who has just announced its partnership with ECS over its Trinity concept, a mobile display that lets you dock either a PC module or a smartphone (not necessarily an iPhone, let alone an iPhone  5  as reported by some sites; the dummy's just for show and convenience). From our quick chat with ICE product manager Jaryson Wu, we learned that the company's been working on this project for quite some time, though ike ASUS and CMIT, ICE also lacked a working prototype to show us. So the idea is simple: slide in a PC module or phone of your choice, and you have yourself a fully functioning touchscreen tablet that has an upgradable core -- that's one tick for environmental friendliness, and another tick for potentially more powerful upgrades. But that's not it, as ICE may also thro...

It'll be a little while before Windows Phone 7 Mango phones pop up in the shops, but here at Computex, Acer decided to give us a little tease with a mockup of its upcoming W4 handset. Before you get all excited, though, the hardware specs are pretty yawn-inducing: there's a 3.6-inch 800 x 480 display of unknown type, 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 CPU, up to 8GB of storage, 5 megapixel auto-focus camera, and DLNA support. Hardly anything new here, which is a surprise given that we're looking at a Mango device -- a phone to be shipped with a  major  WP7 refresh. Anyhow, you'll also find the usual radios like 802.11 b/g/n plus Bluetooth 2.1 here, but interestingly enough, it looks like the W4 will be coming in two SKUs: one with HSPA 850 / 1900, and one with HSPA 900 / 2100 -- obviously a potential problem for globetrotters. As for look and feel the W4's well within the comfort zone of Acer's smartphone ID, and the curved back felt nice and solid in our hands, but we sh...