Computex: Show sidesteps slump, swine flu on Android hopes

Threats from the outbreak of swine flu and the weak global economy don't appear to be a problem for one of the world's largest computer and electronics exhibitions.

Computex Taipei 2009 prepared for both but has found that an overwhelming interest in new products this year is driving people to the trade show, which has been held in Taiwan since 1981.

One of the main draws for Computex this year is the likely appearance of mini-laptops, or netbooks, with Google's Android mobile operating system on board. China's Guangzhou Skytone Transmission Technologies, revealed its Android netbook, the Alpha 680 last month and has said it's due out in June.

Taiwanese companies including Acer, Asustek Computer and Micro-Star International (MSI) have all reportedly been working on netbooks and other devices that take Android as the OS, and other companies have likely done so as well. The Institute for Information Industry (III) in Taiwan, a publicly funded group, held a conference earlier this year to discuss a range of possibilities for Android and urged Taiwanese companies to start developing products around the mobile software.

But there are reasons to doubt an Android netbook will be on the market soon after Computex. Skytone says a lot of development work is required to put Android in a netbook. The software is made for smartphones, not mini-laptops, so it lacks certain features necessary for a netbook or similar device. For example, Skytone had to develop a mouse icon for its netbook.

Still, the devices are among the most highly anticipated of the show.

Mini-laptops in all shapes and sizes, in fact, will be the centerpiece of Computex. New laptops designed around ULV (ultra-low voltage) microprocessors from Intel are expected to be everywhere at the show. Acer, Asustek, MSI and others have already announced products around the chips. The laptops are thin, light and designed for 8-hours of batter life. One of the main selling points that sets them apart from netbooks is their larger screens, such as the Acer Aspire Timeline's 13.3-inch, 14-inch and 15.6-inch models. Netbooks generally carry screens 10-inches and smaller.

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