Computex Taipei 2008 is the second major technology trade show that I have ever attended. I went to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January and now I find myself in Taiwan for the world’s second largest computer expo. Fumbling my way through the city with a very minimal understanding of Mandarin has been quite the challenge, but we’ve managed to survive thus far.

While I have been here since last Saturday, Computex didn’t officially start until Tuesday. I fully expect to get flooded with lots of Chingrish and funny knockoff products. Heck, there are even companies like MicroNet above that try to copycat entire organizations. I wonder if MicroNet’s president is named Gill Bates or something.

computex 2008 - taipei 101

While on a shuttle bus between locations, I managed to get a good look at the Taipei 101. As of this writing, it is still the tallest building in the world, but it will be usurped next month by some tower in Shanghai and then that will be beat by yet another tower in Dubai. The Taipei landscape is awfully strange, because all the buildings around the Taipei 101, which has 101 floors, are relatively short.

That’s Asus accepting one of the inaugural Computex Design and Innovation Awards. The selection of the winners was conducted by iF, an organization that also hands out design awards at other trade shows like CES.

computex 2008

Although the trade show floor was not officially open yet, Stephen Fung and I decided to give ourselves a bit of a sneak peak. We saw them working on the Asus Eee PC booth, for example, but Stephen couldn’t help himself when he saw a booth set up with Guitar Hero. Too bad he sucked really bad.

computex 2008

A big part of the fun of attending shows like Computex is gawking at the booth babes. Here’s the lovely lady from Choiix, a brand off-shoot from Cooler Master. They’re going to specialize in laptop accessories that are both fashionable and functional.

Unfortunately, not all booth babes are created equal. At the official Asus Eee PC 901 and Eee PC 1000 launch event, they hired one model that probably should have kept her mouth shut. Someone needs to call her an orthodontist.

To conference is glorious. I’m still in the process of trying to accumulate more free swag. Ed Lau, Stephen Fung, and I already have a great idea for a contest giveaway when we come back. Let’s just say that some creativity is needed to win. Stay tuned!