We round up the best and worst of Computex

AROUND 36,000 VISITORS were expected to make their way to Taipei to visit Computex this year. Now in its 31st year, the show attracts more than 1,800 exhibitors and 5,000 booths and is by far Asia's largest information technology trade show, second only worldwide to CeBIT in Germany.

As predicted, there were stacks of announcements from most of the world's biggest names in computer technology, and quite a few from vendors who we'd frankly never heard of previously.

Here are The INQUIRER's picks of the best and worst bits we saw at the show, in no particular order.

BEST

Miss Computex (x3) Yes, it's terribly un-PC and not particularly classy, but every trade show needs a moment of light relief. Thankfully we got it to the power of three at Computex, as the lucky girls who had been awarded the prestigious crown, and their glorious pink PVC miniskirts, were paraded before the assembled journalists with a selection of winning devices, posing and smiling. To be honest, we can't really remember much about what they were carrying.

Enthusiasts
It probably says a lot about the pre-eminence given to science and technology subjects in this part of the world, but the show and its satellite events were always full of enthusiastic students. Whatever they're doing, they're doing it right in Taiwan, which has been at the centre of computer technology innovation and components manufacturing for decades. You'd be lucky to fill a small bandstand with the number of technology graduates interested in an IT conference back home. Actually, if some numbers are to be believed, you'd be lucky to fill a bandstand with technology graduates full stop.

Food
We love a bit of exotic food at The INQUIRER, so it was good to see the on-site catering refusing to pander to western tastes. Although the press room was sadly exempt from any complementary nosh, we did mange to dig into some dim sum and noodles most days. Sadly, the beer that was served during a pre-show afternoon "tea break" for the press proved to be a one off.

Taiwanese
I like Hong Kong. I love Japan. But never having made it to Taiwan, I didn't really know what to expect. Thanks to our long-suffering Taiwanese hosts for never letting the veil slip, and putting up with our endless questions quite graciously.

It's the technology, stupid
Lest we forget, Computex is nothing without the thousands of information technology companies that sponsor, exhibit and use the show as a platform to launch new and interesting products. And this year was bigger and better than ever before, according to several veterans of past years. In 2011, the show played host to a battle of the chip giants, with Intel and AMD both staking their claims to the burgeoning tablet market with some high profile announcements. Asus also made a big impression with its Padfone and UX21 ultrabook, although disappointingly both were only prototype models.