It’s April, and it’s that time of the year when Hong Kong hosts the Spring edition of their Hong Kong Electronics Fair (HKEF), in which manufacturers from across the globe congregate to show off their wares for the first half of the year, and for buyers to get in on the action and get in to any trends This 4-day event, located at the HKCEC in Wanchai, boasted nearly 3000 exhibitors last year, and this year things got even bigger and busier! Covering over 60,000sq metres in 3 huge halls, the HKEF this year was full of energy and surprises.
Enough of the waffle, let’s get down to business and show you some of the interesting electronic gadgets that we saw this year at the HKEF.
Mini Retro Arcade Games
Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, 1942…….if you are old enough to remember these arcade games of the early 80s, then you’ll know graphics for games have come leaps and bounds. 8-bit games compared to the likes of AR, VR and 4K gaming….no competition, right? But there are many oldies like myself that still like to play these old arcade games, reminding us of a more innocent time.
One company, who’s name was asked to be omitted, has produced beautifully packaged mini retro arcade games, no bigger than a small box of cereal. Unlike arcade clone consoles, each ‘box’ only has one game, with the exterior of the mini arcade console colourfully matching the game itself.
I had a quick go on Pac-Man, and even though the games were very responsive, the tiny controls were a bit fiddly. And because the entire ‘box’ was so light, I would be moving it around accidentally. Aesthetics-wise, these mini consoles wouldn’t look out of place on a display shelf, and I was ensured that when these consoles are released, pricing would be very competitive.
Lilliput
I have a soft spot for Lilliput, my first small (5.5″) TFT which I used for a car PC build way back 20 years ago was a Lilliput, and after all this time it is great to see that they are still around and still producing some cutting edge products, not only for businesses but also for consumers.
One of the best products on show, which was released at the end of last year, was Lilliput A12 broadcast monitor.
Apologies for not managing to get an actual photo at HKEF of the A12, I was being lambasted by a PR official for not replying her emails…….
Boasting to be the world’s first 12.5″ 4K broadcast monitor, the A12 is definitely aimed at the more professional user. With a 4K 3840×2160 native resolution, able to support split-view quad displays simultaneously from HDMI, 3G-SDI and DP inputs, the A12 ensures that you get the focus spot on, whilst being able to frame all your other cameras all at the same time.
For most videographers. attaching a 12.5″ display onto their setup would be an overkill, but to those that want precision and control, the A12 is super slim at only 21mm thickness, and weighs just 960g. For more information on the A12, please visit Lilliput’s website here.
GameSir
FunkyKit’s visits to HKEFs almost certainly means we have to make a beeline to one of Hong Kong’s own gaming accessories makers, GameSir, and this year GameSir pulled out all the stops to show some great gear they will be releasing in the very near future.
FPS games on a smartphone has never really been a big hit due to the difficulty of scrolling around the screen accurately, but this did not prevent Tencent’s recent release of Battleground: Player Unknown (PUBG) becoming a huge success. I’ve played it, and to be honest, a lot of times I have to rely on the assistance of auto-aim to aim accurately in the game to get the kills (over times I just run people over in a car).
Meet the GameSir G5 controller that should be released near the end of this month. What makes the G5 controller so specially is that it has a trackpad for your right thumb so you to scroll around the screen, much like what your mouse would do in an FPS game. As a demo, GameSir had already linked a G5 controller to a smartphone already running PUBG, and the response rate was mightily impressive, movement within the game is more intuitive, changing direction for movements and view is much more free-flowing. Priced at US$69.99, you can pre-order it here.
And if you are still not satisfied with using the G5 controller for FPS games on a mobile device, how about this keypad and mouse combination setup, mimicking how you would normally control your character in a FPS game on a PC! This is the GameSir Z1 Gaming Keypad, and through it you can connect either a bluetooth or USB mouse. The Z1 uses Cherry MX Red switches for a smooth fast gaming experience…..and did I tell you its RGB?!? You can pre-order the Z! Gaming Keypad right here for US$95.99.
