October 5, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Nine products received best-in-show awards at last week's World PC Expo 98.

The Best of World PC Expo 98 awards were presented at a special ceremony to exhibitors displaying the most outstanding products. The prize is an editors' choice award, with honors decided on the basis of two nights of heated discussions by 31 staffers from the editorial departments of Nikkei Byte and Nikkei WinPC. All 31 editors visited every booth in the exhibition hall.

The awards in this first-ever Best of World PC Expo celebration were made in four areas: desktop PCs, notebook or portable PCs, peripherals, and technology. Products were evaluated on factors such as concept, technology and impact on the market.

Award winners and their categories were:

Desktop PCs: The iMac by Apple Japan, Inc. and the VAIO Compo PCV-M350 by Sony Corp.

The iMac was supported by most editors for its imaginative presentation and for its advanced design. Editors were particularly impressed by the decision to drop the serial port in favor of a new USB port.

The Sony VAIO machine features functions that make it possible to control MDs and CDs and to digitally record from CD to MD. The factor that impressed editors was the quietness of the machine, unsurprising in view of Sony's expertise in audio-visual appliances.

Notebook and portable PCs: The VAIO PG-C1 by Sony Corp., the DynaBookSS 3000/3010 by Toshiba Corp., and the Cassiopeia Fiva by Casio Computer Co., Ltd.

Equipped with a digital camera and a 1024-by-480dpi LCD, the VAIO PG-C1 is expected to cultivate a new market for Sony.

The DynaBook SS 3000/3010 attracted attention with its design technology, resulting in a small, lightweight B5-sized PC. The machine is 19.8mm thick and weighs 1.19kg.

Casio's Cassiopeia Fiva is A5-sized and weighs 0.84kg, almost the perfect size for portable usage. Also impressive was its comfortable Thumb Pad pointing device.

Peripherals: Net Volante RTA 50i, an ISDN router by Yamaha Corp.

Net Volante RTA 50i is equipped with DSU, TA, a hub with three ports and three analogue ports -- functions usually reserved for products priced at more than 60,000 yen. Bu Net Volante RTA 50I sells for just 49,800 yen.

Technology: Wearable PC by IBM Japan, Ltd.; the FW6400GX/150, a motherboard co-developed by Freeway Corp., Ltd. and Taiwan's A-Trend Technology; and the Motion Processor by Toshiba Corp.

IBM's Wearable PC was chosen by a large number of editors for its large number of high-tech features. The editors were enthusiastic about the 1-in. hard disk and micro LCD display embedded within the headset. IBM's cutting-edge technology is epitomized by this machine.

The Freeway/A-Trend motherboard is equipped with both Slot1 and Slot2 sockets. The mounted clock generator corresponds to an external clock with a frequency of 150MHz. Users who enjoy remodeling motherboards will be lining up this level of equipment.

The Toshiba Motion Processor boasts a unique function: with a CMOS image sensor that reacts exclusively to catoptric lights, it enables PCs to retrieve images of moving objects such as the human body. The processor can produce interesting applications such as software for a scissors-paper-rock game.

(Nikkei Byte)