Every year at Computex, the best of the best are named for the “BC Award of COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2012”. The BC stands for Best Choice, and it’s a prestigious honor awarded to the most notable gadgets and technology that was seen on the showfloor. Being that this is one of the largest technology shows in the world, the competition is very, very tough.
It was therefore a pleasant surprise for ROCCAT CEO René Korte to find that his little company ROCCAT had been selected for their (admittedly awesome) new Power-Grid product for one of the BC awards in the Ultra-Thin Mobile Technology category. When I met with him to go over ROCCAT’s lineup at the show, he pointed at the plaque. “It was quite a surprise,” he said.
After spending a few minutes with Power-Grid, it was no surprise to me. Power-Grid is innovative and potentially game-changing. It has all the right pieces: it’s inexpensive, it’s original, it looks good, and it works.
POWER-GRID
Power-Grid is essentially a software suite that hooks into various areas of your computing experience: hardware, gaming, social networking, messaging services, etc. It acts as something of a central “dashboard” for all of your stuff, and it runs on your smartphone or tablet side-by-side with your computer. Think of it as more of a framework than a set-in-stone application, as it’s highly customizable and programmable.
Power-Grid runs as a series of modules that you can drop onto the Grid. ROCCAT supplies several, such as temperature readings, Facebook widget, Ventrilo “who’s talking”, and so on.
It’s no great stretch to see that ROCCAT’s Power-Grid is aimed squarely at competitors who are building exorbitantly expensive built-in screens that do the same sort of thing. The theory is: most people have a smartphone, so why not use that instead? Having game control icons (imagine having your WoW spells, or your RTS macros available as a one-touch icon on your phone) alone is enough of a killer app to make Power-Grid extremely compelling. When you start to realize the full extent of how programmable it is, then you see where this is heading. It won’t be long before ROCCAT offers a keyboard with a smartphone dock in it, bringing Power-Grid right to your fingertips as part of your PC control experience.
Right now, Power-Grid runs on iOS, but René told me that an Android beta was coming soon. The base app is free, and in quite an original monetization model, you’ll be able to purchase grid “slots” at 99 cents each to expand your available functionality. It’s conceivable that publishers and gaming tech companies (imagine Raptr or Steam) would make free or cheap widgets for Power-Grid as well.
I left the ROCCAT booth quite impressed at Power-Grid, and it’s easy to see why the Computex panel was impressed as well.
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