CES 2011 - The Swedish Sensations, Fractal Design - The UpStream

The first day of CES was overwhelming to say the least. We stood in awe of many booths, showcasing many things,

almost all of which were very cool. But the most notable company we encountered today comes to us all the way from Sweden and proved to us yet again they are more than just meatballs.

Fractal Design is a desktop computer case designer that is very well known throughout Eastern Europe, Korea, and Japan. They have traveled to the US in order to take on the sizable task of making a name for themselves here. We had the pleasure of meeting Paul Heimbuch who is the President of Fractal Design North America. He lead Scott, Nick, and myself up to their suite filling us in on some of the details as we went. After being warmly greeted by Hannis, the founder of the company, we had the pleasure of a short media presentation by his associate Yuan which explained to us in greater detail what sets them apart from tons of case designers out there. The presentation was then concluded by Hannis giving us the grand tour of the 3 product lines on display around the suite.

To find out more about some cool cases and accessories you will want to get, hit the break.

Essentially, Fractal Design applies a Scandinavian approach to their product design. This means that their products are aesthetically appealing but not overdone with "bling," as Hannis put it, and it is easy to see how this design philosophy comes across in all of their products. The focus on functionality is extraordinary as Hannis demonstrated to me when he pointed out seemingly simple, minute, details with some of their designs that actually made all the difference in the world to us. For example, in their Define XL case there is an angled fan in the top rear of the case that quickly expels hot air out the back of the case as an intake fan in the back brings cooler air into the mix. I have never seen a fan positioned inside a case in this manner and was very impressed. Something else we were impressed with was the versatility of the cases. The Define Series are geared towards sound proofing but can be customized by the user to suit their needs. The Arc Series are more for achieving maximum air flow which happens at the expense of sound dampening. This is something I am familiar with since my personal computer at home has 5 fans and sounds like a giant turbine. Again, the user can customize the sound proofing/airflow ratio as they see fit.

You can tell a lot about a company by speaking to the people who define it. Talking with Hannis, Paul, and Elizabeth Castiglioni, their marketing manager, it is clear to us that the quality of their products reflects the

quality of the people they are. We will talk more about them on Episode 182 of the show and we will be posting pictures and some video footage within the next couple of days. I urge you to check out their website and

familiarize yourself with their products. I know I will.