Caltheen Shanahan
The topic I chose this week was found on CNN.com.
http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/03/31/head.monitor.idg/index.html.
It tells about computers that you can wear on your head. This article explains how these computer gadgets have been around for many years, but have not been affordable to most. These systems cost thousands of dollars above notebook PC’s. These current models sell in the $5000 to $7000 price range.
Xybernaut will sell a version of this mobile assistant IV with microvision’s display to Microvision who refuses to comment on any cost of this new item. One of their displays are used during neurosurgery. This allows the surgeon to view images without turning away from his patient. This computer displays a computer screen that is several feet in front of you, doesn’t block your vision, and has virtual imagery.
Most commercial users may look pretty geeky, but they are very interested in what is up and coming. Eventually the mounted displays will be reduced in cost and will look less goofey, but for now, the users remain to be seen as the cast from Star Trek!!
Cathleen Shanahan
The article I have chosen this week to talk about is from PC World .com. Microsoft
shows voice drive PDA. This is about a prototype of a device able to recognize voice
commands and take dictation from users. Specifically designed to eliminate the
difficulties of entering data.
This device is called MiPad. It was shown for the for the first time by Microsoft during a keynote address top Bill Gates. It is still in the research stage, but Microsoft has lofty expectations for this device.
The user will be able to compose and send e-mail, browse the web, access a contact list, and dictate text, without using a keyboard, or pen-type interface. MiPad is an acronym for multimodal interface. All of the struggler’s days maybe over and Microsoft is very positive with the results of this device. This article can be read on http://www.pcworld.com/shared/printable_articles/0,1440,15867,00.html.
Dave Fiebelkorn
AMD aims at Intel with 'Spitfire' By John G. Spooner and Ken Popovich, PC Week Online, ZDNN
March 27, 2000 2:45 PM PT URL: http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,2475141,00.html
Today Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) announced that it was going to go head to head with Intel in the value market (under $1,000.00) with the release of its Spitfire chip later this year. The Spitfire will match the Intel Celeron in clock speeds and onboard level cache of 128KB, but will surpass the Celeron's 66Mhz bus speed by utilizing the same 200Mhz bus as the high-end Athlon processors. This chip will replace and be priced at the same level as the K6-2 processors. In response to this announcement Intel set a press release for Wednesday to release 566MHz and 600MHz Celeron processors with 633MHz and 667MHz versions expected within a month.
Karen Eisensmith
The article I found was at http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2475141,00.html?chkpt=zdhpnews01Called AMD aims at Intel with ‘Spitfire’
Spitfire is Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) new chip code-named after the sports car. It is said to rival Intel’s Celeron chip in the value-PC space (generally defined as PC’s costing less than $1,000).
Both chips are expected to have greater overall performance and higher clock speeds, at no extra cost to the consumer. Spitfire will be offered at 550MHz, 600Mhz, 650MHz, and 700MHz. And will have 128KB of onboard Level 2 Cache. While Celeron will be offered at 566MHz and 600 MHz come this Wednesday, 633MHz and 667Mhz chips are expected within a month. It also has 128KB of integrated cache.
Although they both seem to remain competitive in clock speed and cache, AMD will excel in one area – a faster bus.
Currently, Intel is using a 66MHz bus and has no immediate plans to bump its bus to 100MHz but says it will happen eventually. AMD will equip Spitfire with a 200MHz bus (the same bus now being used in its high-end Athlon processors, the same chip used in the 1GHz machines). To do this they equipped Spitfire with its 0.18-micron process, which provides higher clock speeds and lower power consumption. This is an upgrade over their current 0.25-micron process used to fabricate the K6-2 chips. The Spitfire chip will replace (over time) the K6-2 processor that is now the mainstay of AMDs value-desktop offering.
Spitfire is planned for release is expected at mid-year.
Cathleen Shanahan
The news article I have chosen to talk about was taken from New Computer News. For
more information on this subject, http://www.secugen.com.
This is an article from March 13, 2000.
Secugen Corporation a leading global developer and manufacturer of biometric imaging devices announced the integration of Secugen’s patented fingerprint recognition. This is a fully integrated access security system with fingerprint I.D. readeer, keypad, real-time clock, LCD screen and communications port. This was integrated into Autostar Technology’s new touch star security product. This fingerprint module will be incorporated in the TouchStar terminals which will read and build encrypted data description of a person’s fingerprint.
The TouchStar unit is compact and will utilize Secugens advanced security technology to authenticate each user. This will replace badges, swipe cards, pin numbers, and passwords. It can be configured for completely independent operation, or with local or networked security systems. It can also monitor time and attendance management.
This ideal module works in conjunction with Secugen’s superior minutiae-based encryption algorithm. The algorithm processes each user’s unique fingerprint record as a secure, encrypted data file. This unit because of it’s surface enhanced irregular reflection, can be put to work with high reliability in the field, factory or chemical plant environments, as well as offices and stores.
For privacy, the format is different from fingerprints used in criminal justice systems. Instead, each individual’s data template is stored as an encrypted file and is not linked to any other personal data that may be on a PC or information system. Individuals are verified in less than a second. Pretty high tech, don’t you think?!
Greg Hanna IBM Unveils Record-Capacity Drives [ March 17, 2000 ]IBM has announced that it has developed new storage devices that are capable of storing up to 75 GB of data. The new storage device uses glass disk platters rather than aluminum. The glass allows data to be packed closer together and also permits faster RPM's. The new storage medium will be available in 40 GB and 75 GB sizes. E-commerce has created the demand for devices that are capable of storing more data.
Anne Perry
Intel Uses Pricing Clout to Land X-Box Deal URL: http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000318S0001 Industry observers are calling a late-round TKO as Intel beat out Advanced Micro Devices as supplier for Microsoft’s upcoming X-Box game console. AMD had its slot in the X-Box locked up until Microsoft made a last-minute switch to Intel the day before chairman Bill Gates unveiled the new machines. However, a delay affecting Microsoft’s operating system software pushed the box into 2001, giving Intel the opportunity to force its way in with steeply discounted Pentium III processors and an offer of free support services.It has been proclaimed that Intel low-balled AMD, but the president and chief executive of Intel said that Intel offered the highest-performance solution with the highest level of support to win the X-Box design-in. Intel and Microsoft now will push the X-Box as a $300 living-room appliance, combining games, DVD video and audio, and an Internet browser. Microsoft already sells the Internet-enable WebTV set-top box, which is made by Sony and uses a MIPS processor designed by QED. X-Box has the potential to become Microsoft’s biggest single consumer-OEM product. It is likely that box assembly will be outsourced and also likely that many X-Box features will find their way into next-generation consumer PCs.
For instance, the console will use Nvidia graphics engine and a 200-MHz, 128-bit bus to connect directly to 64 Mbytes of double-data-rate (DDR) SDRAM. This eliminates the core-logic chip set, AGP port, and separate dedicated graphics memory. With no graphics frame buffer, the Nvidia chip interfaces to main memory but with data access as high as 6.2 Gigabytes. At this speed graphics can access main memory to run images at hundreds of mega pixels speed-and still have enough memory capacity for the processor. The X-Box wills us an 800- or 900-MHz Pentium III when it’s rolled out next year.
Microsoft’s decision to use DDR SDRAM gives a boost to the emerging memory interface, and is a blow to proponents of the Direct Rambus DRAM architecture. Sources even said that Intel is considering using the same point-to-point graphics-controller architecture found in the X-Box to support DDR SRAM in an upcoming consumer PC that will run the game console’s software. Intel will use a double-pumped version of its 100-MHz bus, a technique under development for use in its upcoming high-performance processors.
An Intel spokesman said that the X-Box has "the highest performance specifications of any electronic game player, and Intel will meet all of these specs."
Zorina Murphy
March 20, Intel introduced the Pentium III processors at 866 and 850 MHz.
These processors are designed to power an internet experience filled with rich audio, video, animations and 3-D that make information come alive. These processors are available in systems for numerous pc manufacturers. They feature an "advanced transfer cache" which enable application performance to scale with increasing clock frequencies. Most other older type processors offer older technologies that keep the cache memory from operating at full frequencies, therefore limiting the PC's full ability to deliver performance to the user. The Pentium III processors at 866 and 850 MHz are available priced at $776 and & $765 respectively. Great price!!
Thomas A. Wojcik
March 20, 2000 – JNI Ships 1st True Dual port Fibre Channel PCI Bus Adapter.
This is the first true offering of an adapter of this type offering compatibility with a PCI bus. These cards enable full speed, full duplex interfacing with performance reaching 90MBS. JNI touts "The FiberStar line of PCI-to-Fibre Channel host bus adapters are designed to execute mission- critical applications by enabling high-speed data transfers between PCI-based servers and Fibre Channel link." The new cards offer compatibility with operating systems from Microsoft to Novell to Linux in both server and workstation classes. JNI is also making available its 64bit/2gb HBA, for software development.
Dave Fiebelkorn
Microsoft developing PC tablet device By Bob Trott and Dan Neel http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/00/03/20/000320hnmsdevice.xml
Microsoft is combining the functionality of pagers, laptops, cell phones, and PDA's into one unit. Although Microsoft company officials stress that it is only in the development stages and at least two years away, they are working on a PC tablet which will include the functions of a two-way pager, PDA, and a notebook. Their strategy here is to provide a platform for Office, Web, and instant messaging services, that also include data, video, and voice conferencing.
URL: http://www.zdnet.com/sr/stories/issue/0,4537,2445647-5,00.html
This article is about the speed and functionality of USB (Universal Serial Bus) and IEEE 1394 (a.k.a. FireWire). These new serial I/O communication technologies have surpassed common serial and parallel ports and are knocking on the door of SCSI interfaces. The USB interface which has really come in to its own and flourished since the introduction of Windows 98, is about to get better. USB 2.0 is the new version slated for release in the second quarter of this and is set to be 30 to 40 times faster then the present version, with a top speed of up to 36MBps to 48MBps. At this rate it will be in direct competition with FireWire and external SCSI devices with one exception: it is easier to configure. With hot swap plug and play ability and the capability to cascade up to 127 devices off of one port, there will be no need for the old COM and parallel ports any longer. Being able to install devices to a computer with out having to open the cover or shut down the power will be a real time saver for IS departments. Also included at the end of the article is a table of the various types of external interfaces, their data transfer rates in Million Bytes per second and their common usage.Greg Hanna
Compaq Set To Build Alpha Supercomputer By Will Wade: http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000302S0021
The French Atomic Commission has placed an order with Compaq for a super computer that will be able to simulate and analyze nuclear explosions. The computer must be able to perform up to five trillion operations per second. Compaq plans to deliver the system by the end of 2001.
The supercomputer will use between 2,000 and 2,500 Alpha chips running at speeds between 1and 1.25 GHz. Alpha microprocessors are currently based on EV6 technology, which are currently capable of functioning at speed up to 1 GHz. Compaq plans to add copper interconnect technology to boost speeds up to 1.25 GHz.
The high-end supercomputer market was said to be a $5.76 billion industry in 1999 and Compaq currently holds about 22% of the market.
Zorina Murphy
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel have been engaged in a leapfrog rivalry with regard to processor chip speed . As of 3/1/00 Intel is victorious with the 1-GHz Pentium III. Volume production and sales of 1-GHz Pentium III systems is expected by the third quarter.
In the second half of the year, Intel will introduce the "Williamette" processor, the successor to the Pentium III. Williamette will come out at 1-GHz or faster. Williamette is the code-name for the chip. The final brand name will likely leverage the Pentium brand.
Karen Eisensmith
The article I found was located at: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2455030,00.html?chkpt=zdhpnews01
The title of the article I found is AMD to cross finish line first? In an e-mail message Sunday, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) will announce Monday the release of its 1GHz Athlon processor. The new chips’ release is scheduled for 8 a.m. EST. This is way ahead of schedule seeing that originally the chips were not due out until the second half of this year. AMD is also to announce their 900 MHz and 950 MHz versions of the chip at the same time.
However, Intel is not far behind. They are announcing their 1GHz Pentium III processor on Wednesday of this week. Also to be announced by Intel are its 850 MHz, 866MHz, and 933Mhz processors.
This means that 1GHz PCs will be shipped out by PC Manufacturers by the end of March, if not sooner. These PC are estimated to be priced in upwards of $4,000 dollars.
Side Note: PCs using the Intel processors: The Rambus technology that I spoke of in my last News article will most likely be installed with these faster chips in the new PCs. This means higher cost to you, with added bugs to boot. SO BUYER BEWARE!
Cathleen Shanahan
The article I have chosen to talk about this week was found on http://www.iwon.com/home/technology/tech_article. AMD Set to Beat Intel with One Gigahertz Chip. I find this article totally exciting. Along with AMD constantly competing with Intel, the technology of our computer systems changes daily because of this. According to this article, AMD was to launch their one gigahertz processor in March, but a spokes person now says the information went live on the net prematurely. The way this article explains, both AMD and Intel will be putting these chips on the market sometime in the second half of this year.
Even though most people are purchasing the 500 megahertz, which is sufficient enough to run an overwhelming amount of software, they believe the current PC demand is for much more powerful chips.
Since these will be the first processors on the market running at one gigahertz, the companies will be charging the premium, even if for a short time. The price ranges of course will vary from $900.00 to $2000.00. In this prediction, they believe that in a few years from now the whole measuring scheme will change and we won’t be talking about 800 megahertz anymore, we will be talking about a whole lot more.
Thomas A. Wojcik
http://www.cnews.com/ http://www.digiscents.com/
The next time your sitting by your computer wondering what that obnoxious odor is; don't look for a stale pizza crust behind the monitor or your trash can, check your computer hardware. Digiscents a company with an innovative device called the iSmell will be on the market for Christmas. The iSmell accesses a "digital scent file" to combine any of 128 chemicals contained in a cartridge to create any fragrances or odors. The device is smaller than the average telephone and distributes scents through a small fan built into the unit. The possibilities are intriguing: scented emails to that special person, the smell of gunpowder and machine gun oil during that shoot-em-up game, or food advertisers and restraints tantalizing you with there latest dishes.
Cathleen Shanahan
The article I have chosen to talk about is titled Windows PCs become Tools for DOS Attacks, dated February 25, 2000. DOS in this article does not stand for Disc Operating System. In this article it stands for Denial of Service. After the attacks on Yahoo and Ebay two weeks ago the experts are sending us all a warning that they feel the next attacks will be on the novice user, using Windows PCs. These systems cannot be protected by any one except for the user. So basically they are sending out this warning to all users to keep their anti-virus software up to date, and avoid opening any unfamiliar attachments. Also, be Leary of those innocent screen savers, pictures, and games because they have much ability to cause us havoc. SANS has posted a "roadmap" on it’s website which has information on how to protect against these attacked and also how to defeat them. This can be viewed online at SANS’Roadmap.
Thomas Wojcik
http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2445796,00.htmlAndrew Orlonski, an author of Zdnet Internet News article, "Quartz: the palm killing PDA?" Takes a look at a new wireless PDA device on the market, comparing it to existing palm devices and the industry. The Quartz, a new device offered by Symbian a joint venture of Nokia, Mortorola, Erricison and Psion will be integrating into the cellar phone market starting next year. The resemblance to the successful Palm Pilot’s look and operating system is obvious, but the Quartz is a lot more. Featuring a 320 by 240 pixel display, Java progammings’ ability and performance it has the ability to handle multimedia apps, video conferencing and double as a standard cellphone. Besides getting the full features of a palm, Internet, mail, and call capabilities it’s most promising feature may be its price. Expecting to take the route of the cell phone, the devices will be giveaway for lucrative cellphone contracts.
Karen Eisensmith The article I found was from www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2449316,00.html?chkpt=zdhpnews01 called Why Rambus has been a slow starter.Intel spent 1 billion dollars and lobbying efforts to spur the adoption of Rambus technology. That is, Rambus dynamic RAM (RDRAM).
PC Manufacturers state that since the technology is so different than what they’re used to it’s making designing difficult and as a result, making the cost inflate. On top of the designing problem, it was found that Intel’s 820 & 840 chips have given memory errors when the chips are configured with SDRAM and error-correction code. There is also a general latency problem with Rambus in that at top speed you can only reach 1 to 2 gigs.
Since the current SDRAM (synchronous dynamic RAM) is less expensive and bug free, analysts predict that the SDRAM will dominate over RDRAM for the next two years.
David R. Fiebelkorn
Embedded Java Gains Momentum By Deborah Gage, Sm@rt Reseller
Java is finding its way into Internet appliances and embedded devices. One company Insignia Solutions sold off its PC emulation software product and has bet its future on Jeode, a Sun Authorized clone of Personal and Embedded Java. Although Insignia reported a Q4 loss, it has signed deals with Bsquare, Monta Vista, and Intel. Intel, despite its feud with Sun, will use Jeode in its NetStructure (formerly iPivot) product line. Intel's product will use Jeode to help manage spikes in e-commerce by easily reconfiguring servers to balance the loads and reroute traffic. Integrators say Java makes sense in the embedded market because customers don't want all Java solutions.
Karen Eisensmith
The article I found was on bandwidth. There have been some predictions in 1999 that there would be a bandwidth surplus within the communications world because of several companies expanding the construction of fiber optic networks.
According to the experts in this article, they can not foresee a surplus. If anything they see a shortage. Companies such as Bell Atlantic are looking at increasing the size of their access links, with this increase the amount of users are predicted to grow. The use of the Internet has been growing by 25 percent annually, and the increased network traffic from video programming and video conferencing is already beginning to strain public works. With this type of growth rate, the experts do not believe that companies will be able to keep up.
According to calculation bandwidth demand will grow 100 to 200 times today’s rate in the next 4 to 5 years. Manufacturers that produce the equipment (even if they deplete all of their stock) would not be able to produce more than 70 times the existing levels. And for companies with existing connections to make dark fiber (unused strands) usable cost millions of dollars and a lot of time. At this point in the game, time is the one thing we do not have.
Thomas Wojcik
http://www7.tomshardware.com/cpu/00q1/000217/index.html
At the International Solid State Circuit Conference recently held in San Francisco, papers were presented on breaking 1Ghzs processor barrier and culminated with AMD CORP. demonstrating its 1.1 GHz processor. While these speeds have been proven achievable, most agree that development of existing architectures and technology has made advancement possible. Also, interesting was IBM’s shift from copper to aluminum interconnects siting electrical advantages.