-
MACELABS Becomes a Full-Service PC Focused
Testing Facility
Visio Releases Enterprise 5.0
Gateway Trumpets Enthusiast PC
3Dfx Lowers Prices on Voodoo2 SLI and Improves Drivers
Audio Lawsuit Gets Nasty
IBM Supports Cadence Allegro
Is Windows NT Morphing and Date Shifting?
Stellar Semiconductor Talks About PixelSquirt 
893.2 Story of the Issue
893.3 Financials
893.4 Legal
893.5 Companies
Adaptec Inc. Outlook Revised to Neg by S&P; Rtgs Afmd
893.6 Digital Imaging
893.7 Deals
893.9 E-Commerce
Synthonics Unveils First E-Commerce Web Site to use Patented 3D Rendering
Nuance, Motorola, Visa, and BroadVision Team to Introduce V-Commerce
893.10 Broadcasting
893.11 Technology --------------------------------------
***MACELABS Becomes a Full-Service PC Focused Testing Facility
(October 12)MACELABS announced an expansion to offer a range of evaluation
services for emerging computing and consumer digital devices.
This builds on MACELABS' mission to provide independent
performance evaluation and comparative review services for high-
technology hardware and software product vendors.In addition to MACELABS' existing PC, printer and hardware
subsystem facilities, the company has added three areas as
outlined below.3D Audio Performance Lab
MACELABS is developing a benchmark test for audio acceleration
that supports Microsoft's DirectSound and DirectSound3D. This
will assess quality under both analog and digital signals by
employing audio analysis equipment in addition to expert testing
scripts. To create the first 3D audio concept piece using the
computer as a new canvas for musicians, MACELABS has joined
forces with Human Machines Interfaces (HMI) - the developers of
the recently announced Infinite Audio development system - and
the Vilinsky Music Group - composers of many recognizable
television ads - to compose the MACELABS theme.Internet Connectivity Testing Lab
Tests have been designed to measure performance for technologies
affected by bandwidth, Internet load conditions, spikes, and
delays previously not tested with accuracy by the computer trade
press. These will allow tests of internet products ranging from
routers, modems and software to Internet telephony, browsers and
databases.Optical Quality Testing Lab
These tests will provide for the evaluation of printers,
monitors, flat panel displays, scanners, and digital cameras.
Emphasis will be placed on an accurate quality evaluation and so
as to remove the need to rely on statistically incorrect jury
testing.***Visio Releases Enterprise 5.0
(October 12)Visio has announced Visio Enterprise 5.0 a software tool designed
for IT professionals who develop, manage and maintain enterprise
information systems which is built on the foundation of Visio
Professional.Visio Enterprise extends Visio's support in IT design and
documentation by offering tools customers requested in three main
IT domains: network design and documentation; software
engineering; and database design.Tools for Network Design and Documentation:
Visio Enterprise facilitates physical, logical and wide-area
network designs. The product's SNMP-based, layer 3 AutoDiscovery
technology discovers and maps the logical connectivity of a
network, beginning with the address of a single seed router and
building a database that includes network device and connectivity
information. Visio Enterprise integrates this AutoDiscovery
technology with the diagramming capabilities of Visio
Professional and the 14,000-shape Visio Network Equipment library
to automatically represent discovered devices with port-level
detail. Integrating these capabilities produces time savings by
automating the three basic tasks of network management:
identifying what equipment is connected to the network,
documenting it and then keeping it up to date. Diagramming
support for Microsoft Active Directory and NT Domain structures
as well as automatic generation of Novell Directory Services
trees from an NDS database enables another unique view of the
network architecture.Tools for Software and Database Design
Features include support for the full range of UML 1.2 diagram
types. Visio Enterprise also supports reverse engineering of
Microsoft Visual C++ and Visual Basic code into UML models, and
integration with other enterprise tools via Microsoft Repository
2.0.Visio Enterprise allows for the design of databases using
standard technologies and multiple object-oriented notations.
Users can model in relational, IDEF1X and other popular
notations. The product supports forward and reverse engineering
of databases for easy maintenance and updating of existing DBMSs,
and migration between DBMSs from the leading enterprise database
vendors including IBM Corp., Oracle Systems Corp., Informix
Software Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The product enables model
import and export via the Microsoft Data Warehousing Framework,
the up-and-coming standard for exchanging database schema. Users
can also read and write PLATINUM ERwin and InfoModeler models, as
well as Visio Professional 5.0 database diagrams.Visual Modeling Coalition
Visio also announced today its formation of the Visual Modeling
Coalition, a group whose mission is to support tool
interoperability and the use of standard notations using a common
repository to accurately reflect and facilitate user
requirements. There are two levels of membership to accommodate
integrated solutions vendors and consulting and training
providers. Each level supports the Visual Modeling Coalition
value proposition and offers numerous opportunities for marketing
and certification.Visio Enterprise 5.0 will be available in November for a
suggested price of $995 (U.S.). Customers may purchase Visio
Enterprise directly from Visio Corp. and through Visio resellers.
To place an order or obtain more information, customers can
contact Visio at (800) 248-4746 or visit the company's Web site
at***Gateway Trumpets Enthusiast PC
(October 12)Gateway announced a home PC that incorporates Intel's 450MHz
Pentium II Xeon processor. The GX-450XL is a multimedia computer
whose sales begins October 19, 1998.The GX-450XL has five PCI slots, a 300W power supply, and four
DIMM slots for up to 512MB of SDRAM. The ATX tower case has six
3.5" drive bays and four 5.25" drive bays. Other features are a
digital soundcard and digital speaker system. Graphics include a
16MB AGP nVidia Riva TNT graphics accelerator and a 19" monitor
(18" viewable). There is both a CD-RW drive and DVD-ROM drive. In
addition the following is a part of the system: 128MB SDRAM,
56Kbps voice winmodem, Sound Blaster AudioPCI 64D Digital Sound
Card and Boston Acoustics Digital MediaTheater speakers, Philips
CD-RW drive, TV/FM Tuner card, Microsoft Windows 98, Home
Essentials 98, and software for Gateway's own gateway.net
Internet service.The price is $3999.
***3Dfx Lowers Prices on Voodoo2 SLI and Improves Drivers
(October 12)3Dfx announced that it expects Voodoo2 SLI configuration cards to
sell for under $300 and a single Voodoo2 chip set card with 8MB
of memory to sell for less than $100.Guillemot begins by offering a pair of 12 MB Voodoo2 cards for
$229 (U.S.).Creative Labs, STB, and Canopus and Guillemot are all expected to
offer a Voodoo2 SLI configuration for less than $300.3Dfx Interactive announced improved DirectX drivers for Voodoo2
which achieved a GameGage score of 665.It was also announced the Jon Peddie & Associates supervised the
tests.Consumers can download early versions of the new drivers at the
3Dfx website,Taking a slightly different spin one could conclude that since
the Voodoo2 sales have plummeted 3Dfx is lowering the price of
the chip sets to clear them out. It is also unusual for a chip
company to announce board company pricing, all the more reason to
suspect that 3Dfx is trying to move as much of its chips as
possible while it still has some market life.We take from the announcement that Jon Peddie & Associates has
now exited the benchmark testing business, given that in the past
they tested the NEC PowerVR chip, for example. It appears that
the company has now moved into the testing "supervision role" -
whatever that means.***Audio Lawsuit Gets Nasty
(October 12)Newsbytes reports MP3.com has come out vocally against the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and its suit
against Diamond.The RIAA announced a lawsuit against Diamond, claiming that its
latest MP3 player, which allows users to download and play music
stored on the Internet, violates the Audio Home Recording Act of
1992, and allows a lax climate of unfettered piracy of
copyrighted intellectual property.While it is known that audio files stored in the MP3 format have
been used for placing pirated music online, Diamond has said it
will defend itself against the suit, claiming that the 1992 Act
is a law prohibiting certain types of digital recording devices,
adding that the Rio PMP300 device is a player, not a recorder.According to MP3.com, the self-proclaimed "number one music
download site," and its president, Michael Robertson, "the
(online music) market is already well underway, and that just
because (the RIAA) is not controlling it, it does not mean that
it does not exist and is not flourishing -- legitimately."The music industry has chosen to sit on the sidelines and do
nothing up to present," Robertson said. "The train has already
left the station. Now, they want to derail it. None of the 'A's'
in RIAA stand for 'artists.' They support the record industry."The official MP3.com stance is that the audio system allows an
independent vehicle for artists to distribute their works online.
MP3.com claims that legitimate digital music delivery online is a
reality, holding up its Digital Automatic Music (D.A.M.) system
as an example.According to MP3.com, 800 artists use the system to distribute
their music, 400 "original works" have been uploaded to MP3.com,
80 record labels are participating, and 4 million downloads have
been registered, with 65,000 being downloaded per day on average.The Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 was developed at the time to
address the commercial music industry's concerns about emerging
digital formats for recording and playing music. Originally aimed
at the digital audio tape (DAT), which has died as a consumer
medium, the act in theory applies to the legitimate uses of
digital recording. However, the RIAA claims that the act's
general purpose is to limit the availability of pirated audio
works, claiming that MP3 devices are used almost exclusively for
that purpose.The media content industries continue to struggle with the impact
of both digital technology and the internet. One outgrowth of
both of these is that it makes it possible for many more to
produce content, including artists who might not otherwise land
large contracts with the major music studios. This has the
potential of threatening the large vested interests including the
recording companies. Yet, it is not politic to say that letting
new small companies in the business is bad policy or a violation
of the law. As a result, what is represented publicly may not
reflect the real issues. Thus, in this issue it is expected that
it will be both a vocal one and also laden fog that distorts the
real issues. However, this does not diminish its importance. This
is an issue that merits close observation.***IBM Supports Cadence Allegro
(October 12)IBM and Cadence Design Systems announced a joint offering
combining the Cadence Allegro studio printed circuit board (PCB)
design software with IBM's Windows NT- based IntelliStation
workstation, as part of a bundled solution starting as low as
$14,999.The Allegro studio/IntelliStation bundle will provide electronic
design automation (EDA) customers with full PCB design
capability.Cadence's Allegro studio software is a complete PCB design
solution. It combines the power of Concept HDL schematic capture
for hierarchical design creation; Allegro PCB layout for board-
level placement, routing, and manufacturing output; the SPECCTRA
autorouter and edit router for shape-based routing; and library
management software.http://www.cadence.com
http://www.ibm.com/pc/us/intellistation***Is Windows NT Morphing and Date Shifting?
(October 12)InfoWorld claims a scoop on a name change for Windows. As
reported by InfoWorld editors Cara Cunningham, Bob Trott and
Ephraim Schwartz, two candidates for the name of Windows have
emerged: Windows Professional, or Pro and Windows 2000 to replace
Windows NT 5.0. Windows NT 5.0 is the company's next-generation
server/workstation operating system.ISVs have indicated that Microsoft is now planning a March 1999
announcement date for its new version and will release the
product in June 1999.PC OEMs stand to gain from the earlier release date. One Compaq
official is quoted as saying, "There certainly is an advantage to
get more customers on NT 5.0. You want to bring products forward
as quickly as possible, and because customers require more
processing power to run it, we are already motivated."For more information go to:
***Stellar Semiconductor Talks About PixelSquirt
(October 11)Stellar Semiconductor announced the PXm and TXm 3D graphics cores
that give customers the flexibility to target a variety of market
segments. These cores perform many 3D operations such as polygon
setup, rasterization and texturing on board to deliver
outstanding texture mapped graphics:TXm, implemented in fewer than 650,000 gates, is a DirectX-
6, 3D-graphics-rendering core with 400Mega-pixel-per-second peak
performance that is targeted towards the high end of the PC
gaming market. With its dual texturing unit, single-pass/sort-
independent anti-aliasing, and full 32-bit color pipeline. TXm
provides quality 3D graphics at close to peak rendering rates.PXm, a 250,000-gate core, is a DirectX-5 engine with
200Mega-pixel-per-second peak performance that is positioned for
cost-sensitive implementations in digital consumer set-top boxes,
entry level PCs and portable devices.These cores represent just two of the possible configurations
based on the PixelSquirt architecture.PixelSquirt is a pixel-based, screen-rendering engine that forms
the basis for Stellar's products. Whereas traditional and region-
based 3D architectures render one polygon at a time, PixelSquirt
renders one pixel at a time in scan line order, just like a
monitor refreshing its screen.PixelSquirt incorporates a patent-pending ZeroZ algorithm to
remove hidden surfaces before the pixels are rendered,
eliminating the need for Z buffers and incumbent rendering of
unseen pixels. This allows significant savings in memory cost by
reducing the required memory storage and bandwidth.Because PixelSquirt is a parallel-processor and multiple-
rendering-pipeline architecture, performance can be easily
adjusted by scaling the number of processors and/or the number of
rendering pipelines to address the price/performance needs of
various market segments.First silicon implementation of PXm core is in testing now, and
the first silicon implementation of TXm will be sampling in Q1
1999.Stellar Semiconductor Inc., is a 3D graphics-centric company that
develops and commercializes IP cores and graphics chips based on
its PixelSquirt architecture.***STB Systems Lands Nvidia TNT into Gateway Computers
(October 12)STB Systems announced that Gateway has selected a customized
version of STB's new Velocity 4400 multimedia accelerator as a
standard component in the Gateway G and GP Series of personal
computers. Powered by the RIVA TNT chipset from NVIDIA Corp., the
Velocity 4400 provides 3D-multimedia performance for high-end
business applications, Web browsing and other applications.***Dave & Buster's, Inc. Reports Financial Results for the
Quarter Ended Aug. 2, 1998
(September 9)Dave & Buster's reported record financial results for the second
quarter ended Aug. 2, 1998.Total revenues for the quarter ended Aug. 2, 1998, increased 37%
to $40.7 million compared to $29.7 million for the quarter ended
Aug. 3, 1997. The increase was attributable to revenues from new
complexes and a 6% increase in comparable complex revenues.
Income before provision for income taxes for the quarter ended
Aug. 2, 1998, was $4.5 million compared to $2.9 million for the
same period in the prior year, an increase of 53%. Net income for
the quarter ended Aug. 2, 1998, increased 57% to $2.8 million
compared to $1.8 million for the quarter ended Aug. 3, 1997.
Diluted net income per share for the current quarter increased
31% to $.21 from $.16 for the same period in the prior year.
Diluted weighted average shares increased 20% to 13.3 million
shares from 11.1 million shares for the same period in the prior
year.Total revenues for the 26 weeks ended Aug. 2, 1998, increased 37%
to $79.6 million compared to $58.3 million for the same period
last year. The increase was attributable to revenues from new
complexes and an 8% increase in the comparable complex revenues.
Income before provision for income taxes for the 26 weeks ended
Aug. 2, 1998, was $9.1 million compared to $6.2 million for the
same period in the prior year, an increase of 47%. Net income for
the 26 weeks ended Aug. 2, 1998, increased 50% to $5.7 million
compared to $3.8 million for the same period in the prior year.
Diluted net income per share for the first 26 weeks increased 26%
to $.43 from $.34 for the same period in the prior year. Diluted
weighted average shares increased 20% to 13.3 million shares from
11.0 million shares for the same period in the prior year."We are very pleased with our results for the second quarter as
well as our year-to-date performance," said Dave Corriveau, co-
founder of Dave & Buster's, Inc. "Our current rapid growth will
just continue with the opening of our 15th location next week in
Rockland County, New York, followed by two additional openings in
Orange, Calif., and Columbus, Ohio, in the fourth quarter of this
year," added Buster Corley, co-founder of Dave & Buster's, Inc.Dave & Buster's currently operates 14 large, high volume
restaurant/entertainment complexes under the Dave & Buster's name
in Dallas (two locations); Houston; Atlanta; Philadelphia;
Chicago (two locations); Hollywood, Florida; North Bethesda,
Maryland; Ontario, California; Cincinnati; Denver; Utica,
Michigan; and Irvine, Calif. Under an UK licensing agreement with
Bass Plc of London, Bass currently operates two complexes under
the Dave & Buster's name in Birmingham and Bristol, England.***Oak Technology to Continue to Pursue International Trade
Investigation Against UMC
(September 9)Oak Technology announced that it will continue to pursue
protection of its pioneering patent related to CD-ROM controller
technologies against Taiwan-based CD-ROM controller designer
United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC). The Company's
statement is in response to a preliminary decision by the
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) of the International Trade
Commission (ITC) to dismiss UMC from the investigation. The
Company intends to vigorously pursue its right to seek protection
from importation of UMC's CD-ROM controllers under the trade laws
of the United States through an investigation before the ITC, in
addition to maintaining its pending action against UMC concerning
breach of contract, fraud, and other claims in the United States
district court.Despite a recent preliminary decision by the ALJ, the Company
remains confident that the ITC will not adopt the ALJ's
recommendation for UMC to be dismissed from the investigation.
Based on long-standing legal precedent, the Company has
petitioned the ITC to overturn the ALJ's ruling and expects that
the ITC will adhere to that precedent. Moreover, the Company
intends to press its district court action against UMC, where it
asserts other claims such as fraud and breach of contract.
Although the district court action is presently stayed during the
resolution of the ITC investigation, the Company will present
those other claims to the federal district court in the Northern
District of California, regardless of the outcome at the ITC.***Toshiba warns of its First Loss in 48 years
(September 12)The Irish Times reports that Toshiba has warned it would incur
its first loss in 48 years, fuelling concern about the
devastating impact of the collapse of the semiconductor market on
Japan's electronics industry.The warning comes days after Hitachi forecast its first losses in
more than 50 years. Shares in Toshiba slid 7 per cent from 470
yen to 437 yen, their lowest level since July 1986, before the
group's announcement that it expected parent net losses of 5
billion yen ((pounds) 25 million) in the first half of the
current financial year.The group blamed the rapid decline in the price of memory chips
and computer accessories as the main reason for the loss. It
expected to break even at the full year stage, with computer
accessory prices stabilizing and strong sales of computers
lifting the second-half result.The group also unveiled a wide restructuring that will
consolidate departments to raise efficiency. Employee levels will
be cut 10 per cent to 60,000 by March, 2000.Toshiba also slashed its capital spending on semiconductors from
140 billion yen to 120 billion yen this year. However, it has no
plans to close its chip factories in Japan or overseas, said Mr
Taizo Nishimuro, company president. A number of Japanese
chipmakers, including NEC, Fujitsu, and Matsushita Electric, have
announced plant closures in recent weeks.In May, Toshiba had forecast profits of 7 billion yen in the six
months ending in September, compared with 22.4 billion yen in the
same period last year. On a consolidated basis, the group expects
half-year losses of 25 billion yen after taxes on 2,550 billion
yen in turnover.Last year, the group's only loss making division was home
appliances. This year Toshiba also expects operating losses of 30
billion yen to 40 billion yen in its electronic devices division.***Adaptec Inc. Outlook Revised to Neg by S&P; Rtgs Afmd
(September 12)Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on Adaptec Inc. to negative
from stable and affirmed its double-`B'-plus corporate credit
rating and double-`B'-minus subordinated debt rating on the
company. The ratings reflect Adaptec's leading position in a
niche market and good financial flexibility offset by its narrow
business base and marketplace pressures. The revised outlook
reflects the challenges of its business realignment program and
expected strengthening competition.Milpitas, Calif.-based Adaptec holds the dominant market share
for "small computer systems interface" (SCSI) chips and adapter
cards, which are used to connect high-performance peripherals to
advanced desktop personal computers (PC) and PC-based servers.
Sales have been pressured by a shift towards value-oriented PCs,
price compression even in the high-performance end of the PC
market, advances in the alternative, lower-cost "DMA" class of
computer-to-peripheral technologies, and turmoil in the disk
drive market. LSI Logic Inc.'s acquisition of Symbios Logic Inc.
could also increase competitive pressures on the company beyond
levels previously anticipated. Adaptec has elected to refocus on
its core businesses and established markets and take a more
cautions approach to growth, while working to reduce channel
inventories in the next few quarters. Concurrently, a number of
senior managers have left the company.Operating margins, historically in the 25%-30% range, fell to 15%
in the quarter ended June 1998. Margins could be pressured
further due to continued depressed revenues as the company
rationalizes its distributors' inventories in the next few
quarters. Longer term, margins could also be affected by
competition from DMA suppliers and from Symbios. Adaptec's
liquidity, $682 million at June 30, 1998, could vary depending on
operating funds flows, wafer capacity commitments, and stock
buybacks, but is expected to remain ample for this noncapital-
intensive company. Debt leverage remains modest, at approximately
1.0 times the trailing 12 months' earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation, and amortization.OUTLOOK: NEGATIVE
Sustained weak margins or diminished financial flexibility could
lead to lower ratings in the next year, Standard & Poor's said.***Kodak, Intel Unveil Digital Imaging Pact Details
(September 28)Reuters reports that Eastman Kodak and Intel unveiled the details
of their previously announced alliance. The companies said the
deal calls for the two companies to spend up to $150 million over
the next three years on marketing, jointly developing other
products, such as digital cameras, and includes a new four-month
test market for their new CD-ROM product, called Kodak Picture
CD. The alliance was announced in April and the Kodak Picture CD
was demonstrated at an industry event here on Monday.Rochester, N.Y.-based Kodak, struggling to boost its digital
imaging business, said digital imaging represents a significant
growth area for the world's largest photo company, which had been
suffering through a financial slump as it restructured its
operations.Kodak Picture CD is a CD-ROM that bundles on one disk the high-
resolution scans of a consumer's pictures; the disk can be put
into a newer personal computer's CD-ROM drive and the pictures
appear on a computer monitor.Kodak said that from November 1998 it will offer U.S. retailers
new software to make Kodak Picture Maker u nits in the
marketplace compatible with Kodak Picture CD.Adobe Systems Inc. in a separate announcement said it has
developed the software environments for the Kodak Picture CD.The Kodak Picture CD will be available in early 1999 at an
estimated retail price between $8.95 and $10.95 , and as an add-
on to developing and printing traditional prints.***Scientific-Atlanta and Broadcom Announce Strategic Development
and Supply Agreement
(October 1)Broadcom and Scientific-Atlanta announced that they have entered
into a strategic agreement for the development and supply of
next-generation digital communication integrated circuits (ICs)
for Scientific-Atlanta's advanced interactive digital set-top
terminals. According to the terms of the agreement, Scientific-
Atlanta has agreed to purchase a percentage of its requirements
for integrated circuits from Broadcom for its digital cable set-
top terminal subscriber products for shipments into calendar year
2000. This agreement calls for a minimum of 500,000 ICs to be
delivered to Scientific-Atlanta during calendar year 1999.
Earlier this year, Scientific-Atlanta announced that many major
multi-channel service operators (MSO's), with substantial
subscriber bases, plan to introduce two-way, real-time services
using the Scientific-Atlanta Digital Interactive Network and
Explorer 2000 interactive digital set-top terminals.Broadcom is currently shipping a 64/256-QAM demodulator
integrated circuit for the Explorer 2000 set-top box. The
Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 2000 advanced digital set-top has
high-throughput, two-way communications and sufficient processing
power, memory and graphics to enable a variety of two-way,
interactive applications for consumers, including the following
once fully developed: Internet access, video-on-demand, E-
commerce and IP-based applications. Scientific-Atlanta has
selected Broadcom as the key strategic supplier for the
integration of all the critical communication functions in the
Explorer 2000. These critical functions include the integration
of the 64/256- QAM downstream receiver, QPSK control channel
receiver, and QPSK/16-QAM upstream transmitter, as well as the
analog front-end including 10-bit A/D and D/A converters.***AutoConnect and @Home Network Sign Exclusive Agreement
(September 23)AutoConnect has announced an exclusive multi-year agreement with
@Home Network to provide automobile content and online products
and services to @Home subscribers. The agreement makes
AutoConnect the anchor tenant in the automotive section of
@Home's Shopping Channel.Once the service is launched, @Home subscribers will be able to
search AutoConnect's inventory of pre-owned cars and trucks, auto
accessories, financing, insurance, and consumer information.J.D. Powers & Associates estimates that approximately 16% of all
new car/truck buyers used the Internet in at least part of the
shopping process in 1997, up from 10% in 1996. By the year 2000,
that number is expected to increase to 21%.***Synthonics Unveils First E-Commerce Web Site to use Patented
3D Rendering
(September 22)Synthonics Inc. has announced that the first web site to use its
Rapid Virtual Reality technology is now online. Their product,
Rapid Virtual Reality is an imaging process for creating three-
dimensional models of any object or environment. The RVR process
makes it possible to convert static images into 3D digital
objects in files that are small enough to transport easily and
quickly across the Internet.The web site, designed by KnowledgeLINK for the Acoustic Research
company, features 3D replicas of stereo speakers, that the buyer
can view from any perspective, magnify, and measure online. The
shopper can also remove the speakers' cabinet and examine the
speaker drives. The objects can be viewed by downloading a free
viewer from the site.***Nuance, Motorola, Visa, and BroadVision Team to Introduce V-
Commerce
(October 6)Motorola, Inc., Visa International, and BroadVision, Inc., have
joined Nuance Communications to introduce V-Commerce. V-commerce
enables anyone who is away from a computer to take advantage of
electronic commerce using natural language speech recognition.These companies will help build and deploy applications using a
voice interface that allows users to complete self-service
transactions using their telephone, whether it is shopping,
information gathering, or sales status/support. The envisioned V-
commerce applications will include e-commerce, application
servers, packaged applications, IVR and telephony platforms and
hardware, and networking infrastructure.V-commerce applications will include a three tier architecture.
The interface tier, will allow users to speak into a telephone or
other network device over a standard landline or wireless
telephone line. Voice is carried over the Internet or PSTN. V-
commerce applications will also include a set of business rules,
application programming interfaces, and transaction middleware
which are shared between speech and Web applications.Customers of Nuance include Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab,
American Airlines, General Magic and viaWorld Network.http://www.v-commerce.com
http://www.nuance.com
http://www.mot.com
http://www.visa.com
http://www.broadvision.com***RadioWave.com Offers Interactive Radio on the Internet
(October 6)RadioWave.com Inc. has launched an Internet-based radio player
that combines live radio with the information and transaction
capabilities of the Internet. RadioWave.com was created by
Motorola in an effort to develop opportunities in the Internet
broadcasting industry.The RadioWave.com Player offers interactive visual information
coordinated with live radio programming. Specifically, the song's
title, artist, album and even album art is shown on the user's
screen. Direct links to other music web sites will also be
available.Motorola has also forged an alliance with JAMtv Corporation in
order to provide additional information like music reviews,
artists' biographies, and concert information. A relationship
with Amazon.com gives RadioWave.com listeners the opportunity to
purchase the CD's they are listening to, online, while they are
listening.System requirements: PC with Win95/98/NT, sound card,
speakers/head phones, access to the Internet, and a Web browser
such as Netscape or Internet Explorer 4.0.RadioWave.com can be downloaded to a user's desktop from:
http://wwww.radiowave.com***Bell Labs Scientists Shatter Limit On Fixed Wireless
Transmission
(September 9)Lucent Technologies announced that scientists at Bell Labs, the
company's research and development arm, have developed a
breakthrough technology that may potentially boost the capacity
of certain wireless links by 10 to 20 times.BLAST may allow so-called "fixed" wireless technology to rival
the capabilities of today's wired networks, while also providing
faster and more cost-effective deployment. One potential
application would be for businesses, where wires no longer would
be necessary to transmit data between desktop computers, notebook
computers and hand-held devices. Another possible use would be
providing phone service to remote and rural areas, where wireless
networks would connect homes and businesses to copper-wired
public telephone service providers.The BLAST technology is not well suited for mobile wireless
applications, such as hand-held and car-based cellular phones,
because multiple antennas - both transmitting and receiving --
are needed. In addition, tracking signal changes in mobile
applications would increase the computational complexity.The inspiration for BLAST (Bell Labs Layered Space-Time) can be
traced to a challenge from Rich Gitlin, chief technical officer
and Data Networking Technology Vice President in Lucent's Data
Networking Systems business unit. Gitlin asked the researchers to
take a fresh look at a 50-year-old mathematical theory developed
at Bell Labs, which is the theoretical foundation of today's
high-speed communications systems. The end result was cramming
roughly 10 to 20 times more information on the same frequency
band by developing new signal processing techniques.The BLAST researchers, however, theorized it is possible to have
several transmissions occupying the same frequency band. Each
transmission uses its own transmitting antenna. Then, on the
receiving end, multiple antennas again are used, along with
innovative signal processing, to separate the mutually
interfering transmissions from each other. Thus, the capacity of
a given frequency band increases proportionally to the number of
antennas.The BLAST prototype, built to test this theory, uses an array of
eight transmit and 12 receive antennas. During its first weeks of
operation, it achieved unprecedented wireless capacities of at
least 10 times the capacity of today's fixed wireless loop
systems, which are used to provide phone service in rural and
remote areas.The advanced signal-processing techniques used in BLAST were
first developed by researcher Gerard Foschini from a novel
interpretation of the fundamental capacity formulas of Claude
Shannon's Information Theory, first published in 1948. While
Shannon's theory dealt with point-to-point communications, the
theory used in BLAST relies on "volume-to -volume"
communications, which effectively gives Information Theory a
third, or spatial, dimension, besides frequency and time. This
added dimension, said Foschini, is important because "when and
where noise and interference turn out to be severe, each bit (of
data) is well prepared to weather such impairments."Remarkably, the initial BLAST experiment designed by researchers
Glenn Golden and Peter Wolniansky did not use the technology of
error correction coding to correct signal errors, nor did the
transmitter have prior knowledge of which signal components would
propagate easily and which would be severely impaired.Also, BLAST research by Michael Gans includes determining the
optimal placement and number of transmitting and receiving
antennas. If, for instance, the distance between antennas on each
end were further reduced, the number of potential applications,
such as mobile communications, might increase. In addition,
researchers are trying to boost capacity even further and
exploring how to enhance BLAST for all wireless formats.http://www.bell-labs.com/news/1998/september
http://www.bell-labs.com/projects/blast
http://www.lucent.com/informationtheory--------------------------------------
Copyright 1998 4th WAVE, Inc.
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