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ZDTag Defines its Business
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WAVE Comments
894.2 Story of the Issue
894.3 Motherboards
894.4 MCAD
894.5 Memory 
Synopsys Supports Rambus Direct RDRAM Specification
894.6 Operating Systems
894.7 Network
894.8 Internet
Toll Quality Service with the Savings of a Voice-over-IP Network
894.9 E-Commerce
Veritel Corporation Releases Its Caller Verification System
894.10 Markets
894.11 Financials
894.12 Legal
QSound Labs - U.S. Court of Appeal Reaches Decision
894.13 Test
894.14 Education & Training
894.15 Awards --------------------------------------
***ZDTag Defines its Business
(October 13)At the Microprocessor Forum, Bill Catchings, Director of ZDTag
sought out the WAVE Report to describe its business. The WAVE
Report recently raised a number of questions about ZDTag and this
report will provide many more details about this new venture
which began on 1 September.ZDTap's mission is to be the premier service for the prelaunch
testing of products and technology. The core competency of the
company is its ability to use benchmarks as an evaluation tool
and to do evaluations/assessments of both hardware and software
products. Initially the products and technologies covered include
PCs as systems, components in the PCs including add-in cards, web
tools and related components, networking and servers. Further,
ZDTag will also do user experience testing such as the "out-of-
box experience" that users might be subjected to with a new
product.Questions have been raised about conflicts between such an
operation, the client's interests and the benchmark development
being done by ZDBop. Bill was very clear in his response to these
concerns.ZDTag is a customer driven business that has as its primary
obligation helping the customer. It must protect the proprietary
interests of these clients. Thus, the protection of the client
information and products is a key component of ZDTag's operation.ZDTag will execute NDA's as required.
The reports generated as a result of the testing engagement
is considered work for hire and as such are the property of the
client to do with as they desire. Clients my cite testing results
or may never surface the test results.The best way to describe the wall between ZDBop and ZDTag is
analogous to the wall which exists between the editorial function
in its publications and advertising. Bill stressed that the only
true asset that ZD has is its integrity. This wall is most
evident in how it conducts its editorial responsibilities in its
publications. That same criteria applies to ZDTag and its
relationships with ZDBop.ZD, prior to establishing ZDTag, went beyond the collective
impressions it has gained from the many requests that ZDBop has
received to do testing. Its market assessment indicates that
there is a $100m a year market in testing related to the PC
industry. This does not include the functions of UL or even the
FCC compliance testing laboratories. At the same time a large
percentage of the testing being done uses ZD benchmarks. Thus,
they view a natural market that ZD has yet to capitalize on.
ZDTag is the business implementation of a way to meet this
perceived need. ZD also feels that the Ziff-Davis name is an
important one and again ZDTag builds on this reputation.ZDTag begins with approximately 15 people and will operate in the
ZD facilities in Morrisville, NC which also house ZDBop. Bill
stressed that ZDTag will be independent of ZDBop and is able to
compartment its operations from other ZD activity at the
facility. It is Bill's intent to grow ZDTag and a move from the
facility is certainly in the realm of possibility in the future.Pricing of the ZDTag services is very similar to than done by a
consultant. That is, it makes an estimate of the time and
resources required to accomplish the client's request. ZDTag has
access to significant equipment resources and this represents an
asset of the operation and a cost component also.Even in the short time that ZDTag has been in business it has
already done client testing. They have defined a report format
for its standard work. However, Bill expects that work will fall into
two classes - standard and special. In the latter case the
reporting here will reflect the specific client needs. The use of
the end report if fully up to the client. It is expected that the
client may well want to use the results from the ZDTag results in
its product launch and positioning and this is fully up to the
client. However, if the client seeks to keep the results
proprietary this is only the client's decision.Product testing is a difficult business. Being most familiar with
the benchmark testing in 3D it is easy to get caught in the cross
hairs of many interests. ZD has launched an important service
which must stand the test of time. Now the focus shifts to how to
make the business work and be successful for both its clients and
to ZD. A task which we perceive as non-trivial.***3Dlabs Redefines the High End of the PC 3D Market
(October 13)At the Microprocessor Forum 3Dlabs announced Jetstream, its next
generation high end graphics. This is a scalable implementation
of both the geometry engine, G3, and the rasterizer, R4. When
there are 7 G3 chips combined with 8 R4's, on two cards, the
performance reaches 1Gp/sec with 44M polygon/sec polygon rate.
The CDRS performance is expected to reach 1,300 which surpasses
any 3D systems for the PC today, including Intergraph's Wildcat.
Cards with Jeetstream technology at this performance level will be
available by mid-1999 for "well below $5,000."G3, for Gamma 3, is a building block geometry processor capable
of 44 million verticies/sec (in a vertex array). At this rate it
saturates AGP 4X. Up to 16 light sources per chip can be
supported. 3Dlabs has taken AGP to new heights by including an
AGP 4X bridge in the chip. This allows multiple G3's to
communicate using AGP 4X as the bus. Each G3 has one AGP 4X in
and 2 outputs. The basis for G3 is the integration of 6 Gamma 1
engines which have been improved, including a function to divide
the verticies between the geometry pipes.The rasterization processor, R4, is a 128 bit wide unit which
supports 3D, 2D and video. It fully supports OpenGL 1.2 including
volumetric textures. A key advantage of R4 is the ability of
multiple R4's to be combined based on strip interleaving. That
is, the geometry can be divided up into strips which are
allocated to independent R4's, if more than one R4 is present.
Each R4 supports up to 64MB and it has a 250Mp/sec texture fill
rate. In tri-linear mode, "all-mode," the fill rate is 125Mp/sec.
Each R4 accepts input over AGP 4X and outputs in RGB. Another
interface on the chip is a 128 bit video path which allows the
routing of video from one chip to the next. There is also a
RAMDAC on each R4. In a multiple R4 configuration video is routed
via the 128 bit video path as scanlines to another R4.When two R4's are linked to a G3, only the primitives applicable
to the respective R4 are sent to that rasterizer. In a 3 G3 4 R4
configuration one G3 feeds two other G3's who in turn feed each
of the 4 R4's. 3Dlabs calls this a tree were each G3 in the tree
has specific functions based on its position in the tree. For
example, the first G3 handles, bounding box rejection, surface
rejection and culling. The next level of G3's do transformations,
striping, clipping, culling and lighting. Their respective output
goes to two R4's which are paired with one G3 and its two AGP 4X
outputs. In this configuration the performance is 500M trilinear
mip-mapped pixels/sec and from 30 - 40M polygons/sec.The maximum configuration of 7 G3's and 8 R4's is accomplished by
two cross-connects between the two cards: one AGP 4X and one 128
bit Video bus.3Dlabs offered the following competitive comparison:
3Dlabs HP Kayak SGI Intergraph
Jetstream fx6 IR WildcatPolygons/sec
44M 4.6M 11M 40MCDRS
1300 181 168 1000Fill Rate (Tri-Linear)
1,000M 140M 388M 440M3Dlabs states that by refocusing its business into market
sectors, of which the workstation is one, it has become a
stronger company. Certainly the G3 R4 combination is a reflection
of the new intensity. 3Dlabs has also shown it can regain a
leadership position in an already crowded field. The scalability
approach does much to enable 3Dlabs to cover a complete range of
performance needs in the workstation market. Although Intergraph
claims this also, it is not clear that the company is fully
prepared to compete against itself in the workstation market by
selling Wildcat to its competitors. We have indications that
Intergraph has told Dell no on Wildcat. 3Dlabs has no such
restrictions and all OEM's are in its sights as potential
customers. Further, by encompassing the card market 3Dlabs is not
only able to control the quality of the cards to match these
performance levels but also able to provide a complete solution
directly to the OEM which is scaled to the price point and
performance level of a given system.By reclaiming the high ground of the PC market 3Dlabs has shown
how it can directly compete against Evans & Sutherland, SGI, H-P,
Intergraph and the potential new entrant, Raycer Graphics, which
had a AGP Pro mock-up in the Intel booth at SIGGRAPH. 3Dlab's
flair for using AGP 4X as an internal bus is another example of
how it has taken Intel's technology and gone one step beyond to
build a scalable 3D design. Of the companies most likely to be
impacted by Jetstream we see SGI and H-P as being the major
losers. In spite of the fact that SGI has not launched its NT
products it has yet to demonstrate that it can function in the
commodity workstation market. In many respects SGI is not
directly competing with 3Dlabs but, say, Dell or Compaq, using
Jetstream in its workstations. A difficult combination. H-P has
yet to show it can leverage the Visualize products beyond just HP
workstations. In spite of having an impressive product at the
beginning the fx6 is looking dated. H-P graphics suffers from
being a captive supplier and not competing in an open market
where price, performance and responsiveness to OEMs is critical
to success. In the fast moving 3D business, even at the high end,
this could well prove to be the "kiss of product death."Of the announced high end technology, at this performance level,
only Intergraph with its Wildcat, is close to 3Dlabs. Yet,
Intergraph has yet to disclose how it will accomplish scalability
to reach the performance levels it promises. As long as 3Dlabs
can keep its price points down to workstation levels, i.e., less
than the cost of the host PC workstation, 3Dlabs is headed to
redefine this sector of the market. With a refocused company
based on market sectors, this technology is a bright light for a
company which has recently struggled to redefine its direction.
Jetstream is a big plus.The next step is to look for first silicon. We wait to see the
next major jump in 3D performance.***Diamond Multimedia's Announces Micronics C200 System Board
(September 21)Diamond Multimedia announced a Super 7 system board that delivers
the latest technological enhancements for the most aggressive
non-Intel based desktops, the Micronics C200.Based upon the ALi Aladdin-V M1541/1543C chipset, the Micronics
C200 supports the latest Intel Pentium processor with MMX, the
Cyrix 6x86MX and the new AMD K6 -2 processor combined with 3DNow!
technology. The Micronics C200 is targeted at consumers seeking
an affordable system board solution for their multimedia and 3D
computing needs.The affordable alternative to Pentium II solutions also capable
of Front Side Bus (FSB) speeds up to 100MHz, the Micronics C200
is supported by the Super 7 platform. The Micronics C200 features
four PCI slots, three ISA slots and one AGP slot for expansion
cards, optional system Hardware management, and support for EDO
and PC100 SDRAM memory. The Micronics C200 has an estimated
retail price (ERP) of $99.00 and will be available mid-September.***Autodesk debuts Actrix Technical
(September 14)Autodesk announced Actrix Technical, the first offering in the
product family, lets users create an array of drawings, from
technical schematics to facilities plans to business diagrams.
And the interoperability of Actrix Technical software with
AutoCAD software, the Windows operating systems, Microsoft
Office, and the Internet ensures the flow of design information
across the enterprise.Intelligent ActiveShapes provide ready-made, in-box content and
ensure accuracy and usability. Actrix Technical software is
particularly appropriate for users who need to create facilities
plans, electrical engineering schematics, building services
schematics such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and security;
piping and instrumentation diagrams; industrial designs such as
fluid power schematics and factory floor layouts; and network,
telecom and business diagrams. Intuitive, drag-and-drop access to
ActiveShapes objects gives new users the ability to quickly put
together diagrams, drawings, and designs.The same next-generation technology that makes Actrix Technical
software will underlie Actrix Business, a version of Actrix for
business professionals who need to create flowcharts,
organization charts, and other business diagrams. Actrix Business
software will be announced later this year.The English version of Actrix Technical is expected to ship in
the U.S. and Canada before the end of the calendar year at an
estimated street price of US$349.***Micron Technology Announces Samples of 64 Meg Double Data Rate
SDRAMs
(September 24)Micron Technology announced samples of 64 Meg JEDEC-standard
double data rate (DDR) synchronous DRAMs (SDRAMs).Micron's 64 Meg DDR SDRAM is offered in 16 Meg x 4 and 8 Meg x 8
organizations in the 66-pin Thin Small Outline Package (TSOP Type
II).Micron's DDR SDRAMs operate at clock speeds of 143MHz and data
rates of 286 megabits per second per data pin. This allows for
over 2 gigabytes per second of memory bandwidth in PC
applications.Micron will manufacture and test DDR SDRAM using the same
equipment as standard SDRAMs. This should allow Micron to
aggressively ramp DDR SDRAM as customer demand warrants.Samples of the 16 Meg x 4 (MT46LC16M4TG) and 8 Meg x 8
(MT46LC8M8TG) DDR SDRAMs are now being shipped for testing and
evaluation. Micron is also developing 4 Meg x 16 and 2 Meg x 32
configurations.***Synopsys Supports Rambus Direct RDRAM Specification
(September 28)Synopsys announced that it has incorporated the Rambus Direct
RDRAM specification into its Logic Modeling MemPro memory model
generation tool.Designers can automatically generate multiple simulation model
configurations of the high-performance Direct RDRAM for efficient
functional verification of high-bandwidth memory systems.MemPro creates high-performance memory models for ASIC, board and
embedded-system design verification, reducing down to minutes
model development tasks that would previously have taken days.
MemPro leverages Synopsys' industry-leading Logic Modeling model
development technology and support, to ensure interoperability
with other Logic Modeling hardware and software models and
straightforward integration with proven Synopsys high-level
verification flows.MemPro creates simulation models with the multiple levels of
abstraction required for efficient verification and performance
throughout the verification flow -- from abstract models for
system design and testbench creation, to accurate timing models
for final system verification.MemPro's advanced hybrid model architecture combines HDL
(hardware description language) and C to provide the highest
memory model performance available with a two-to-twenty time
improvement over models created using either pure C or pure HDL.
Users can also view the HDL source directly to assure model
functionality. Using MemPro's Windows based GUI, designers can
rapidly select memory device specifications, generate a model,
and modify it as the design evolves.In addition to the Direct RDRAM, MemPro supports popular memory
classes including SRAM, single- and dual-port; SSRAM; DRAM, fast
page mode and EDO; SDRAM, two- and four-bank; SGRAM; Flash;
EEPROM; DDR -- SDRAM; and DDR -- SGRAM. Direct RDRAM Enables
Highest PerformanceThe Direct Rambus high-speed memory interface enables the highest
DRAM performance in the industry to date (1.6 gigabytes per
second per device). The technology spans multiple DRAM
generations, from 32MB to 1GB densities, and offers designers the
most stable memory interface available.System applications using Direct RDRAMs include computer system
memory, multimedia and graphics memory, communications system
memory and consumer electronics memory. To date, fourteen DRAM
manufacturers are committed to deliver Direct RDRAM devices and
more than twenty-five companies representing the leaders in
system-memory implementation products -- including memory
modules, connectors, clock chips, and test systems -- have
announced their intention to support the technology. Intel Corp.
has announced plans to use the technology in forthcoming PC main
memory chipsets.***Microware Systems to Offer Fully Integrated RTOS, ATM Software
and SAR Driver Solution
(September 23)Microware Systems announced OS-9 for ATM, which integrates
asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) software into Microware's OS- 9
real-time operating system (RTOS) to reduce equipment development
time by providing an efficient single-source ATM solution.Microware ported Harris & Jeffries, Inc.'s market-leading Soft-
ATM software to the OS-9 RTOS, integrating it with Microware's
mwSoftStax communications framework to enable a new level of ATM
applications capability. Harris & Jeffries is a leading developer
of ATM and other network protocol software subsystems used by
over 120 network equipment manufacturers worldwide.The Microware software object solution, which includes the OS-9
RTOS, Soft-ATM Signalling, ILMI, and IP-over-ATM subsystems, and
the Motorola MPC860SAR software driver, provides manufacturers of
set-top boxes, cable modems, XDSL and other access products an
off-the-shelf, high-performance solution. Objects for other
environments will be released in the future.The integration allows ATM communications technology to plug into
OS-9, guaranteeing interoperability and providing a secure
applications environment, run-time audit trails, high
availability, a variety of application programming interfaces
(APIs), and the choice of either native H&J APIs or the Microware
network independent programming interface, called ITEM.OS-9 for ATM is available now. More information about pricing can
be obtained by contacting Microware;***National Semiconductor to Expand Networking in the Home
(September 14)National Semiconductor announced it has signed an agreement with
Tut Systems to license Tut's HomeRun technology for use in its
single-chip Ethernet physical layer transceiver solution for home
networking.HomeRun technology allows consumers to link computers, and share
peripherals and Internet access over existing home phone lines
without interfering with normal telephone installation or
services. With its next-generation PHYTER device, National will
combine its Ethernet technology and Tut's 1Mbps HomeRun
technology onto one chip, thus allowing PC and peripheral
manufacturers to address both the home and Ethernet markets with
one solution.Scheduled for production in the first half of 1999, National's
PHYTER home-networking solution gives manufacturers greater
flexibility in addressing this rapidly expanding market. PHYTER
will be compliant with the first specification for low-cost
networking using existing telephone wiring, expected to be
published by the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HPNA) this
quarter.***RealNetworks Announces Adoption of RealSystem G2
(September 28)RealNetworks announced that since the July introduction of
RealSystem G2 beta, more than 135 technology and content
companies worldwide have embraced it as their media delivery
system of choice for the Internet and corporate intranets.More than 125,000 RealPlayers are being distributed daily,
totaling more than 5 million new RealPlayer G2 users who have
connected to the more than 80 branded RealChannels. There have
been more than 100 Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language
(SMIL)-based presentations and more than 10 million individual
user broadcasts. RealSystem G2 Encoders and RealSystem G2 SMIL
Wizards have been delivered to over 10,000 content authors and
producers.Currently, more than 85% of all Web pages on the Internet using
streaming media use industry leading RealAudio, RealVideo or
RealFlash and more than 200,000 hours of live RealAudio and
RealVideo programming are available each week. There are more
than 31 million registered users of RealPlayer.RealSystem G2 is the next-generation streaming media solution
that is based on industry standards Synchronized Multimedia
Integration Language (SMIL) and the Real-Time Streaming Protocol
(RTSP). RealSystem G2 has the ability to stream multiple data
types and provides one-button access to popular streaming media
programming. RealSystem G2 is the first open, cross- platform
client server system for streaming multimedia on the Internet.
RealSystem G2 beta 2 is available immediately for download***Toll Quality Service with the Savings of a Voice-over-IP
Network
(September 14)VIP Calling has announced its Assured Quality Routing (AQR)
support for IP Telephony. AQR is a combination of network design
and operational methodologies that delivers public switched
telephone network (PSTN) level service with an Internet Protocol
(IP) cost structure.VIP Calling's Network Operations Center (NOC), an integral
element of AQR, is a seven-day-a-week, 24-hour-a-day call
monitoring center located at the company headquarters in
Burlington, MA. The operational component of AQR combines
procedures, methodologies and integrated technology to monitor a
pre-determined set of parameters on a route-by-route basis. It
allows traffic rerouting between packet and circuit switched
networks as needed in order to deliver toll level quality.AQR network design includes provisioning capacity which exceeds
P.01 grade of service to ensure excellent call completion ratios,
and the deployment of gateways that incorporate industry standard
echo cancellation techniques. Other AQR benefits include meeting
or exceeding industry standards for international post-dial delay
(PDD) and voice quality.VIP Calling, Inc., based in Burlington, Mass., is a facilities-
based carrier utilizing the Internet to provide wholesale
international telecommunication services. Founded in 1996, the
company has leveraged its engineering and telecommunications
expertise to deploy the VIP Calling Network, an IP telephony
network providing PSTN-level quality. The VIP Calling Network has
gateway and switching facilities in New York and Los Angeles, a
Network Operations Center in Burlington, Mass., as well as points
of presence in Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Korea, Singapore and
Taiwan. VIP Calling enables carriers, prepaid card operators and
telephony resellers to reduce costs and increase profit margins.***Business E-Commerce Blueprint Proposed to Governments
(October 7)A broadly based business alliance has presented an action plan
for the development of e-commerce to governments attending the
"Borderless World" conference held by the OECD. The plan, called
the Global Action Plan on Electronic Commerce, calls for minimum
government regulation and suggests that business self-regulation
is more effective in building confidence in transactions over
open networks.The plan covers a range of e-commerce issues including privacy,
cryptography, consumer protection, taxation, intellectual
property protection, standards, competition, and Internet
governance. It describes the extent to which self-regulation is
already in operation and then details future initiatives that are
in the works.The international coalition that developed the plan is made up of
a range of business sectors including providers of information
and communications, industries such as the financial services,
and retailers. Their aim is to create trust in e-commerce across
all goods and service providers. It is supported by over 50
national, regional, and sectoral trade associations.***Veritel Corporation Releases Its Caller Verification System
(October 7)Veritel has released a version 2 of their CVS Caller Verification
System. CVS incorporates Veritel's Voice Verification technology
to enable organizations to guarantee automated secure remote
access to telecommuters, customers, internal users, and business
partners.Voice Verification is a biometrics-based authentication
technology in which a speaker's claimed identity is
accepted/denied by comparing "live" speech samples to a
previously recorded voiceprint.How it works:
If you are using CVS to provide secure remote access to your
company's PBX out-bound telephone system, each user is asked to
enroll a voiceprint. CVS enrolls a spoken password, plus three
more words, like mother's maiden name, city of birth, etc. Once a
voiceprint is obtained, an account is established. When calling,
caller will be prompted to provide a short ID number, and the
voice sample is compared with the enrolled sample which will
authorize the caller into the system.CVS V.2 is compatible with PBX (Private branch exchange) and
CENTREX users in mind.***Forrester: Successful TV-to-Web Transition Depends On Content
(September 14)Television producers and broadcasters are going on-line with
plans to promote their programs and generate revenues.
Unfortunately, most of these efforts revolve around simple plans
to repurpose broadcast content and offer show-related
merchandise. A Report from Forrester Research concludes that
greater success can be achieved by matching a Web strategy to a
show's content type. Programs serving affinity groups or existing
retail markets can be more effectively extended to the Web to
create new advertising and commerce-based businesses.For programs where the content is the core asset, broadcasters
should develop destination sites that build on the viewer's
interest in a given topic and leverage an existing retail market
for related products and services. A destination strategy works
well for news shows, documentaries, and how-to programs where the
content can be extended beyond the on-air programming. Combining
extended content with related merchandise and targeted
advertising gives these programs the potential to become
lucrative on-line businesses.The challenge facing producers and broadcasters will be to build
an effective commerce site that can support all the different
revenue streams a destination site can offer. A cooking show, for
example, could offer subscriptions to an on-line recipe database,
provide links to an on-line grocery service, sell a particular
brand of cookware, and support banner ads from food companies. Of
course, the site should also promote the show itself, driving
viewers back to the next broadcast.In contrast to content-driven shows, soaps, sitcoms, and prime-
time dramas derive their value from the characters' performance.
Because the content of these shows cannot be readily extended
beyond the broadcast, promotional sites need to build on the
viewer-program relationship by offering show-related contests and
trivia. Designed to drive viewers back to the show, promotional
sites can generate revenues through advertising and merchandising
opportunities.Forrester expects the Web to have a significant impact on
producers and broadcasters in several areas. To keep destination
sites up-to-date, producers will have to create the program and
the Web site simultaneously, raising the importance of
postproduction networks that can provide material for both
environments. Producers will also need to adapt shows more
quickly to viewer feedback via the Web. To concentrate viewer
traffic and maximize advertising revenues for promotional sites,
the networks must invest in portals. A portal may also be
necessary to reinforce the networks' status as "national
networks."The Report is entitled "TV/Web Content Connection."
***NEC Expects Group Net Loss of 20 bil. yen for 1st half
(September 18)Kyodo News reports that NEC is anticipating a consolidated net
loss of 20 billion yen for the fiscal first half ending Sept. 30.NEC said it anticipates a consolidated pretax loss of 20 billion
yen, with group sales down 7% from a year earlier to 2.2 trillion
yen.NEC blamed the dismal earnings projections on the delayed
recovery of the Japanese economy, curbed capital spending by
domestic telecommunications providers, widespread drops in
semiconductor prices, and slowed sales of personal computers and
semiconductor products.NEC said it expects to return to profitability for the full year
by immediately implementing a restructuring program that includes
a cut of 6,000 jobs over the next three years.Under the program, NEC said it will slash fixed costs, excluding
labor costs, by 10%, raise prices of 64-megabit dynamic random
access memory (DRAM) chips by 10%, dismantle chip manufacturing
facilities at one of its domestic chip plants and reorganize
overseas chip manufacturing plants.On an unconsolidated basis, NEC expects a pretax profit of 13
billion yen for the fiscal first half, down 74% from a year
earlier, and a net profit of 10 billion yen, down 72%, on an 11%
fall in sales to 1.75 trillion yen.***'Nuke It' Nuked as GT Wins Legal Battle Against Micro Star
(September 18)Multimedia wire writes that GT Interactive won a two-year
copyright infringement-related suit against Micro Star.The US District Court for the Southern District of California
held under the Copyright Act that the description of audiovisual
displays in the file of a copyrighted computer game qualifies as
a "concrete permanent form" for purpose of protection against an
infringing derivative work.About two years ago, Micro Star downloaded 300 gamer-created add-
on levels to GT's Duke Nukem 3D, stamped them on a CD-ROM and
sold it as an expansion pack, called Nuke It.GT now could seek compensation in a trial court, an official
says."This decision could have an impact on any other pending
litigation that raises the same issues," Interactive Digital
Software Association President Doug Lowenstein says, adding that
it's an "extremely important decision for the industry."One such similar litigation is Blizzard Entertainment's claim
against Micro Star. However, in mid-June, a California judge shot
down Blizzard's request to halt Micro Star's sale of Stellar
Forces, an add-on for Blizzard's Starcraft. Stellar Forces
contains levels created with the level editor that ships with
Starcraft.But GT's victory (we hope) could help Blizzard. FormGen, GT and
Apogee "made, distributed and own the rights to Duke Nukem 3D, an
immensely popular (and very cool) computer game," Circuit Judge
Alex Kozinski writes. Perhaps Blizzard could benefit from a
gameplaying judge like Kozinski.***QSound Labs - U.S. Court of Appeal Reaches Decision
(September 22)QSound Labs announced that the U.S. Court of Appeal has upheld
the previous decision made by U.S. District Court Judge William
D. Keller, in which it was ruled that Spatializer's simple stereo
spreader circuit does not infringe QSound's U.S. Patents 5,105,
462 and 5,208,860."We initiated this claim in 1994 to protect our portfolio of
intellectual property, a mandate we continue to maintain. This
portfolio has expanded as the marketplace for 3D audio has
evolved into more sophisticated market needs. Since 1994, QSound
has achieved significant milestones by forging strong
relationships with industry leaders and developing new
technologies and niche markets. Many of our OEM partners are now
focused on 3D positional and virtual surround sound technologies,
such as Q3D and QSurround," said David Gallagher, President & CEO
of QSound Labs. "The original decision regarding the simple
stereo spreader circuit in 1996 has never interfered with the
Company's business plans and has had little or no effect on our
shareholders, partners and customers. We expect the same result
this time."***Rambus Announces Validation Program
(September 15)Rambus announced a component Validation Program to Direct Rambus
memory systems in 1999.The Validation Program establishes uniform verification
procedures for Direct Rambus memory system components allowing
system companies faster system integration and issue resolution.
Validation procedures are being established for all the major
components of a Direct Rambus memory system, which are the Direct
RDRAMs devices, RIMM modules, RIMM connectors and clock
components.Building on Intel's industry experience with PC 100 SDRAM memory
components, the Direct Rambus Validation program is a process to
verify that components comply with their specifications.
Initially, Rambus will direct the verification process while
enabling independent test houses to support the procedures. In
the longer term, suppliers will be able to "self-validate" their
components.Companies that have already announced their support of Direct
Rambus components for main memory include 14 DRAM companies, ten
independent module manufacturers, three connector companies and
eight clock chip suppliers. (For a list of these companies, see
the footnotes section.) Planned system applications for Direct
Rambus technology include computers, multimedia and graphics,
communications, and consumer electronics. Intel Corp. has
announced plans it will enable Direct RDRAM as the main memory
technology for mainstream performance desktop PCs in 1999.***Cadapult Graphic Systems launches 3D University
(September 30)Cadapult Graphic Systems announced the formation of 3D
University, a division of Cadapult Graphic Systems, Inc. 3D
University will provide training in software applications used by
creative and Internet professionals. These include 3D modeling
and animation, non-linear video editing, and 2D paint
applications. In addition, 3D University intends to offer
training in production workflow, color management and systems
management.Cadapult currently offers customized on-site training. 3D
University takes this expertise and offers it to a broader base
of customers in a classroom environment. In addition, Cadapult is
seeking strategic alliances with certain vendors to provide
training on their behalf to the vendors customer base.Cadapult Graphic Systems, Inc. is a systems integrator which
provides computer graphics systems, peripherals, supplies and
service to graphics and internet professionals. Cadapult offers a
broad line of products and services that include digital color
printers, copiers, graphics production solutions, animation
systems for film and the internet, workstations, file servers,
networks, color scanners and more.***NetObjects Awarded United States Design Patents
(September 28)NetObjects announced that it has been awarded its first United
States design patents, strengthening the company's position as a
leading provider of Web site building software for businesses.NetObjects currently owns four U.S. design patents for computer
icons, with more pending in the U.S. Patent office.The four icons, which are currently used in NetObjects Fusion,
were invented by NetObjects CEO and Founder, Samir Arora, and his
colleagues Clement Mok, Victor B. Zauderer, and Susan Kare.
NetObjects applied for the design patents in 1996 and was awarded
them after the Patent Office determined the icons to be novel and
non-obvious.Under United States law, NetObjects has the right to exclude
others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the
designs throughout the United States, or importing the designs
into the U.S. for the term of fourteen years from the date of
grant.NetObjects has been granted the following ornamental design
patent numbers: Des. 397,103 for an Assets function of a World
Wide Web page editor or the like; Des. 395,427, Des. 397,687 and
Des. 395,428 for a computer icons for a display screen.--------------------------------------
Copyright 1998 4th WAVE, Inc.
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