Results
Software and Services
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***STMicroelectronics Announces Full PC Functionality Chip for under $100 (October 25)
STMicroelectronics announced the STPC Industrial, which allows a complete system with full PC functionality to be built for less than $100. Applications include information kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, Internet-surfing boxes, thin client terminals, gaming consoles, security access systems and industrial PCs. The device provides a one-chip solution for a variety of systems that, until now, required up to 6 chips.
STPC Industrial has a target volume price of below $40.
This was a mind share release. It was only to grab attention.
Totally devoid of details.
***PALMCHIP Announces Development Board (October 26)
PALMCHIP announced the availability of the CoreFrame Hardware Development Kit (HDK) for system-on-chip design, plus an FPGA-based rapid prototyping board for pre-silicon verification. These products are intended to reduce system-on-chip design time and provide true process portability for OEMs.
The CoreFrame HDK is a system-on-chip development package including Verilog source code, simulation environment, technical documentation, Synopsys synthesis scripts, and 'C' source code for complete system verification. The Verilog code includes a memory controller, UART, timer, interrupt controller, and DMA controller. Using the CoreFrame HDK, developers can assemble new system-on-chip designs, perform hardware/software co-simulation, and synthesize their logic to gate level. Integrating pre-existing logic or additional intellectual property (IP) cores is easy using CoreFrame's simple connection protocols. The CoreFrame rapid prototyping development board features an ARM7 processor, two Gatefield FPGA devices for logic emulation, sockets for SRAM, SDRAM, and Flash memory. The board also provides complete I/O signal visibility through header connectors for test equipment or additional hardware.
Used in conjunction with PALMCHIP's CoreFrame HDK, the board allows designers to prototype their system-on-chip by compiling and downloading their behavioral Verilog or VHDL code. This allows engineers to test their design conditions in advance of silicon fabrication. CoreFrame is an interconnect architecture which allows silicon IP cores to be combined to form system-on-chip designs. CoreFrame provides a backplane which supports 'plug and play' connection of individual cores using a simple signal interface. This allows system-on-chip designers to combine IP from multiple vendors and maintain full foundry independence and process portability. CoreFrame is fully synthesizable and dramatically reduces system-on-chip development time.
CoreFrame HDK and CoreFrame rapid prototyping board are available immediately.
***BALL Semiconductor Builds Working Transistor on Spherical Substrate (October 26)
BALL Semiconductor announced it has fabricated a working transistor on the surface of a one- millimeter silicon sphere. This is claimed to be the first time in the history of the semiconductor industry that a transistor has been built upon a spherical surface.
Using a combination of traditional and unique processes, BALL Semiconductor was able to produce a five-micron NMOS transistor whose electrical characteristics equaled those of a traditional wafer transistor.
Processes created by BALL Semiconductor include the spherical lithography process, which allowed the company to align and expose six individual masks onto the sphere; the resist-coating process, which requires the sphere to not only drop down an eight-meter tube through a 'soap bubble' of coating material but to also dry within one second; and
the atmospheric CVD process.BALL Semiconductor is currently working to produce an electrically functioning IC on the one-millimeter sphere, inductance on the sphere and a pilot manufacturing line.
BALL Semiconductor hopes to reduce the cost of semiconductor manufacturing by up to 90 percent through the use of hermetically sealed tubes in place of clean rooms and by reducing processing times to days versus months.
***ATI Announces the RAGE Theater
(October 26)
ATI announced RAGE Theater. It combines video decode and encode on one chip. The chip's integration allows it to be targeted to entertainment and corporate PCs, set top boxes, home theater systems and PC/telecom convergence products.
It supports popular operating systems, including Windows CE for the consumer appliance market. RAGE Theater's hardware design, when coupled with the ATI Player software, supports Web surfing, Internet use, multimedia creation and gaming, motion video capture, videoconferencing and video editing.
RAGE Theater's TV-out quality uses signal noise reduction circuitry, including Continuous Sharpness Control, an image sharpening filter which produces quality DVD images. The chip also has a Text Sharpening Filter to enhance text sharpness. Other features Automatic Gain Control and an Adaptive Comb Filter for improved video quality for separating luma and chroma.
The RAGE Theater supports any video standard, including AMC, ITU-656 and VIP1.1. The chip also accepts S-Video and Composite inputs, in NTSC, PAL and SECAM formats. For TV-out, RAGE Theater supports Composite, S-Video and SCART-RGB (for the European market), NTSC and PAL standards. It supports up to 800x600 TV screen resolution. The chip also supports Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) services which include closed captioning, teletext and Intercast. The chip also supports Macrovision 7.01 and CGMS copy protection schemes to protect the intellectual property of content developers by restricting copy reproduction. The chip also provides full support for audio S/PDIF output for 5.1 channel surround sound to AC-3 receivers.
RAGE Theater will be sampling to OEMs in November 1998, with production beginning in January, 1999. It is priced at $18 in units of 10,000.
Although no PC products were announced at this time this chip is a logical extension into enabling the "media PC." More importantly ATI continues its push into consumer markets especially the set-top box market. ATI is making the transition from a graphics chip company to a company which is enabling multimedia on multiple platforms and the PC being only one.
***S3 Continues to Plummet - 3rd Quarter Results Dismal (October 26)
S3 reported that net revenues for the third quarter of 1998 were $47.3 million compared to $119.6 million for the third quarter of 1997.
Net loss was $35.4 million for the quarter, or $0.69 per diluted share, compared to net income for the same quarter last year of $4.4 million, or $0.08 per diluted share.
Included in the net loss are charges for restructuring, write-offs of older 2D and 3D inventory and write-offs of certain excess and obsolete capital equipment. These charges amounted to approximately $18.0 million or $0.35 per share.
"During the third quarter, we continued to be severely impacted by softening of the Asia market. While we commenced shipments of our Savage3D product, its ramp was offset by the lower than expected demand of our older 2D and 3D products," said Terry Holdt, president and chief executive officer of S3 Inc. "Moving forward, we maintain a strong balance sheet that will enable us to continue investing in new desktop and mobile products."
It is sad to see S3 decline so rapidly. It is surprising that Terry Holdt describes the "lower than expected demand of our older 2D and 3D products." Who cares about Virge and Trio? S3 apparently did but they were the only ones. The only forward looking statement is about the balance sheet. Wow! If the loses continue they will not have to worry about that either.
Maybe S3 can ask Steve Jobs for a hand.
***RIAA Loses In Court
(October 26)
Judge Audrey Collins of the U.S. Central District Court of California in Los Angeles denied RIAA's request to temporarily stop Diamond Multimedia Systems from shipping its Rio PMP300 audio device.
The decision means that, for now, Diamond will be able to distribute the device.
This is a major victory for the Internet as a commerce medium.
***Omnicomp Graphics Announces AGP and Stereoscopic Support (October 16)
Omnicomp Graphics announced the 3DEMON twin-GMX8/80-AGP. This 2D/3D graphics accelerator is available with Stereoscopic Support for Alpha and Intel using the Windows NT operating system. 3DEMON users utilizing VESA based standard Stereoscopic Support can work with either head mounted displays or projection equipment. Utilizing the new 3Dlabs Glint GMX2000.
The 3DEMON twin-GMX8/80-AGP comes with a total of 88 MB of RAM for resolutions up to 1920x1080. The MSRP for the twin-GMX8/80-AGP is $3,095.
***ARM Announces ARM10 Thumb Family Processors (October 15)
ARM announced technical details of the ARM10 Thumb family of microprocessors.
The ARM10T processor is designed to deliver 400 Dhrystone 2.1 MIPS at 300 MHz, and features an optional Vector Floating-Point unit capable of delivering 600 MFLOPS.This level of integer and floating point performance is essential for applications that have sophisticated user-interfaces with 2D and 3D graphics rendering, such as video game players and high performance printers, at consumer price points.
Designed to be portable to high performance CMOS fabrication processes (0.25 micron, 0.18 micron and beyond), the ARM10T processor cores will be generally available for licensing to ARM's semiconductor partners, offering OEMs continuity of supply as well as broad solution offerings with the benefits of a single architecture.
Integration within larger system-on-a-chip designs is facilitated in several ways. The ARM10T processors provide Multi-ICE JTAG software debug, and an enhanced AMBA multi-master on-chip bus architecture that provides for peripheral design reuse and efficient production test. The AMBA enhancements improve bus bandwidth and allow easier use of high-productivity synthesis and timing analysis tools for peripheral and memory-interface designs. ARM and its partners provide ASIC simulation models, and hardware-software co-simulation tools to enable the design process.
The ARM10 Thumb Family is binary compatible with the ARM7 Thumb Family, the ARM9 Thumb Family, and StrongARM processors, giving designers software-compatible processors with a range of price/performance points from 60 MIPS to 400 MIPS.
Initial prototypes are expected during the middle of 1999.
***MIPS Architecture Surpasses One Hundred Million Processors (October 14)
MIPS Technologies announced that more than one hundred million processors have now been shipped since its founding in 1984. According to Inside the New Computer Industry, in 1997, MIPS licensees shipped 48 million units, capturing 49% of the embedded RISC processor market.
***Dense-Pac Microsystems Receives Order for High Density 3-D Commercial Devices (October 14)
Dense-Pac Microsystems announced that the company has received its first significant order from a major multi-national memory module manufacturer for its proprietary three-dimensional (3-D) devices used on high density memory modules. The name of the customer was not disclosed due to competitive reasons. The initial order was for 60,000 devices with a projected balance of 40,000 devices for 1998. The revenue to Dense-Pac is expected to be between $1.0 to $1.5 million, depending on the customer supplied memory devices. Dense-Pac is scheduled to complete shipping the first 60,000 units in October with the remaining 40,000 units expected to ship by mid December. The customer, who supplies OEMs in the computer, networking and telecommunications industries, placed the order following numerous successful small qualification runs during the last several months.
Dense-Pac Microsystems is a technology company that specializes in the design of proprietary and patented three-dimensional high-density packaging. The products allow the company's commercial, industrial and aerospace customers to pack huge amounts of memory into small spaces. Its commercial products include applications such as network servers, computers storage devices and medical instrumentation. Aerospace and industrial applications can include airborne and space avionics and such diverse areas as space satellites and missiles and high performance servers.
***WavePhore Announces Media Delivery Architecture for Wireless Handheld Devices and Set Top Boxes (October 15)
WavePhore announced a media delivery architecture that will allow its WaveTop consumer service to deliver programming to set top boxes and wireless handheld devices.
Distributed nationally via the unused portion of television signals from 264 PBS member stations around the country, WaveTop currently reaches the top 100 U.S. markets, representing over 85 percent of all U.S. households. It will reach more than 99 percent of U.S. households by year-end.
The first implementation of its technology will be included in version 2.0 of WaveTop's software, which is currently in beta test. The software operates with Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
It is expected that financial and news broadcasts could be delivered to wireless handheld devices, while a broader range of services, including video programming, audio and games could be delivered to other clients such as set-top boxes and PCs.
http://www.wavephore.com
http://www.wavetop.net
http://www.wavephore.net
*** Cirrus Logic to Spin Off PC Graphics Software Business to ISDCorp (October 13)
Cirrus Logic and Integrated Software & Devices Corporation (ISDCorp) announced an agreement through which ISDCorp will provide ongoing software support to Cirrus Logic PC graphics chip customers.
The agreement calls for ISDCorp to redeploy all members of the Cirrus Logic's PC graphics software group, organizing that team as a separate division within the company. To facilitate a transition for PC OEMs and add-in card manufacturers, Cirrus Logic and ISDCorp will work closely to ensure the successful transfer of existing customer relationships and support agreements to ISDCorp., along with development and support of software drivers and firmware.
Integrated Software and Devices Corporation is a leading provider of systems software development for Fortune 1000 companies seeking custom development, testing and certification for their driver, firmware and embedded software needs. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., the company has helped device manufacturers bring new device technologies to market since 1991. ISDCorp's expertise includes the range of Microsoft Windows products (including CE), PC hardware rchitecture, in-depth driver development, BIOS, firmware, thin clients, digital audio/video capture and display streaming architectures.
***Pinnacle Systems Reports Record Quarterly Revenue (October 15)
Pinnacle Systems announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 1999, which ended September 30, 1998. Net sales were a record $32,273,000 compared to $16,514,000 in the first quarter of fiscal 1998. Net income for the first quarter of fiscal 1999 was $4,008,000 or $.36 per share on a diluted basis. This compares to net income of $985,000, or $.13 per share, in the first quarter of fiscal 1998, excluding non-recurring acquisition related charges. In addition, the company had $94.5 million in cash and marketable securities as of September 30, 1998, an increase of $3.2 million compared to June 30, 1998.
According to Pinnacle Systems' President and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Sanders, "Fiscal 1998 was a record revenue year for the Company. Now, with another consecutive record revenue quarter under our belts, fiscal 1999 is off to good start. Sales in the first quarter of fiscal 1999 increased 95% over the same quarter last year, with growth coming from new products in all three major market segments for the company: broadcast, desktop, and consumer. Quarterly net income per share more than doubled over the same quarter last year and positive cash flow continued to add to our already strong balance sheet. The quarter also saw the Company commence shipment of a number of new and exciting products including FXDeko and ReelTime NITRO."
***Rambus Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 1998 Results (October 14)
Rambus reported financial results for the three and twelve month periods ended September 30, 1998. Fourth quarter revenues of $9.7 million were up 24% over the same period last year, and 5% over the previous quarter. Revenues for the full fiscal year 1998 were $37.9 million, an increase of 46% over fiscal 1997.
Operating income for the fourth quarter was $1.8 million, up from $933,000 in the same period last year but flat with $1.8 million reported in the previous quarter. For the full year ended September 30, 1998, operating income increased to $8.0 million compared to $2.0 million in the previous year. Fourth quarter diluted earnings per share were $0.07, compared to $0.04 in the same period last year and $0.07 in the previous quarter. Diluted earnings per share for the full fiscal year 1998 were $0.28, compared to $0.09 for fiscal 1997. The Company's cash balances increased to $88 million at September 30, 1998, an increase of $4 million over the previous quarter. The fourth quarter balances include $8 million classified as long term due to investment maturities beyond 12 months.
***Evans & Sutherland Reports Third Quarter Results (October 13)
Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. reported financial results for the quarter ended Sept. 25, 1998.All results are unaudited. Total sales for the quarter were $47.3 million, an increase of 23% over sales of $38.5 million in the same quarter of last year. Net earnings for the quarter were $.5 million ($.05 per share) compared to net earnings of $3.8 million ($.40 per share) for the third quarter of 1997. Total sales for the nine months ended Sept. 25, 1998 were $133.3 million, an increase of 21% over sales of $110.0 million for the nine months ended Sept. 26, 1997.
Prior to the charge of $27.9 million taken in the second quarter of 1998 relating to the write-off of acquired research and development in connection with the acquisitions of AccelGraphics Inc. and Silicon Reality Inc., net earnings for the nine months ended Sept. 25, 1998 were $4.6 million ($.46 per share) compared to net earnings of $7.2 million ($.76 per share) during the same period of last year. After the charge, net loss for the nine months ended Sept. 25, 1998 was $23.3 million ($2.50 per share).
Comments from James R. Oyler, President and Chief Executive Officer, "Sales were the highest for the third quarter in the company's history, but earnings were impacted by the previously announced slowdown in the Desktop Graphics market. The overall simulation business continues to perform well and we are encouraged by the strength of our backlog and the progress of our efforts to improve margins."
"Our Desktop Graphics unit is experiencing a slowdown in worldwide orders for high-end NT workstations with professional-level graphics systems. This slowdown caused an inventory-reduction cycle at most of our OEM customers, which exaggerated the effect on our shipments. We believe the inventory reduction is now over, and we expect gradually increasing shipments in the fourth quarter of this year, extending into next year."
"The company is also pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to deliver graphics products to Dell Computer Corp. Specific product and delivery details will be announced as soon as they are available. We are very pleased to add Dell as an OEM customer and we look forward to working with them in the future.
***Videoconferencing Riding the Road to Multimedia Communications According to New Market Study (October 13)
Forward Concepts announced the research report, "Teleconferencing Markets and Strategies: The Road to Multimedia Communications." The report, which is the firm's fourth annual teleconferencing study, is an in-depth analysis of the computer and communications technologies impacting the videoconferencing industry and the product directions being taken by desktop, group, and stand-alone system vendors. The study concludes the market is being shaped by four broad factors: price, performance, pipelines, and utility. The study also concludes that videoconferencing by itself is a strong market, but that wide-scale acceptance in the corporate world is tied to a more comprehensive view of multimedia communications-the integration of one-way and two-way, real-time and non-real-time communications across LAN and WAN networks.
The report notes that many businesses today do not see videoconferencing as a "must have" capability; nor have consumers embraced the technology, despite plummeting prices and improved ease of use. Based on end-user and vendor surveys, the study predicts that the worldwide videoconferencing equipment industry will grow at an annual rate of over 25% to over $2.7 billion by the year 2002 and that this growth will be spurred by integrated solutions for conferencing, collaboration, caching, and broadcast streaming. The analysis in the report presents a whole new segmentation of the videoconferencing market, following a series of product and technology developments that have made obsolete previously defined categories.
The 1998 study segments the overall market into three major equipment categories: personal and desktop systems, group systems, and networking infrastructure components.
Desktop videoconferencing systems are products intended for personal use. The category includes PC-based and non-PC-based systems as well as videophones and other appliances that run across different H.320, H.323, and H.324 networks. The desktop is further divided into consumer and business segments. The study concludes that virtually all ISDN codecs will soon support multiple protocols, and that LAN-only desktop products will grow at a 138% rate and overtake ISDN products by the year 2001.
Group videoconferencing systems (conference rooms and rollabouts) now occur in a variety of form factors, including compact systems, set-top boxes, rollabouts, and conference room systems. The group market is experiencing simultaneous growth and turmoil while at the same time it is embracing LAN technologies and protocols. The Forward Concepts study forecasts that the market for large room systems, small group systems, and ATM-based systems will grow from $785 million in 1998 to $1,107 million in 2002, but that the small group market will experience a very healthy 48.8% growth rate.
Network components are increasingly important products that perform multipoint control, network-to network gateway connectivity, and gatekeeper bandwidth management functions. This multimedia network market is poised for strong growth as the videoconferencing industry shifts its focus to IP networks. The 1998 study forecasts network gear to grow at a 40.6% annual rate to $395 million in 2002, with ISDN MCUs being the largest segment, but IP MCUs and gatekeepers having the highest growth rates.
The report also discusses the impact of the Internet and emerging broadband communications technologies on videoconferencing. Within three years, Forward Concepts expects a growing portion of the consumer market to be using two-way cable modems over HFC or xDSL modems over twisted pair copper as an IP videoconferencing pipeline.
"Teleconferencing Markets and Strategies: The Road to Multimedia Communications" is available immediately. The 450-page report with over 200 figures and 60 tables is $3,295 ($3,395 international) for the first copy and $500 ($550 international) for subsequent copies.
***STMicroelectronics and Live Picture Introduce Instant 360-Degree Panoramic Technology For Digital Cameras (October 14)
STMicroelectronics and Live Picture announced their joint design of a digital camera microchip to create 360-degree panoramic photos without additional external support. The technology, which is expected to be available in the second half of next year, will allow photographers to create 360-degree panoramic images digitally and without the use of a tripod.
The chip specification has been introduced to leading camera manufacturers. It can be integrated easily and without major design alterations into the system architectures of any current camera model.
The Virtual Reality ASIC chip is being designed by
STMicroelectronics and will embed Live Picture "image stitching" technology that matches and blends multiple segments of a panoramic picture. A color blending feature automatically compensates for differences in lighting conditions among the individual components within the 360-degree image. Digital cameras equipped with the new chip can display images on their LCD screens. This will allow photographers to confirm that their photos are in focus and include the entire subject area. The resulting "immersion panorama" is stored on the camera and can be loaded onto a PC, viewed on a TV screen or accessed via the Internet. Through these media, viewers can rotate the images full circle to allow for completely interactive viewing of vacation spots, real estate properties and other locations.
***Intergraph and SCI Systems to Enter Manufacturing Partnership (October 14)
Intergraph and SCI Systems announced an agreement whereby SCI will purchase from Intergraph certain manufacturing assets and will assume all manufacturing of Intergraph Computer Systems products. Both companies have manufacturing facilities in their headquarters city of Huntsville, Alabama.
The companies have signed a letter of intent and expect to close on the transaction within six to eight weeks. Financial terms were not disclosed.
SCI will provide manufacturing services to Intergraph under a multi-year supply agreement, expected to generate in excess of several hundred million dollars per year in revenue for SCI. All of the approximately 300 Intergraph employees will be offered employment by SCI at their current salaries and tenure levels. It is expected that SCI will lease Intergraph's manufacturing facilities for six to 12 months before moving the operations to SCI facilities.
Among various benefits of the transaction, SCI gains a major influx of new business plus a skilled and trained employee base. The employees maintain their jobs, with salary and tenure unaffected. The city of Huntsville, Alabama benefits from job preservation, plus growth as some previously outsourced Intergraph manufacturing will be moved from other companies to SCI. Intergraph will enjoy cost reductions through a lower headcount and by realizing lower costs of materials through SCI's large purchase volumes. Intergraph also expects to realize cash flow benefits from improved inventory management.
The business agreement will capitalize on the companies' core competencies. Intergraph is a veteran of computer and graphics technology. SCI is a leading supplier of manufacturing services to the computer industry. It is the world's largest contract manufacturer, delivering approximately three million finished computers in the fiscal year ending June 1998.
***Parametric Technology Receives $2.4 Million Order for Software and Services (October 16)
Parametric Technology announced that it has received a $2.4 million order for software and services from SKF Group of Goteborg, Sweden. The software was shipped to the company during Parametric Technology's first quarter of fiscal 1999 (ending January 3, 1999). SKF, the world's leading producer of rolling bearings, elastomeric seals, and special steels, maintains manufacturing facilities at more than 80 locations in 20 countries.
SKF will expand its use of PTC Solutions to include the new Windchill suite of enterprise information management software. SKF will also continue its use of Pro/ENGINEER mechanical design, production, and product data management solutions.
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