The
WAVE Report on Digital Media
3D
--- Media Creation --- Shared Space
---Published
by 4th Wave, Inc.---
Issue
#0146------------------10/24/01
The
WAVE Report is Searchable on
http://www.wave-report.com/search/search.htm
--------------------------------------
0146.1
Hot Topics
Asahi Glass Company Sets
up Taiwan Plant
PC-EPhone Signs Co-Development
and Licensing Agreement
North American Semiconductor
Equipment Industry
0146.2
Story of the Issue
Microsoft's Essential
Web Services Summit
0146.3 3D & Visualization
Fakespace Systems and
SGI Provide Visualization Facility
0146.4
Semiconductor
Cree Unveils X-Bright LED
Technology
AXT Announces Breakthrough
in Large, High Flux LED Chips
0146.5
Cable
Video on Demand Industry
Leaders Embrace Interactive
0146.6
Audio
0146.7
Applications
Companies Test PrintMe,
Remote Printing Service
iSuppli Analyst Sees Mobile
Gaming Reenergizing Wireless
--------------------------------------
0146.1
Hot Topics
***Asahi
Glass Company Sets up Taiwan Plant
(October
24)
Taiwan's
Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under the Ministry
of
Economic Affairs has announced that Asahi Glass Company had
completed
construction of its TFT LCD glass substrate plant in
Taiwan's
Yunlin Industrial Park.
An
Asahi representative said the factory would manufacture TFT
LCD
glass substrates and ITO glass and begin production at phase
one
of the plant in Q4, 2001. By 2005 the plant will have annual
capacity
of 2.3 million square metres of glass. Specially made
glass
substrates are a key component in the manufacture of TFT
LCD
panels.
The
plant in Yunlin is the result of a meeting between the
Office
of Committee for Information Industry Development (OCIID)
under
the IDB and Asahi Glass in 1997. The project fits the
OCIID's
charter of upgrading Taiwan's industry toward higher-end
upstream
production to match its strong downstream manufacturing
capabilities.
The investment is seen as a much needed confidence
boost
to the local technology industry.
Asahi
forecasts that TFT-LCD displays will continue to gain
ground
over CRT displays, with average growth of 30% over the
next
5years. By 2004, TFT LCD will take 25% of the global
market;
by this time Asahi will claim some 90% of the TFT LCD
glass
substrate market.
The
Ministry of Economic Affairs recently announced that the
production
value of the Taiwan Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
industry
would hit US$4.9 billion in 2001, up 70% over 2000, to
claim
25.3% of the global market.
***PC-EPhone
Signs Co-Development and Licensing Agreement with
Cyberbank
(October
23)
PC-EPhone,
has signed an agreement with Cyberbank which gives
the
PC-EPhone the right to co-develop Cyberbank's future
devices.
Under such co-development agreements, PC-EPhone would
work
closely with Cyberbank to specify and develop product
designs
which would be directed at particular markets. Such co-
development
agreements also permit PC-EPhone to offer third
parties
the opportunity to develop their own privately labeled
and
privately designed "PC-EPhone" device.
In
addition, to the rights for co-development, the two companies
have
agreed that PC-EPhone may act as a representative for
Cyberbank
for the purpose of identifying third parties who may
have
an interest in obtaining a license for Cyberbank's
software/hardware
intellectual property.
The
PC-EPhone is a wireless convergent device, which combines
the
capabilities of a handheld personal computer with full
Internet
access, a cellular phone, a PDA, and an organizer all
in
one.
***North
American Semiconductor Equipment Industry September
Results
(October
23)
The
North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor
equipment
posted $644 million in orders in September 2001 and a
book-to-bill
ratio of 0.65, according to the September 2001
Express
Report published by Semiconductor Equipment and
Materials
International (SEMI). A book-to-bill of 0.65 means
that
$65 worth of new orders were received for every $100 of
product
shipped for the month.
The
three-month average of worldwide bookings in September 2001
was
$644 million. The bookings figure is 11 percent below the
revised
August 2001 level of $724 million and 78 percent below
the
$2.89 billion in orders posted in September 2000.
The
three-month average of worldwide shipments in September 2001
was
$993 million. The shipments figure is 13 percent below the
revised
August 2001 level of $1.15 billion and is 60 percent
below
the September 2000 shipments level of $2.48 billion.
The
SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average
bookings
to three-month moving average shipments for the North
American
semiconductor equipment industry. Shipments and
bookings
figures are in millions of U.S.
dollars.
Date
(2001) Shipments Bookings Book-to-Bill
April 1,654.6 721.3 0.44
May 1,461.8 723.4 0.49
June 1,359.8 730.7 0.54
July 1,191.7 768.9 0.65
August 1,146.7 724.2 0.63
September
(prelim)993.4 644.3 0.65
The
data are contained in a monthly Express Report published by
SEMI
that tracks shipments and orders worldwide of North
American-based
manufacturers of equipment used to manufacture
semiconductor
devices, not shipments and orders of the chips
themselves.
The October 2001 Express Report is scheduled for
publication
on November 20, 2001.
0146.2
Story of the Issue
***Microsoft's
Essential Web Services Summit
By
James Sneeringer
The
battle over "Web services" seems to dominate the coverage
of
the
IT industry today. But a lingering question is: what exactly
is
a Web service? How does it work, what technology does it rely
on,
and why is it desirable? A major question for many is
Microsoft's
.NET initiative - how it will work, how it will
provide
Web services, and how (and whether) to update.
In
light of these and other concerns, the WAVE Report attended a
one-day
developer's seminar sponsored by Intel and Microsoft,
called
The Essential Web Services Summit. Ted Pattison, an
instructor
for DevelopMentor, a software development training
company,
led the seminar. The seminar was split into a morning
section
addressing the architecture and development environment
of
.NET, which we will cover in this article, and an afternoon
overview
of Web services, which we will cover in the next issue
of
the WAVE.
Microsoft.NET
Microsoft
bills the .NET architecture as the biggest change in
their
operating systems since the transition from DOS to NT. It
represents
a departure from ongoing Windows development
standards
such as Win32, COM and DCOM, and the C++ programming
language.
VisualBasic.NET (VB.NET) is the first version of the
Visual
Basic (VB) programming language for which Microsoft was
not
concerned about backward compatibility. In essence, .NET is
a
completely new architecture for developing and running
applications.
Pattison
presented three main forces driving the development of
.NET:
1) Microsoft is seeking to ease the transition
from 32- to
64-bit-based
computing, having learned from the complications of
the
16- to 32-bit switch.
2) Microsoft is seeking to compete with Java
on lightweight
devices
such as PDAs. They want to make it possible for
established
VB and C programmers to write code that will run
well
on such devices.
3) Microsoft is seeking to expand its customer
base to
include
Unix- or other OS-based servers. This is in anticipation
of
a plateau (already beginning) in sales of PCs and traditional
Windows,
and an ensuing switch to a service-based business
model.
How
It Works
Pattison
stressed that platform independence was the overriding
goal
of Microsoft when developing .NET. He stated they felt the
way
to achieve this was to use established standards where
possible.
A
Windows application consists of many separate components that
must
be found and integrated to run the program. The existing
architecture,
known as COM, handled both in-memory (single PC)
and
across-boundary (networked) integration of application
components.
It assumed Windows was ubiquitous. The .NET
architecture
does not. Under .NET, in-memory integration is
handled
by what Microsoft calls the Common Language Runtime
(CLR),
an "execution engine" that works solely within a single
machine.
Cross-boundary integration is based on established
standards
of XML and HTTP.
Under
COM, a program that was written in VB or C++ was compiled
directly
from that language into machine-readable code, locking
it
into the Intel x86 chip and a specific version of Windows.
Under
.NET, programs written in the new languages of VB.NET or
C#
(pronounced "C sharp," this replaces C++), are compiled to
an
Intermediate
Language (IL). When an application is launched, the
CLR
compiles and manages the IL code in real time, as it runs.
This
style of processing has several effects:
First,
so long as it is running the CLR, any device can run code
that
has been compiled to IL. Thus, code written once in VB.NET
or
C# can be used on many different devices.
Second,
IL code must be extremely self-descriptive, so that the
CLR
can locate and organize components. In .NET, each assembly
of
code contains extensive information about itself arranged in
XML,
called meta data. When running the code, the CLR uses a
process
called "reflection" to read the meta data.
Third,
IL code is strictly managed by the CLR as it is compiled
and
run. A major change is that allocating memory is no longer
allowed
in the code - it is now handled by the system.
Fourth,
the capability differences between the VB and C
programming
languages are largely gone, since both must compile
to
the same IL.
Fifth,
all application source code can now be read in IL, and
more
easily reverse-engineered. While there are security
measures
to prevent tampering, according to Pattison, the only
way
to completely hide code in .NET is to keep it on a Web
server
behind a firewall, and run the application as a Web
application
(more on that in the next WAVE issue).
Elephant
in the Room
During
this section of the seminar, a large elephant stood in
the
corner of the room, and its name was Java. Several times,
Pattison
referred to aspects of .NET as being "just like Java"
or
"Java-like." For instance, CLR, the virtual "execution
engine"
of .NET, is the same concept as the Java virtual machine
-
although the concept actually predates both architectures. In
another
example, the term "reflection" for reading meta data is
lifted
directly from Java. It wasn't clear how much resentment
this
generated among the Java developers in attendance, although
we
did overhear two discussions to that effect during breaks.
Pattison
acknowledged up front that when developing .NET,
Microsoft
architects had considered existing technologies, and
taken
things from both COM and from Java.
Security
.NET
includes two features that Microsoft claims will increase
security.
First, the meta data for each code assembly includes a
field
for a public key token. This allows the assembly code to
be
"locked" when it is compiled. If the code is changed in any
way,
it will not compile again without the matching private key.
Pattison
demonstrated how the system is sensitive to changes of
even
one bit. Microsoft hopes this will prevent tampering.
Second,
and a much larger change, programmers can no longer use
pointers
or allocate raw memory. This is important since many
security
failures in Windows have been the result of memory
errors.
Pattison stated that Sun and Microsoft agree: if a
programmer
can access raw memory, they can defeat any security.
Now
that the system, not the code, handles memory, Microsoft
believes
the system will be much more secure.
Windows
XP
With
the release of XP less than 24 hours from the time of this
issue,
the question of whether or not to upgrade from Windows
2000
weighs heavily. The answer, from the development side, is
no.
While XP offers substantial changes in interface and
features,
the capabilities of .NET are already available in
Windows
2000. Our next issue will focus on the most-hyped of
those
capabilities: Web services.
http://www.microsoft.com/usa/partner/isv.asp
0146.3
3D & Visualization
***Fakespace
Systems and SGI Provide Visualization Facility for
Murphy
Oil Company
(October
22)
Fakespace
Systems and SGI have announced that they have provided
a
visualization system to Murphy Oil Company in Calgary, Canada,
a
division of Murphy Oil Corporation. The system, an active
stereo
digital projection system purchased for use in energy
exploration,
enables geologists, geophysicists and engineers to
work
together in a collaborative visualization environment.
Murphy
Oil's Canadian division has worked with high-performance,
collaborative
computing and display systems in several joint
projects
in facilities owned by partner companies. Based on this
experience,
the Calgary office selected the SGI Reality Center
visualization
facility based on Onyx2 systems and an 8-foot by
16-foot
Fakespace Systems WorkWall as the visualization system
for
its application requirements.
The
custom- designed system developed by Fakespace Systems and
SGI
provides a bright (5,000 lumens per projector) display that
allows
participants to work with stereoscopic subsurface
simulations
in a well-lit room where they can also reference
notes,
print-outs and drawings.
For
Murphy Oil's offshore exploration, which is focused on
Canada's
eastern coast, the graphics power of the SGI
supercomputer
provides real-time rendering of complex three-
dimensional
deep-water data. The high-resolution, rear-projected
WorkWall
display enables the exploration team to gather close to
the
screen for discussion and inspection of details within these
visualizations.
The
WorkWall display at Murphy Oil is based on two active stereo
DLP
(Digital Light Processing) projectors (the Mirage 5000 from
Christie
Digital) that provide a bright, stable display for
dimensionally
accurate viewing, even when working close to the
screen.
The two-projector system also enables simultaneous
viewing
of both stereoscopic and monoscopic images projected
side
by side. A single-pipe SGI Onyx2 system with two Raster
Managers,
four central processing units (CPUs) and 8GB of RAM
powers
the display.
http://www.fakespacesystems.com
0146.4
Semiconductor
***Cree
Unveils X-Bright LED Technology
(October
23)
Cree
has unveiled a next generation light emitting diode (LED)
X-Bright
technology. The X-Bright family of LEDs is being
designed
to offer increased brightness by approximately 50
percent
over the MegaBright family of LEDs. Target applications
for
the X-Bright devices include solid state illumination,
cellphones,
automotive, traffic signals, and video screens.
The
X-Bright LED technology the company has pioneered
incorporates
a chip design and utilizes the optical benefits of
silicon
carbide (SiC) while maintaining the vertical structure
advantages
of a single top contact. This allows for a standard
size
chip similar to Cree's other SiC/GaN-based devices.
The
first blue and ultraviolet (UV) LEDs incorporating the X-
Bright
technology are expected to be available for customer
sampling
during the second quarter of fiscal year 2002 with
production
availability anticipated in the third quarter. The
company
plans to offer the X-Bright family of LEDs to customers
at
price points competitive with its MegaBright LEDs.
Cree,
develops and manufactures semiconductor materials and
devices
based on silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN)
and
related compounds. The company's products include blue,
green
and UV LEDs, RF power transistors for use in wireless
infrastructure
applications, Schottky diodes for power
conditioning
and switching, SiC crystals used in the production
of
gemstones and SiC wafers sold for use in production and in
research
and development.
***AXT
Announces Breakthrough in Large, High Flux LED Chips
(October
24)
AXT,
a manufacturer of opto-electronic devices and compound
semiconductor
substrates, has announced the introduction of
production
quantities of large, high flux aluminum indium
gallium
nitride (AlInGaN) chips in green, cyan and blue. The P2
chips,
which are much larger than standard sized LED chips, are
designed
for applications, such as automotive lighting, dental
curing
and general illumination that require the maximum
luminous
flux per device.
The
green P2 chips have output powers (at 350 milliamps) up to
27
milliwatts with 17.5 lumens per watt efficiency. The cyan P2
chips,
designed for use in traffic signals, have output powers
of
30 milliwatts with 12.5 lumens per watt. The blue AlInGaN-
based
LEDs have output powers up to 35 milliwatts and achieve
efficiencies
of 6 lumens per watt.
AXT
is a producer of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), such as
green,
cyan and blue LEDs, for the display and lighting
industries
and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs)
for
the fiber optics industry. AXT also designs, develops,
manufactures
and markets compound semiconductor substrates for
the
fiber optics and communications industries. The Company's
Vertical
Gradient Freeze (VGF) crystal growth technology
produces
low-defect, semi-insulating and semi-conducting gallium
arsenide,
indium phosphide and germanium wafers.
0146.5
Cable
***Video
on Demand Industry Leaders Embrace Interactive Services
Architecture
(October
23)
N2
Broadband, a provider of digital asset distribution
solutions,
has announced that MediaPath, a secure content
delivery
technology, has been integrated with video on demand
(VOD)
servers from three providers, including
Concurrent
Computer, nCUBE Corporation and SeaChange
International.
These integrations result in an end-to-end VOD
solution
that includes the secure management, delivery and
storage
of media assets. Integration was enabled primarily by
each
vendor's compliance with the Interactive Services
Architecture
(ISA) specification.
The
ISA specification was originally initiated by members of the
cable
and iTV industry including AOL Time-Warner and N2
Broadband.
It is an open development specification designed to
accelerate
integration of on-demand cable services by defining
common
open interfaces that enable network operators to add and
change
services and resources.
A
series of integration and validation tests was conducted at N2
Broadband's
labs, where media content was transferred from
MediaPath
to each VOD Server. Because each solution is ISA
compliant,
integration time was minimized and the distribution
of
content from MediaPath to the VOD servers was seamless. For
content
providers, this means that content distributed through
an
ISA compliant system can be sent in the same format to all
VOD
vendors, reducing the cost of production and distribution.
http://www.seachangeinternational.com
0146.6
Audio
***Apple
Presents iPod
(October
23)
Apple
has introduced iPod, a MP3 music player that holds up to
1,000
CD-quality songs into a portable, 6.5-ounce design. iPod
uses
Apple's Auto-Sync to automatically download iTunes songs
and
playlists into the iPod, and then keeps them up to date
whenever
the device is plugged into a Mac.
iPod
stores up to 1,000 CD-quality songs on its thin 5 GB hard
drive,
which doubles as a portable FireWire hard drive for
storing
presentations, large documents, graphic images and
digital
movies. The device features up to 20 minutes of shock
protection
for nonstop playback when running, biking or other
activities.
Its built-in FireWire port lets the user download an
entire
CD into iPod in under 10 seconds and 1,000 songs in less
than
10 minutes. The device plays up to 10 hours of continuous
music,
powered by its rechargeable lithium polymer battery, and
recharges
whenever iPod is connected to a Mac, using power
supplied
over the FireWire cable.
iPod
plays music in MP3, MP3 VBR (variable bit rate), AIFF and
WAV
formats and can support MP3 bit rates up to 320-Kbps. Its
upgradable
firmware enables support of future audio formats. For
CD-quality
sound, iPod is equipped with a high-output 60-mW
amplifier
that delivers 20 to 20,000 Hz frequency response. Its
earbud-style
headphones are built with neodymium magnets for
enhanced
frequency response and high-fidelity sound. iPod also
features
a 160-by-128-pixel high-resolution display, with a
white
LED backlight to give visibility in daylight as well as
low-light
conditions.
iPod
will be available beginning on November 10th, for $399 (US)
from
The Apple Store, Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized
Resellers.
0146.7
Applications
***Companies
Test PrintMe, Remote Printing Service
(October
22)
According
to Reuters, a group of companies is testing a service
that
would allow people to print documents when they are away
from
their desks. According to the report, Electronics for
Imaging
is working with Adobe Systems, Xerox, Yahoo and others
in
developing an Internet-based service called PrintMe that
would
ease printing via laptop computers, hand-held computers,
two-way
pagers, and cellular or traditional phones. The service
assigns
a network address to printers in offices, print shops
and
other locations and will allow remote printing to these
locations.
According
to the report, users of the PrintMe Networks service
could
e-mail documents to a printer, or call up stored documents
at
the printer. Printing could be activated by computers, pagers
or
phones. PrintMe is not expected to be widely available until
2002.
PrintMe
will use Adobe technology to convert messages and
attachments
into a file format that can be printed without
installing
software on users' devices. The Sir Speedy chain of
shops
and Canadian chain Printing House will test the technology
in
the near future.
Users
of PrintMe would not be charged for the service, but would
pay
per-page fees to print shops. EFI plans to charge a fee of
$20
to $35 per month to companies and shops that use the
company's
accessories or software to connect to the network. EFI
also
plans to share in print revenue generated by PrintMe. Xerox
plans
to incorporate PrintMe technology into future printers as
well.
Other
Internet printing plans are also in the works. Hewlett-
Packard
has announced pacts for printing capabilities for users
of
Nokia cellphones and Research In Motion's BlackBerry
messaging.
***iSuppli
Analyst Sees Mobile Gaming Reenergizing Wireless
Subscriber
Growth
(October
22)
An
iSuppli analyst, speaking at the Conference Board's Wireless
Conference,
has predicted that cellular subscriber growth rates