 |
The WAVE Report on Digital Media
3D --- Media Creation --- Shared Space ---Published by 4th Wave, Inc.--- Issue #0513------------------4/1/05 |
The WAVE Report is Searchable on
http://www.3dlinks.com
http://www.wave-report.com
--------------------------------------
0513.2 Email Security
MessageLabs Helps Customers Address Email Privacy Concerns With A New Managed Encryption Service
0513.3 Biometric Identification
NEC Fingerprint Technology Tops U.S. Department of Justice Study
0513.4 Semiconductor Advances
Strategies Unlimited Forecasts Continuing Positive Outlook for Gallium Nitride Technology
0513.5 Property Rights
0513.6 Data Acquisition
National Instruments Introduces Its Smallest, Most Portable Measurement Device
0513.7 Medical Technology Growth
Demand for Semiconductor Technologies in Medical Imaging Modalities on the Rise
0513.8 Website Analytics
0513.9 Semiconductor History
The Silicon Genesis Project Announces the History of Fairchild Semiconductor Available on DVD
0513.10 Technology Leadership
--------------------------------------
***DisplaySearch US FPD 2005
By John Latta
San Diego, CA
March 1 – 3, 2005
DisplaySearch continues to lead in its ability to assess the display market. The company is heading for 28 employees who are located in 6 countries. The strategy is to understand the complete flat panel display food chain from the fabrication equipment to retailers. This is a major task and one which DisplaySearch has some of the most extensive data in the industry. This is the 7th Annual FPD event and it is sold out with nearly 400 attendees. Attendees are from 17 countries represented and 20 exhibitors present in the small exhibit area.
State of the FPD Industry
As is the custom, DisplaySearch provides multiple overviews of sectors of the display industry. Barry Young, SVP & CFO, DisplaySearch, provided one of the overall FPD industry.
The TFT LCD industry had its best year in 2004 with a 45% rise in sales to $48.5B in revenue. This was split by 47% in the large areas displays and 41% in the small area units.
Net profit margins grew by 28% in H1 2004 but due to the crystal cycle prices rose in H2 only to collapse in Q4, due to much lower prices as inventory built. What is different in this cycle is that capital spending was not cut as a result of the slide in prices.
The crystal cycle has the following elements:
Prices Rise
Over-Investment
Demand Slows
Surplus
Prices Fall
Under-Investment
Little Capacity Added
Shortage
Back to Prices Rise and the cycle continuesThis was a banner year with the overall display industry at $62.2B up 42% from 2003. This growth was led by a 155% growth in LCD TVs at $5.8B.
Street pricing of displays was like a roller coaster. The 15” LCD price began at $284 and rose to $354 only to plummet to $253 at the end of the year.
One of the major factors leading to the continued investment in fabs is the economies of scale from large glass substrates. If a Gen 5 is used as the baseline with a glass size of 1100 X 1399, the investment of equipment and land is 100%. A Gen 7 facility with glass at 2160 X 2460, the area increase is 372% while the investment increase is only 207%. Thus, as long as the increased capacity can be absorbed there are significant advantages to large substrates. It was stated that a new Samsung Gen 7 fab was the size of 5 football fields under one roof.
The net result of these economies of scale is that with a Gen 7 fab depreciation is only 9% while materials rises to 74%. Thus, there are incentives for the fabricators of TFT LCD panels to lower the cost of materials, including doing what can be done in house such as color filters.
HP Views the Market
HP had two speakers: Deborah Nelson VP of Marketing and John Morriss, VP and GM, HP Displays Business Unit. The first spoke of the convergence of IT and CE. It was touted that content is king and a $500B market opportunity lies ahead. It was even stated that “IT companies have the edge (in the convergence of IT and CE) on how to rationalize the technology to consumers.” HP was claimed to be a leader because it has a go-to-market strategy, portfolio, technology and alliances. John Morriss gave the audience a lecture on the chasm and the consumer needs/satisfaction curve of technology. The union of these two concepts makes it possible to win in consumer markets because it is now possible to “move from high-tech to commodity based products…as [manufacturers] adjust their mind-set to better suite the needs of customers.” Coming from HP it was a surprise to hear such trivial and superficial market characterization.
Samsung – HDTV Changes the Landscape of the Television Display
Market
Jim Sanduski gave a fast running overview of the impact of the HDTVs on the display industry. This was all focused on the US market.
DTV will have entered the “tipping point” when in 2004 there were 7.2m units shipped, that went to 10.8m in 2005 and to 16.8m in 2006.
The television market is seasonal with 30% of the units sold in Q4 and in flat panel this rises to over 40%.
The market is very price sensitive with 67% of the sets sold for less than $400. Only 18% of the sets sold above $1,000.
DLP technology has a large advantage as the screen size rises 42” and above. At retail DLP is 55% of the PDP price in the size 42” to 46”, at 50” the ratio is 45% and it falls to 28” at 50” and above. Thus, Samsung expects that DLP will dominate the large display panels.
With the success of microdisplay technology Jim predicted the end of the market for CRT rear projection televisions.
In spite of the fact that no content exists, 1080p, the highest resolution in the ATSC table of 18 formats, is seen as the next frontier for consumer displays. A 720p display has .9m pixels while a 1080p display has 2.1m pixels. One derivative of this display size is the ability to sell larger displays. That is, at a 7’ distance, one can see no scan lines on a 55” display in a “typical” living room. With Blu-Ray it is felt that content will begin to appear in later 2005.
Is the LCD Industry Headed for a Train Wreck?
The focus shifted to the TV opportunity for flat panel displays. Earlier, it was discussed how this crystal cycle is unusual in that the “capital spending was not cut as a result of the slide in prices.” The reason for this is that the LCD manufacturers are betting on the 170m+ television market rolling to LCD televisions. Slight problem - there is already capacity to produce 100m units for just the television market in 2006 and this is well above what the market is likely to absorb. We posed the question – with so many sharp individuals in this business why is there a herd mentality to build more fabs knowing full well that the market will be oversaturated with suppliers? The response we got from DisplaySearch was – there is too much money around to build fabs and that every company expects it will be the big winner. Slight problem – there is no big market after televisions are penetrated. It seems as if every company is staring into the headlights of the train.
Ross Young on the Television Market
The television market is the major opportunity for flat panels. This is not just an HD market but is about replacing old with the new. As a result the LCD television makers see this is a huge opportunity. The problem is that this is the last LCD market to penetrate. With success in phones, notebooks and continuing success in monitors for desktop PCs the television market is the last major hurdle. As a result there is great anticipation on winning this in this space. The highly price sensitive television market means that those with economies of scale have the best chance of winning. As we heard before this implies companies with Gen 7 fabs with the largest glass substrates. The problem is that everyone has the same expectation and all cannot be winners. Ross’s talk provided excellent background.
The television market is growing at a modest 7% per year. In 2004 187.9m sets were sold and by 2008 it is expected to rise to 212m. The overall market is at $76.1B in 2004 and is expected to rise to $121.1B. This means that the revenues and ASP will grow faster than the unit rise. ASP will rise from $405 in 2004 to $571 in 2008.
If there is uniformity on one trend it will be the death of the CRT rear projection market. This is be replaced by the MD (micro-display) rear projection market.
From 2004 to 2008, DisplaySearch predicts that the LCD television market will grow from 8.8m units to 46.8m units while CRTs will go from 170.8m units to 144.6m units. This means the share of sales in LCD will rise from 4.5% to 22.1% while CRTs will decline from 90.8% to 68.2%.
Yet, Ross stated that the industry is capable of 100m units of televisions in 2006 and still meet all the other LCD requirements. Thus, the excess capacity in 2006 could be 70m units if all the LCD fabs ran at capacity. If this is the case there would be a huge glut of product on the market.
It is interesting to note that China will over take North America in terms of units of all types of televisions sold in 2006.
This will lead to very aggressive pricing for 2005 holiday season. It was predicted that 32” LCD televisions would reach $999 and 37” be at $1499.
It was also estimated that 1080p would enter the market, at only a small price above 720p, in 2006. Sizes at small as 32” are already on roadmaps.
In spite of the dramatic price declines it is expected that 42” PDP prices will be lower than 42” HD LCD prices.
In terms of size the 30” to 34” category will be the most popular to 2006. By 2008 the 40” – 44” will become the most popular category.
A glut of PDP is also present. In 2005 this is estimated to be 13% and rises to 23.1% in 2008.
OLEDs – Where is it Going?
Ross Young gave his interesting and provocative overview of the OLED. Key points include:
The early application of OLED could well be in MP3 players and personal media players. The cell phone sub display was short lived and has since largely disappeared. OLEDs had no market advantage.
Major drivers on costs include: yield, time to fabricate a module, equipment utilization and the efficiency of material use. There still remain many questions on the best techniques to use for fabrication.
Active backplanes remain a major issue. LTPS remains the technology of choice but there are significant challenges in fab execution and bringing this to market.
Aging of the color output is another issue. Results were shown that showed a strong color shift in as little as 1000 hours.
On the optimistic side there is the prospect that OLED could be only 41% higher than CSTN and 32% less than TFT in small displays – 1.6” to 1.8”.
DisplaySearch predicts 200m units of OLED by 2007 with over 100m going into cell phones.
It is estimated that there could be 22 companies in OLED by 2007.
The major issue lies in the backplane. If these can be addressed it is estimated that the industry could grow to $5B.
Dice Roll Gamble in OLED – Lowering Expectations
Eastman Kodak was muted in its presentation on the status of OLED. Gone were the enthusiastic predictions for OLED. In general, lifetimes are up, yields are improving but caution is everywhere. The reality is that OLEDs cannot justify a price premium. To get to price parity OLEDs must gain high yields, have high light efficiency, be efficient in production and execute in the market. Over and over we heard this will take at least 2 years and possibly more. The gnawing question is – can OLEDs get to market quickly enough to have an impact or will the window close?
For the company that began OLED developments it was an unusual position. The CEO said it best in a recent interview.
In an interview in the February 2005 issue of Photo Marketing Magazine, Daniel Carp, chairman and CEO, Eastman Kodak Co. responded to a question about OLED.
Photo Marketing: What about OLED? That was a high-profile technology, but it seems to be de-emphasized now.
Carp: Two things happened. It’s proven to be much harder to execute than anyone thought. It’s not just Kodak, either. It’s just not coming up the yield curve to make it economically feasible. So it looks like it’s further out.
There’s been an explosion in investment in billion-dollar plants for LCD materials. At the same time OLED got pushed out, LCD got better.
There is no doubt OLED will be a big business, but it’s pretty far outside our planning interval right now. We’re still looking at how we want to participate. We are still working with Sanyo, but we’ll have to see what is the right thing to do.
The presentation by G. Rajeswaran, Eastman Kodak mostly reviewed Kodak’s
technology. Listed as musts for OLED were:
Performance must be competitive with AMLCDs
Costs must be competitive with AMLCDs
Applications must cover small and large displays
Market share must expand into AMLCD space.
Tall order given that this list does not emphasize the unique strengths of OLED. It was stated that for OLED to be competitive with AMLCD it must be fabricated on backplanes of Gen 4 size, not smaller. Kodak concluded with:
AMOLED technology of 2004 is not sufficient yet to meet cost performance targets of display manufactures.
We can only conclude the future of Eastman Kodak in OLED is in question.
Out-of-Box Display Applications Emerge
The key to consuming all the panels that can be generated by the advanced fabs is to sell more glass panels per person. This was addressed in a number of ways in the applications track today. LG Philips wants to put displays everywhere, on walls, on window glass, in mirrors, throughout automobiles and in public places. Sharp sees ubiquitous displays in small screens that cover all types of hand held devices. They describe the key to future markets as displays which are smaller, thinner, lighter, easier to read and with lower power. As part of this displays will be moving to 400ppi in 2006. DisplaySearch took the broadest view of the market and saw displays in: smart cards, shelf labels, auto consoles, displaywear, digital signage, see through walls, paste on the wall televisions and wrist televisions. A simple market estimate rolled up $20B.
DisplaySearch Estimates a $20B non-standard Display Applications Market
Barry Young of DisplaySearch sought to stimulate the thinking of the audience by going beyond the traditional display applications. He began by suggesting that the “holy grail” of displays is the transparent display. This is a display one can hold up and it is totally clear except for a small frame. Like a window whose transparency varies based on what is displayed. Barry went so far to suggest such technology is not far fetched. Applications include: display windows, room separators, automobile windows, and 3d gambling in casinos.
The industry is fixated on the top 6 applications: desktop monitors, LCD TV, mobil telephone, notebook PC and industrial but there is much more than this. Three examples cited are MP3 and Personal Media Players, mobil phone sub display, public displays and eBooks/Digital Picture frames. But this list is even greater than this and includes:
Smart cards,
Shelf labels,
Auto consoles,
Displaywear,
Digital signage,
See-through walls,
Paste-on-the-wall televisions, and
Wrist televisionsThis also has significant technology requirements that include:
Low Cost/Low Power
Robust Printable TFTs
Flexible displays
Low Cost Flexible displays
Transparent displays
Conformable displays
Roll to Roll process.If one just makes the following assumptions with reasonable display prices it is easy to rack up a potential market of $10B.
2B Smart cards
30M automobiles
1B shelf displays
100m digital signs
40m wrist displaysAdding in displaywear, transparent walls and past on wall TVs, it is possible to see a potential $20B market.
eMagin – Creating OLED on Silicon
Gary Jones, CEO of eMagin, described his products as virtual imaging. These are near eye displays that one wears. The sound bite is that you can carry around a 105” screen with you. The value of OLED-on-Silicon is that it offers: interface logic on the display, full color data buffers under each pixel and wide angle viewing. It is also low power. Gary Held up its new Z800 displays which supports:
Virtual 105” view at 12”
800 X 3 X 600 pixels
Stereovision
Stereo sound
Noise canceling mic
USB power only.
Displays Everywhere you Shop
Matt Harris of Planar proposed that there is a major market for retail displays. This includes: shopping, dining and hosting (lodging, amusement and similar). Examples retail placement include: shopping carts, promotional signage, window display, product ordering, gift enrollment and much more. They binned the retail environment as Attract, Interact and Transact.
Creating a Digital Signage Network
Scala advocates a network to make digital signage possible everywhere. They have deployed 25,000 display units worldwide. The key value added that they bring is the software to support so many displays in a real time environment. Primary markets include: retail, corporate communications, call centers, entertainment venues and digital menu boards. Secondary markets include: medical offices, auto care, banks, airports, education, real estate and hospitality. The third level channels include outdoor, shopping malls and airports.
To be successful it was suggested that these rules will drive the emerging industry:
Content is king
Make it lively
Local buy-in is critical
Location, Location, Location
Is it easy to do small updates
You need a closed loop system
Employee-oriented content is important
Sell signage like end caps
Don’t fight the PC industry
Does it scale?
The point of the PC industry is a display which is a Panasonic Plugin PC which makes any 42”, 50” and 65” display an IP addressable PC. This even includes the ability to make an individual display wireless addressable. This is very powerful.
WAVE Comments
The two examples of displays everywhere bordered on the extreme. For example, Scala cited how effective it was at driving the average purchase up in a fast food setting. Planar cited how the patient waiting room was the ideal place for drug companies to run promotional advertising while the patients waited. This all creates an environment of visual bombardment. The ratio of ads to content on national television is gotten so bad that consumers use PVR’s to rid the junk. So now the objectives of displays everywhere is to just increase the level of visual pollution. One comes away with the impression that the objective of the technology is to treat the consumer as a mindless automat that easily succumbs to visual suggestion to spend more money. How can marketing be so naive? Consumers tire of being told what to do, how to do it and that all they are is pockets to be picked by astute marketing. Are we so bipolar as to believe that the world is only populated by smart marketing and dumb consumers? Surely displays have more value than being tools of the blind marketer who is so sightless as to believe that one only has to sell, sell and sell to pick consumer pockets.
***MessageLabs Helps Customers Address Email Privacy Concerns With A New Managed Encryption Service
NEW YORK
March 30, 2005
MessageLabs has announced the launch of MessageLabs Boundary Encryption service, a boundary-to-boundary encryption service that guarantees the privacy and integrity of electronic communications between corporate mail servers.
Driven by regulatory and legislative pressures, concern over the privacy and integrity of Internet email communication is moving up the corporate agenda. As a result, businesses are looking towards encryption to secure their email. A 2005 study by Osterman Research indicated that at least 20 per cent of users in a typical organization would be frequent users of a secure messaging capability if it was available to them.
The MessageLabs Boundary Encryption service provides a secure private email network (SPEN) for customers to communicate with designated partners using SMTP over Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption, without the need for desktop encryption tools. All email sent between an organization's mail server, MessageLabs and designated partners travels via TLS encrypted channels. This lowers the total cost of ownership (TCO) of managing encryption relationships and the hassle of maintaining encryption clients on individual desktops, while ensuring the privacy and integrity of all email messages passed via these channels.
To use the service, organizations nominate email domains to be subject to encryption and designate partners to be involved in encrypted channels. The MessageLabs service then ensures that communication to and from the service involving these domains is secured using TLS. If an organization communicates with non-designated partners outside the SPEN, then normal unencrypted SMTP is used to pass such messages from the MessageLabs service to the recipient domains.
Email is secured via the SPEN only when it is sent outside the organization's network, remaining unencrypted or "in the clear" within the corporate network, which facilitates other compliance-led solutions such as archiving. Both incoming and outgoing encrypted email passes through the MessageLabs' global infrastructure at the Internet level, whereby the full array of MessageLabs email security services can be applied to protect organizations from threats such as viruses, spam and other unwanted content. Customers can control content and apply policies, ensuring that only clean email is then forwarded on to the intended recipient. The service is transparent to the end user, with no desktop tools required.
Using a central management console, organizations can manage their own set of partners. MessageLabs will then perform an automatic check to ensure nominated partners support TLS.
MessageLabs' range of email security and management services provides organizations with a complete managed email security solution, without the hassle, inconvenience or additional cost of traditional software or hardware solutions. These services ensure the integrity of electronic communications, helping businesses to manage and reduce risk while securing their critical infrastructure and business information.
0513.3 Biometric Identification
***NEC Fingerprint Technology Tops U.S. Department of Justice Study
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif.
March 30, 2005
NEC Solutions (America) Inc. has announced that NEC's fingerprint technology earned top ranking in most categories of the Slap Fingerprint Segmentation Evaluation 2004 (SlapSeg04), sponsored by the Justice Management Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Slap fingerprints (slaps) are taken by pressing the four fingers of one hand onto a scanner or fingerprint card simultaneously. Slap segmentation is the process by which a single image containing four fingerprint images is divided into four images of the individual fingers. Slap fingerprints are noted for the speed at which they can be documented and processed, and their use is being considered for background checks in a variety of U.S. Government fingerprint systems.
The purpose of SlapSeg04 was to evaluate the accuracy of the slap fingerprint segmentation algorithm, one component of automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS). The study was conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Additional partners of SlapSeg04 include the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (VISIT) Program Office, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The study was performed using almost 30,000 slap prints submitted from seven organizations.
NEC's slap segmentation algorithm achieved a 96.8 percent correct segmentation rate when three or more highly-matchable fingerprints (and correctly identified finger positions) were measured, an accuracy rate 1.1 percent higher than that of the second ranked vendor. NEC also achieved a correct segmentation rate of greater than 99 percent in circumstances in which two or more marginal and highly-matchable fingerprints (and correctly-identified finger positions) were measured.
Additionally, NEC's slap segmentation algorithm proved most accurate in hand and finger position identification rate for slaps with an unknown hand type. NEC correctly identified hand and finger position 99.8 percent of the time, 1.2 percent higher than the second ranked vendor. This translates to an error rate (.2 percent) one-seventh of the next-ranked vendor's rate of 1.4 percent.
This accuracy rate can help detect uncooperative subjects who attempt to avoid identification by, for example, scanning interchanged hands. According to the study, only NEC's slap segmentation algorithm can detect such illegal attempts with acceptable accuracy.
The SlapSeg04 was conducted during late 2004 and early 2005. Ten vendors and organizations participated in the SlapSeg04 submitting a total of 13 algorithms for evaluation. All participants sent their slap segmentation software to NIST. The evaluation was done by SlapSeg04 staff at NIST facilities using more than 29,000 slap fingerprints. The full report is available on the NIST website.
http://fingerprint.nist.gov/slapseg04/
***Strategies Unlimited Forecasts Continuing Positive Outlook for Gallium Nitride Technology
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.
March 29, 2005
Having achieved a worldwide device market of $3.2 billion in 2004, gallium nitride technology continues to be one of the biggest success stories in compound semiconductors, according to Silicon Valley-based market research firm Strategies Unlimited. Although high-brightness LEDs dominate the market currently, gallium-nitride-based laser diodes and electronic devices are in the early stages of market growth and will achieve substantial volumes in the next five years. The total market for all types of gallium nitride devices is forecast at $7.2 billion in 2009. In the fourth edition of its highly regarded report, Gallium Nitride 2005 -- Technology Status, Applications, and Market Forecasts, Strategies Unlimited updates the status of worldwide technology developments and markets for gallium nitride optoelectronic and electronic devices.
As of early 2005, 232 companies were participating in gallium nitride production or development, and 394 universities and research centers were involved in gallium nitride R&D. These worldwide figures represent an increase of 26% and 35%, respectively, since the publication of Strategies Unlimited's previous gallium nitride report in June 2003.
Gallium Nitride 2005 is a 430-page report that addresses multiple aspects of gallium nitride technology, including material properties, substrates, deposition, etching, contacts, packaging, and device performance. It tabulates the 725 companies, universities, research centers and government agencies involved in or supporting gallium nitride production and R&D, and profiles 32 such organizations. In addition, the report analyzes 20 applications of gallium nitride optoelectronic and electronic devices, and provides detailed market forecasts through 2009.
***A Solution to the Grokster Copyright Debate?
Washington, D.C.
March 29, 2005
The legal tactics used by entertainment companies to stop online file sharing of copyrighted material have been costly and ineffective. A better solution is a new business model that uses new technologies, marketing strategies and pricing models so that content industries could better police the market and internalize copyright protection costs, according to a report issued by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
In the study Expanding the Market's Role in Advancing Intellectual Property, CEI Adjunct Analyst James Plummer demonstrates how dramatically the proliferation of Internet-related technologies and shifting consumer attitudes have made traditional pricing and rights enforcement models obsolete. In addition, Plummer argues that putting the cost of copyright protection entirely on law enforcement agencies unfairly burdens taxpayers.
“Content producers can use new technologies to offer differentiated products at differentiated prices to consumers showing different levels of interest in the work of particular artists. Such innovations should not be hampered by antitrust and other government regulations,” writes Plummer. “One-size-fits-all mandates on critical consumer technologies will stifle the growth of the intellectual property industry and indeed, of new forms of art. A wide array of hardware-software combinations to choose from would best serve copyright holders—artists and the content industries—and consumers.”
The debate over how digital content should be protected – as exemplified in the case of M.G.M. v. Groskter currently being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court – is vital in today’s diversified consumer culture and global marketplace. Copyright holders can adapt to this new world with fresh ideas or risk being left behind by consumers.
CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. For more information, please visit
***National Instruments Introduces Its Smallest, Most Portable Measurement Device
AUSTIN, Texas
March 29, 2005
Engineers and scientists now can turn standard PDAs into customized, portable measurement tools with the new National Instruments CompactFlash data acquisition (DAQ) device. The NI CF-6004 device -- which is slightly larger than a standard postage stamp -- plugs into any PDA with a CompactFlash slot to create a handheld instrument with the processing and wireless communication capabilities of the latest PDA devices.
The NI CF-6004 is a 14-bit multifunction data acquisition device that plugs directly into a PDA CompactFlash slot to provide up to 200 KS/s single-channel sampling on four analog input channels in a handheld form factor. It also offers four lines of digital I/O for controlling and measuring LVTTL or LVCMOS signals. Engineers can use the NI LabVIEW graphical programming environment for Pocket PC and Palm OS to acquire, analyze and view the data on their PDAs.
The flexibility and mobility of the NI CF-6004 make it ideal for applications such as wearable computing and field monitoring and diagnostics, as well as in laboratory and educational settings. Compared to buying several traditional, handheld instruments, engineers can save valuable space by using a single PDA with LabVIEW and the NI CF-6004 DAQ device. Because engineers can define their own unique instruments in LabVIEW and then easily deploy them to their handheld devices, they also can later change and redeploy these applications to repurpose their PDAs for new measurements. In addition, because PDAs are typically less expensive than laptops, PDA-based data acquisition is a cost-effective option for handheld, portable instruments.
http://www.ni.com/dataacquisition
0513.7 Medical Technology Growth
***Demand for Semiconductor Technologies in Medical Imaging Modalities on the Rise
PALO ALTO, Calif.
March 30, 2005
With semiconductor content in medical imaging modalities increasing and likely to continue doing so until 2008, semiconductor vendors look forward to opportunities for growth particularly in high-end imaging systems such as ultrasounds and computed tomography (CT) scanners.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Strategic Analysis of Semiconductors in the Global Medical Imaging Modality Market, reveals that the total market generated revenue of $1,094.5 million in 2003 and expects to reach $1,954.9 million in 2008 at an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.3 percent.
This is likely to be a difficult task due to the dynamic nature of the medical imaging modalities market and the fact that the semiconductor market is itself going though some changes, from a technology point of view.
For instance, medical imaging vendors are increasingly demanding higher speed and superior quality imaging. To satisfy this need, semiconductor vendors might have to work at combining one or more technologies in collaboration with other vendors. Building the right partnership in order to offer the best possible technology to their medical imaging clients is, therefore, likely to play a decisive role in the success of semiconductor vendors.
The quality of imaging is a critical factor, particularly for high-end imaging instruments such as ultrasound systems and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners. Since customers consider these expensive systems as a long-term investment, it is essential for semiconductor vendors to develop upgrades regularly and cut down on the time-to-market.
Since frequent upgrades call for a flexible architecture, the field programmable gate array (FPGA) is likely to dominate over other technologies. FPGA expects to be one of the fastest growing segments and has already started replacing other well-established technologies in some major modalities, despite being relatively new.
Strategic Analysis of Semiconductors in the Global Medical Imaging Modality Market, part of the 9952 subscription, offers detailed revenue forecasts for the total semiconductor market segmented on technology basis. This can help vendors assess the future development of each technology and their potential in the medical imaging modalities market. Executive summaries and interviews are available to the press.
***Sane Solutions Releases NetTracker Lite - a ''Freeware'' Version of Their NetTracker Web Analytics Software
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.
March 29, 2005
Sane Solutions, developers of the NetTracker line of Web analytics software, has announced the availability of NetTracker Lite. This "freeware" version of NetTracker provides owners of small and low-traffic Web sites with robust Web site traffic analysis software at no cost.
NetTracker Lite users can take advantage of many of the features found in commercial versions of the NetTracker line of Web analytics solutions, including advanced filtering and drill down capabilities, flexible reporting options including a calendar-based reporting interface, and the ability to share browser-based reports on the Web or export reports to software tools such as Excel and Word.
In the past, the entry-level and freeware Web site traffic analysis markets consisted of basic 'hit-counters', aptly named for what they do - count hits. NetTracker Lite goes beyond counting hits and provides more meaningful, market standard measurements such as the number of visits, visitors, and page views.
While new software companies often offer freeware versions of their software when they are just getting started in order to quickly gain market share, this offering is unique in that the NetTracker line of commercial Web analytics solutions have been on the market for over eight years and are used by over 10,000 customers world-wide.
NetTracker Lite supports Windows, Mac, Linux, and FreeBSD platforms, and can be downloaded for free.
0513.9 Semiconductor History Project
***The Silicon Genesis Project Announces the History of Fairchild Semiconductor Available on DVD; Proceeds to Fund Future Chronicles of the Semiconductor Industry
MENLO PARK, Calif.
March 29, 2005
Walker Research Associates of Menlo Park announced the availability of a three-hour digital video documentary of Fairchild Semiconductor. The DVD, titled "The Fairchild Chronicles," tells the story of the Silicon Valley icon company that invented the integrated circuit and spawned the growth of numerous technology companies.
The Fairchild documentary is based on the Stanford University archived "Silicon Genesis," a series of video oral histories started in 1995 by Rob Walker, one of the founders of LSI Logic and author of Silicon Destiny: The Story of Application Specific Integrated Circuits and LSI Logic Corporation (Milpitas: C.M.C. Publications, 1992; available at www.walkerresearch.com).
The Fairchild documentary is told in the words of those who lead the company, including Gordon Moore, Wilf Corrigan, Jerry Sanders, Charlie Sporck and others. Included in the DVD are over sixty early photographs of the company and key executives and employees who contributed to the company's growth and success. The documentary covers the period from Fairchild's founding in 1957 to the purchase of the company by National Semiconductor in 1986.
About Silicon Genesis
The Silicon Genesis project was the inspiration of Rob Walker, Silicon Valley native and engineer, who has been involved with semiconductors since the 1960s at Fairchild, Intel and as a founder of LSI Logic. Silicon Genesis comprises more than 30 interviews with pioneers of the semiconductor industry, with careful attention to the long-term preservation of these interviews. Archival and viewing copies are available in the Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, in addition to the streamed media available on
http://silicongenesis.stanford.edu
"The Fairchild Chronicles" DVD is priced at $39.95 and may be obtained from Panalta Inc. 250 Emerson Street, Palo Alto CA 94301. All revenues go to The Stanford University Libraries to continue chronicling the history of the semiconductor industry.
***Burson-Marsteller Identifies Next Generation of Influencers; Tech-fluentials are the New Chief Opinion Leaders
NEW YORK
March 29, 2005
A study released global public relations agency Burson-Marsteller, has identified a new group of opinion leaders - tech-fluentials. These tech-fluentials are powerful influencers who use high-end technologies to accelerate word-of-mouth marketing and turn their product recommendations into sales. The study revealed that 86 percent of tech-fluentials are asked by family, friends and colleagues for advice and influence these people's product choices.
Tech-fluentials are a new breed of influential, technology-driven opinion leaders who seamlessly connect their work and personal lives while transmitting information about companies, brands and products. All-powerful chat rooms, web sites, digital cameras, discussion boards and blogs are the tools of the trade for these influencers who can create or change opinions, establish trends, build buzz for a brand and sway stakeholders.
Almost all tech-fluentials indicate that quality (98 percent) and function (97 percent) -regardless of price (74 percent) - are the primary factors that influence their technology purchasing decisions. More than three-quarters (76 percent) say they buy technology products based on design and style. Forty-two percent of tech-fluentials purchase a company's products and services after learning about a company's social responsibility programs.
Tech-fluentials are fast communicators at home, at work and on the go.
-- Nine in 10 (92 percent) tech-fluentials have broadband at home and nearly half live in wireless households (43 percent). By contrast, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project (2004), 39 percent of U.S. online adults have high-speed access at home and about one percent use wireless technology when connecting to the Internet from home.
-- Twenty percent of tech-fluentials have smart phones with PDA and e-mail access. According to the Yankee Group, as of October 2004, less than one percent of the U.S. population use wireless e-mail.
-- Eight in 10 tech-fluentials use new technologies to solve business problems (83 percent) and believe that cutting- edge technology gives them a key business advantage (78 percent).
According to the research sample of 400, tech-fluentials buzz about companies offline and online.
-- Eighty-one percent talk about their experiences with a company over the phone or in-person.
-- Fifty-one percent of tech-fluentials give feedback to companies through company web sites and thirty-three percent have their own blogs. Their blogging activity is significantly above technology norms. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project (2004), seven percent of U.S. online adults have created a blog.
-- Forty-six percent of tech-fluentials post messages on discussion boards and 41 percent use instant messaging when relaying information about companies.
The tech-fluentials study is based on Burson-Marsteller's research on e-fluentials, a powerful group of online opinion makers. Using its proprietary algorithm, Burson-Marsteller screened WIRED panel members and identified 400 e-fluentials among them. For complete information on e-fluentials, please visit
--------------------------------------
Copyright 2005 4th WAVE, Inc.
To subscribe to WAVE go to
To unsubscribe also use the Wave Report Home page or send the preformatted UNSUBSCRIBE message:
Previous issues of WAVE, as well as other info can be found at
http://www.wave-report.com
http://www.3dlinks.com
Comments on or questions about the WAVE may be sent to:
or the below individuals below:
John N. Latta - Editor-In-Chief
Michael Robertson - Web Editor
The WAVE Report may be redistributed in full for individual readership and posted to newsgroups, Web, and FTP sites. This publication may not be reprinted or redistributed for profit. Short quotes are permitted but must be attributed to the WAVE Report. 4th Wave retains the copyright to the WAVE Report.