***QuickNews
Mpact Finally Arrives
After years of development and anticipation, the Mpact media processor
has finally arrived. Now available, the Mpact|M3000 is based on
parallel processing and achieves over 3 billion operations per second
dedicated to the acceleration of PC multimedia and communications
functions. The processor is software-upgradable and offers acceleration
and support for the concurrent operation of DVD, 2D & 3D video, MPEG-1
playback, SRS TruSurround and Dolby Digital Sound, videophone,
fax/modem and full telephony features. Mpact chips are manufactured by
Toshbia, LG Semicon and SGS-Thomson, while Chromatic Research develops
the software.
Two Mpact boards are currently available:
$399 Mpact Blazer Pro: 4MB RDRAM, 33.6 modem
$449 Mpact Blazer Max: 4MB RDRAM, 33.6 modem, TV display, video
capture, digital audio play
www.mpactzone.com
Datapath Port To Real3D Platform
[April 1]
Datapath (UK-based) and Real3D (a Lockheed-Martin Company) have
announced that they have ported Datapath's RealiMation to Real3D's
hardware platforms. RealiMation, a real-time 3D development tool,
combines powerful features with an easy-to-use interface, and provides
menu-selectable renderers including OpenGL, Direct3D, Glide,
RenderWare, and the Real3D Pro-1000 Series API.
www.datapath.co.uk
www.real3d.com
New Collections From 3NAME3D
3NAME3D has made available several new collections of 3D models in
their Cyberprops library. The "High-Res Collections" feature models
suitable for broadcast and film and include collections of cars, ships,
buildings, electronics, sports and animals. The hi-res models are
individually priced from $45 for animals etc. up to $175 for cars &
coins and are also available as collections priced from $399 to $799.
They have also announced "The Living Earth," high-resolution satellite
composite images and texture maps, available as states, countries,
continents and regions and with resolutions up to 1 km per pixel.
www.ywd.com
Online Gaming Report From Forrester
[April 4]
A new market report from Forrester claims that the number of consumer
playing games online will triple by the year 2001 - up from the current
estimate of 6 million to 18 million. They also predict that online
games will be supported by advertising and sponsorship rather than
subscription-based, as well as the rise of online gaming centers. The
report can be read for free on Forrester's Web site:
www.forrester.com
MetaTools Acquires Specular International
[April 7]
MetaTools has announced a definitive non-dilutive agreement to acquire
Specular International. MetaTools plans to issue the number of shares
of MetaTools common stock equal to $5,451,000 divided by the average
closing price of the MetaTools stock 20 days prior to the close of the
transaction and $1,000,000 in exchange for all the outstanding shares
of Specular. MetaTools will also issue 450,000 non-qualified stock
options to purchase MetaTools common stock to Specular employees.
MetaTools will continue to market Specular's professional 3D modeling
software targeted at video professionals while expanding distribution
of certain Specular consumer products. They also plan to close
Specular's Amherst, Massachusetts headquarters.
www.metatools.com
www.specular.com
3Dlabs Boosts GLINT OpenGL Performance
[April 8]
3Dlabs have announced that they have again increased the OpenGL
performance of their GLINT processors through software enhancements to
their OpenGL Installable Client Driver (ICD). According to 3Dlabs, the
improvements increase GLINT's Viewperf benchmarks scores by up to 30%,
with a CDRS score 20.48 at true color depths (which they compare to an
Intergraph Intense 3D-T Pro 1000 with a score of 19.59 and a Dynamic
Pictures Oxygen 202 with a score of 14.94).
www.3dlabs.com
3Dlabs and Intervista Partner for VRML
[April 8]
3Dlabs and Intervista Software have announced a partnership to
"accelerate and promote" Intervista's WorldView VRML 2.0 browser on
3Dlabs hardware. In addition, Intervista is offering bundling deals to
3Dlabs OEM customers.
www.intervista.com
Caligari trueSpace3 Ships
[April 7]
Caligari has announced that trueSpace3 will ship on April 15. New
features include accurate modeling detection, live skin with metaballs
modeling, the PlastiForm surface particle generator, improved forward
dynamic and inverse kinematics and Direct3D and Internet support. They
have also announced that a free improved key frame editor will be
available within 60 days of the shipment of trueSpace3 to registered
users.
www.caligari.com
Superscape and Black Sun Deliver Web Community
[March 12]
Superscape and Black Sun Interactive have partnered to integrate
Superscape's Viscape browser with Black Sun's online community
technology. Via a new Java interface, the Viscape browser links with
Black Sun's Passport client software to enable chat and interaction on
the Web. The Viscape browser with integrated Black Sun Passport
features is available for download from Superscape's Web site:
www.superscape.com
www.blacksun.com
New ModelShop From Electric Café
Earlier this year, Electic Café released version 2.5 of ModelShop, a 3D
modeling program for Macintosh and targetted at architects, engineers,
and designers. New or improved features found in version 2.5 include
Boolean modeling, floating-point accuracy, a hand tool for interactive
viewing, QuickDraw 3D rendering, texture mapping, antialiasing,
transparency, smooth shading, spot lights, animation timeline windows,
keyframe-based camera controls and drag & drop support. ModelShop 2.5
retails for $349.
In addition, Electic Café has recently announced that ModelShop 3.0
(formerly 2.6) is currently in production and will be released this
summer. Some new features scheduled for version 3.0 include
photorealistic rendering, QuickTime VR export, the ability to access
any QuickDraw 3D plug-in renderer, QuickDraw 3D 1.5.1 support, VRML
import and export, and 3D TrueType and Postscript text. ModelShop 3.0
will retail for $399 with upgrades from previous versions for $99.
www.eleccafe.com
Intergraph Announces New 3D PCs
[March 31]
Intergraph Computer Systems has announced new 3D PCs that feature
Intel's MMX technology. The new models round out the TD PC product line
targeted at technical and business professionals. The systems come
standard with Microsoft Office 97, Intergraph's Intense3D 100 graphics
processors, 16 MB RAM and 1.7 GB disk space. The new models include:
TD-22 133-200 MHz Pentium 16-64 MB RAM
TD-25 166 or 200 MHz Pentium w/ MMX 16-64 MB RAM
TD-220 180 or 200 MHz Pentium Pro 16-256 MB RAM
For a limited time, promotion users can get a TD PC with a free copy of
Macromedia's Exteme3D. Prices start at $1,185 (TD-22), $1,485 (TD-25)
and $$1,680 (TD-220).
www.intergraph.com
Diamond Ships 56K Modems
[March 24]
Diamond Multimedia announced the SupraExpress 56 line of modems, with
the initial models, the SupraExpress 56i and SupraExpress 56e, shipping
now for $169.95 and $189.95, respectively. The modems incorporate the
new Rockwell/Lucent K56flex technology, which has so far garnered the
support of over 600 ISPs nation-wide.
www.diamondmm.com
www.open56k.org
Wave Issue 9707 4/14/97 Article 1-01