This month Intel will rearchitect its StrongArm embedded processor and optimise the high-power, low-performance chip for handheld PCs and network hardware devices. Capitalising on technology obtained from Digital Equipment, Intel has tweaked the StrongArm to achieve 600MHz performance with a 32KB cache, while consuming only 0.5 watts of power.
A new dimension will be added to workgroup collaboration in 2000 when the Internet is used to send files directly to printers all over the world. The Printer Working Group (PWG), which is composed of all major printer vendors, ratified Version 1.0 of the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) and sent it on to the Internet Engineering Task Force for final approval. Despite the fact that Internet printing solutions already exist within Unix and Mac OS products, the goal of the PWG is to give IT organisations a single unified solution.
Intel announced at its Professional Developer's Conference in California plans to ship manufacturing samples of its 64-bit Merced processor in mid-1999, with the production version following in mid-2000. The company also announced that using a PC running the Merced simulator it successfully booted seven different operating systems, including Microsoft's forthcoming Win64, Sun's Solaris, SCO's UnixWare Monterey, Novell's Modesto, and Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX. Intel also plans to fully support a 64-bit version of Linux.
Intel announced last week at its Professional Developer's Conference in Palm Springs, California, plans to ship manufacturing samples of its 64-bit Merced processor in mid-1999, with the production version following in mid-2000.
A company by the unusual name of Zero-Knowledge wowed an audience at the Demo '99 conference last week with a demonstration of its Freedom 1.0 application, which ensures 100 per cent anonymity to users browsing the Web through the use of digital pseudonyms. The program, which creates a pseudonym for $10 per year, hides a Web surfer's true identity. As a result, the program renders useless any user profiles created by tracking mouse clicks or online discussion content.
With the recent release of a minor upgrade to the Windows CE operating system for the Palm PC platform to support colour displays, IT organisations considering these devices will need to decide between flashy screens and battery life. Backlit displays, also called transmissive displays, work best indoors and will offer users a "more intense colour depth," according to Roger Gulrajani, group product manager for Windows CE at Microsoft.
Support is growing on the part of electronic-commerce vendors to use a hardware security solution in desktop systems. Such a system would create so-called "trusted clients," taking the place of server-side security, and would facilitate secure online sales of content and intellectual property.
In one of the worst-kept secrets in the PC industry, Intel is releasing to system OEMs under a nondisclosure agreement the specifications behind its efforts to rid the world of legacy PC technology such as ISA bus, serial, and parallel ports. Although Intel, Microsoft, and system vendors would like to see technology such as the ISA bus disappear to reduce manufacturing and support costs, there may be a push back from IT managers who still use older systems and face bigger problems than installing an ISA-based network interface card (NIC).
The growing popularity of thinner and lighter notebooks that maintain full desktop capability is putting the mobile PC industry on the fast track to incorporate alternatives to bulky PC Card technology. The PCI Special Interest Group (PCI SIG) plans to release a Mini PCI specification for review and also plans to publish Version 1.0 in the first quarter of 1999.
The future of speech recognition: Gaston Bastiaens
Form-factor segmentation will be one of the key differentiators notebook vendors will use for their products this quarter and throughout most of 1999. At Comdex later this month, Fujitsu Computer Products of America will introduce the LifeBook L440 notebook measuring just 2.8cm deep and weighing 2kg.
Announcements from NEC and Hewlett-Packard are highlighting two mobile industry trends that may be on a collision course. NEC is expected to announce a low-cost Versa Note notebook computer, which is priced at $US1699. The Versa Note is a full-featured, Windows 95 or Windows 98 mobile device with an Intel Pentium processor geared to the "corporate value" buyer. Last week, HP announced the Jornada Windows CE device using an embedded StrongARM processor and no hard drive, which is priced at $US1000. NEC has a similar Mobile Pro device.
Software vendors and developers will give 3Com Corporation's PalmPilot platform a major enterprise boost with applications and toolkits that will optimise the handheld device for access to corporate data.
Increased demand for notebooks with large displays and bigger hard drives will lead to product shortages this year, with shortfalls continuing into early 1999, according to analyst reports. As corporate buyers begin to transition to Intel Pentium II technology on notebooks, LCD and hard drive suppliers will be unable to meet demand, according to Randal Giusto, director of mobile technology research at International Data Corp (IDC).
Sensing an untapped opportunity, Korean high-tech giants, KDS and Trigem - both with Seoul headquarters and US offices - are creating a joint venture, Emachines, to sell desktop systems for less than $US500 to the commercial and retail markets later this year.
