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Tid-bits
12/7 - HDTVs are selling like hotcakes. However, nearly half of owners of HDTV sets are not getting the full value out of their investment and are still watching standard definition TV. HDTV ordinarily requires additional equipment: not just the HDTV set itself. "For the same amount of money you would spend on a few cups of coffee a month, you can receive true HD service".
Better late than never. Qualcomm has joined the Wi-Fi Alliance. As a member of the Wi-Fi Alliance, Qualcomm shall participate in making its wireless products interoperate with 802.11 technologies. Moving forward "QUALCOMM's contributions to 802.11n technology include MIMO".
Cisco CEO John Chambers pointed to video as the primary driver of demand for more bandwidtch on the Internet. "The rapidly spreading use of video on the Internet will lead to a sharp increase in network traffic".
Sony has a dedicated digital photo and digital video device for creating photo and (home) movie DVDs. It's like a standalone photo printer, except that it burns DVDs. And you don't need a computer. But what else can you do with it? Well, you can print, for one thing. "For additional functionality, the new DVDirect model can also be connected to a PC".
You cannot install MontaVista Linux on a computer: it's designed strictly for the embedded market. The OS (operating system) can fit into just "32 MBytes".
NAND Flash memory is "the fastest-growing segment of the semiconductor industry".
Chip equipment maker Novellus was able to take chip making equipment for 0.18 microns technology and over time scale the same "platform down to 45nm processing".
Microsoft has released to manufacturing Windows Server 2003 R2. One of the features, in conjunction with Virtual Server 2005 R2, is support for virtualization, especially useful in CPU's with virtualization technology like Intel's VT or AMD's upcoming Pacifica. Potential applications include server consolidation, "disaster recovery, and software testing".
ATI has introduced the first mobile GPU (graphics processing unit) with Avivo.
IBM, a major manufacturer of POS (point-of-sale) systems, has unveiled "its next generation of IBM Self Checkout solutions".
Sun has announced new low end servers that compete head to head primarily with Intel Xeons. Servers can have up to eight cores and use very little power. Offerings are part of "Sun's push to re-establish itself as a key server player".
The chipset shortage at Intel lingers, and the slack is being taken up by Taiwanese chipset makers and ATI. Chipset makers are even mixing and matching their chips among themselves in some instances, with southbridge chips from ULi being "bundled with northbridges from ATI" (DigiTimes) .