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Tech News for Friday April 28th 2000.Site
News Update. Today is a very slow news day and all you are going to hear is about the Microsoft VS. DOJ case. I will keep an eye on the news sites and post information as soon as I hear something. Microsoft
Plan To Be Released. I still think it's a big mistake that the government gets involved and hands down a decision that splits Microsoft into smaller companies. The market needs to decide for itself what is right because bureaucrats in the White House have no idea who the IT market works. WASHINGTON (AP) - Details of a plan to break up Microsoft will be released today when the Justice Department and 19 states that successfully sued the software giant for antitrust violations submit their joint proposal on what sanctions to impose. The remedy, which would split Microsoft into two parts, is intended to prevent the company from engaging in any illegal behavior in the future. The proposal would forbid the split companies from recombining for 10 years, according to a published report. The proposal will be submitted after financial markets close to U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who on April 3 ruled that Microsoft repeatedly violated federal antitrust laws intended to maintain fair competition by using its monopoly power in the operating systems market to crush rivals. Jackson gave the government and the states the option of submitting separate briefs if they failed to agree on a remedy. Despite doubts expressed by some states on the divestiture plan, a single proposal will be filed with the court, according to people close to the talks. ``There will be one document which will be the voice for the Department of Justice and virtually all of the states,'' one source said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity. However, ``one or two states may choose to put in an appendix or footnotes'' to record their difference of opinion in some areas. Tech News for Thursday April 27th 2000.Intel
disables ID tracking in new chips. Later generation Intel Pentium III's and Xeon processors contained unique identification numbers that could be retrieved by programs such as web pages. This caused a major controversy with private-rights advocates and so Intel has decided to remove the unique identifier from all forthcoming CPU's. I'd say this is a smart move because no-one dared use this feature for fear of baring the onslaught of private rights groups. There was a
firestorm of protest when Intel put ID-tracking technology in Pentium III chips.
Now it's obsolete and being removed. "We made the decision earlier this year," said George Alfs, a spokesman for Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) said Thursday. "We are not planning for (the chip ID) in our next processor." Creative
Labs announces GeForce2 video card. Creative Technology Ltd. today announced its next-generation graphics accelerator, the 3D Blaster® Annihilator™ 2, based on the NVIDIA® GeForce2 GTS™ – the Gigatexel processing, real-time shading graphics processor unit (GPU). The successor to the award-winning 3D Blaster® Annihilator™ Pro, the Annihilator 2 introduces the NVIDIA Shading Rasterizer (NSR). This radical new technology delivers 2 textures per pixel, per-pixel shading and complex pixel operation in a single pass with 4 independent pixel pipelines (to simulate material properties and natural phenomena), thus processing eight texels per clock cycle. This new architecture delivers up to 1.6 Gigatexels per second of peak fill rate performance, a dramatic improvement in texture processing power over any previous consumer graphics processor. With second-generation hardware transform and lighting (T&L) engines, the Annihilator 2 can process more than 25 million triangles per second. The Annihilator 2 boasts 32 MB of double-data rate (DDR) memory, effectively operating at 333MHz to generate 5.3 GB/second of dedicated graphics memory bandwidth. The Annihilator 2 enables PC users to experience accurate surface attributes and textures in real time, rendering cinematically rich detailed environments. These compelling visual elements are a function of shaders, or per-pixel shading. In this process, pixels are assigned different attributes, such as color, light, shadow, reflectivity, gloss and more to accurately replicate complex environments. Users will experience significant improvement over texture mapping techniques that characterized previous graphics accelerators. Hercules
announces GeForce2 video card. HERCULES EXPANDS ITS AWARD-WINNING FAMILY WITH NEW 3D PROPHET II GTS New GeForce2 GTS-based Board Delivers Blazing Performance and Per-Pixel Shading to Gaming Enthusiasts MONTREAL, April 26, 2000 - Hercules is excited to introduce its latest in their range of cutting-edge graphics boards: the 3D Prophet II GTS. The exciting new 3D Prophet II GTS boards, which will be available in 32MB and 64MB versions and include TV-out, are based on NVIDIA's latest GPU - the GeForce2 GTS(tm). "The new Hercules 3D Prophet II GTS graphics boards have been carefully crafted with hardcore gamers in mind to offer all the latest technological innovations," says Alain Pakiry, Executive Vice President. " Hercules guarantees no compromise with it's cards - once again we offer the best and hottest features - providing unsurpassed quality in 3D graphics." Hercules is using the latest in groundbreaking technologies for this new line of graphics cards. These specific designs were developed to take advantage of the new 3D graphics features programmed into the current and upcoming games. 3D Prophet II GTS cards will provide features including a 2nd generation hardware transform and lighting engine, 100% hardware triangle setup, four dual-texturing pipelines mapping, eight texels per clock cycle and the NVIDIATM Shading Rasterizer (NSR) which offers per-pixel shading features for rich, lifelike and cinematic effects. The cards also feature DDR-RAM (200 MHz core clock / 333 MHz DDR RAM clock) resulting in intense speed and a dazzling 1.6 GigaTexels per second and amazingly fast clock speeds which means unbeatable refresh rates for top-quality visuals. The 3D Prophet II GTS will provide advanced High Definition Video Processor (HDPV), which delivers the highest quality playback for DVD and HDTV. Availability The 3D Prophet II GTS will be available at Babbages Etc, Best Buy, CompUSA, Electronics Boutique, Fry's Electronics and Future Shop. The
Quest for Better Performance. The biggest bottleneck on your PC is the RAM (excluding mechanical storage devices). The rule of thumb when building a new PC is to make sure you can squeeze the fastest possible FSB (Front-Side Bus) speed out of your system. Basically it's better to have a 450mhz machine with a 128mhz FSB speed than a 500mhz machine with a 100mhz FSB speed. Since the FSB (Front-Side Bus) speed is the speed between your CPU and your main memory it is important to speed it up as much as possible - even if it requires you to overclock your system. To give you an idea of exactly how bad of a bottleneck the RAM is - imagine, if you will that your system is a 1000mhz PC and your RAM is only clocked at 133mhz. Now your 1000mhz CPU has wait on your MUCH slower 133mhz RAM for data which creates a tremendous bottle-neck. Ace's Hardware has
posted a very detailed article on PC hardware performance for those of you who
are wishing to understand how the different hardware components affect overall
through-put. Xerox,
Microsoft to Launch New Company. SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Copier giant Xerox Corp. (NYSE:XRX - news) and software behemoth Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) plan to host a press conference on Thursday to unveil a new firm that will be focused on media management over the Internet. A spokesman said that the firms will host a news conference at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, which will be attended by Microsoft president and chief executive Steve Ballmer and Xerox president and chief executive Rick Thoman. The companies said in a statement that their announcements would ``impact the future of Internet use and e-commerce.'' A spokesman said they plan to launch a new firm centered on media management. He declined to be more specific and no other details were immediately available. Last year, Microsoft and Xerox announced an alliance to make it easier for businesses to share digital information. Voodoo
6 pictures. The first batch of the Voodoo 6 video card pictures are showing up all over the internet. When I looked at the first set of pictures I was simply stunned at how enormous the card was. Another shock-point is that the Voodoo 6 video card requires it's own external powersupply! Take a look at some of the pictures here. Also, last but not least - the Voodoo6 video card is going to cost your around $600.00! AMD
announces new 'Duron' processor. If Intel thought AMD was making their life difficult, then they have another lesson heading their way. Intel just announced that the "consumer" end Celeron-II's are being delayed to increase production yield and now AMD is releasing another CPU to compete. Here's a clip from a news posting
on ZDNET: The processor's name, Duron, was derived from the Latin word "durare," which means "to last." Duron was announced Thursday morning by Jerry Sanders, the company's chairman and CEO, at its financial analyst meeting in New York. Duron, based on AMD's (NYSE: AMD) Athlon processor technology, will target consumers in the market for value PCs.It is expected that Duron will be available this summer in sub-$1,000 PCs. AMD will offer the new chip at higher clock speeds than its K6-2, which has topped out at 550MHz, but is unlikely to charge much more than the 550MHz K6-2, which was introduced at $187. The consumer benefit, the company says, will be low cost and much higher performance. "We want (consumers) to know they've got something good and solid and they won't have to spend another $1,000 in six months or a year," said Mark Bode, division marketing manager for Athlon at AMD. The chip will offer 128KB of on-die cache and will use AMD's new Socket A packaging. Socket A is a socket for attaching the chip to the motherboard. It looks similar to the Super Socket 7 used by the company's K6-2 chip. Appearances, however, are where the similarities end. Duron will have a smaller Level 2 cache, lower clock speed and lower cost than the Athlon. Duron is sampling to PC makers now. The chip is slated to begin shipments in June. AMD did not disclose other details on the
new chip. However, ZDNet
has reported that Duron will offer a 200MHz system bus and will be available
in a range of speeds from 550MHz to 700MHz with prices ranging from $75 to $175 3-megapixel
cameras to be launched. Digital cameras are slowly improving to where professional photographers might consider a move to the new digital film format. With next generation digital cameras starting to hit the shelves, analysts are predicting mainstream adoption of digital photography -- if the price is right. The new 3-megapixel units, which boast 35-mm quality stills, let users blow up details of smaller sections of a digital image. Some next-generation digital cameras -- Canon's $799 Powershot S20 and Nikon's $999 CoolPix 990 -- are already on the market. Olympus has announced that its $999 C-3030 ZOOM $999 will be available in May. However, according to IDC analyst Ron Glaz, consumers won't just zoom in on better image quality. "While improved picture quality will help drive users adoption, ultimately price will be the dominant factor," Glaz said. The new 3-megapixel units are expected to drive down prices of older digital cameras. With 3-megapixel cameras retailing for an expected $700-$1,000, prices for 2-megapixel units should fall to the $500-$700 price range. And 1-megapixel units will be available for between $200 and $500. Tech News for Wednesday April 26th 2000.Red
Hat Moves Beyond Operating Systems. A very smart move by Red Hat to expand it's market arena by no completely focusing on Linux: As part of its strategy to become a one-stop shop for utilities and other tools, Red Hat has acquired performance management software vendor Bluecurve and has launched the redhat.com Marketplace portal. The acquisition of Bluecurve for $35 million in stock allows Red Hat (stock: RHAT) to offer a tool for monitoring Linux systems. Developers can use Bluecurve to simulate transactions and scale their infrastructures to meet service-level agreements. Bluecurve will appeal to companies that don't want to acquire their own simulation tools, according to Rand Morimoto, CEO of Oakland, Calif.-based Incacom Oakland, a technology consulting firm that has used it to develop and manage Linux systems. "There are a lot of organizations that need to simulate their systems, but don't want to buy [software]," Morimoto said. Red Hat, based in Durham, N.C., will start offering Bluecurve on a subscription basis through its website later this year, said chief operating officer Tim Buckley; pricing is still to be determined. More
GeForce2 GTS previews/reviews. If you have a slow morning or are simply aching to learn as much as possible about the GeForce2 then here are a couple of reviews/previews to satisfy or appetite: -iXBT
Labs GeForce 2 preview WinZip
8.0. WinZip 8.0 final has been released: WinZip brings the convenience of Windows to the use of ZIP files and other archive and compression formats. The optional wizard interface makes unzipping easier than ever. WinZip features built-in support CAB files and for popular Internet file formats such as TAR, gzip, UUencode, BinHex, and MIME. ARJ, LZH, and ARC files are supported via external programs. WinZip interfaces with most virus scanners. Intel
to launch USB 2.0 today. Intel's Pat 'Kicking' Gelsinger,
the company's desktop products group VP, will today unveil the long-awaited
final spec for USB 2.0 at WinHEC. Palm
3xe Review. I'm a little surprised that a web site called "3D Accelerated" would write up a Palm IIXe review. Anyway read this review on Palm's latest incarnation. For $249 it may
not be the best choice for users wanting to pickup their first model and want to
consider the smaller $149 Palm IIIe. It's
finally here: The GeForce2 GTS. Today is the day every PC hardware enthusiast has been waiting for! nVidia has announced the sequel to the GeForce called GeForce2 GTS. Reviews and previews are showing up on the web significantly faster than I can post them so I will try and pick the best ones. To start the day nVNews has posted a full review on nVidia's new "Pixel Pump" and you can read the full article here. To give you a taste of what's to come: GeForce 256 vs GeForce2 GTS
Table Source: nVNews.net It looks like the
first GeForce2 GTS cards will be showing up in the stores sometime around late
May 2000 but you are going to have to order one as they are going to fly off the
shelves faster than you can blink an eye. Tech News for Tuesday April 25th 2000.Red
Hat Linux open to backdoor password. Red Hat Linux administrators take note: A team of Internet security researchers say they've found a serious security hole in the most popular distribution of the Linux operating system.According to Internet Security Systems Inc., there's a backdoor account in Red Hat's Linux that would let a computer intruder access and alter files on some computers running Red Hat's most recent version of Linux. But a spokeswoman for Red Hat downplayed the flaw, saying few Red Hat users had been exposed to it. The vulnerability was discovered by researchers at Internet Security Systems earlier this month; it has since been fixed by Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT), but any user running Red Hat's most recent Linux distribution should download and install the fix, the company said. The account and password that can be exploited are actually associated with Red Hat's "Piranha" product, a collection of utilities that simplify some Webmaster administration tasks. Armed with the password, a computer intruder sitting at any Web browser could access the Piranha utilities console for a Red Hat-run Web site. A second flaw, also discovered by Internet Security Systems, could then allow a user to gain full control of the computer. In this second flaw, an intruder working inside the Piranha console can select the "change password" option, then tack a line of computer instructions on the end of the new password. The code, which can do anything the Web server itself can do, will then be executed by the computer, according to researcher Allen Wilson, who discovered both flaws. "This is a very high risk," said Chris Rouland, director of Internet Security Systems' research team. "It gives people the same rights as the Web server itself. That means, for example, at an e-commerce site someone could connect to the customer databases connected to that Web server. And of course, it's wide open for defacement." Only Red Hat
users who have installed the Piranha component are vulnerable. Piranha is
installed only if a Red Hat user specifically selects clustering functions when
installing the software - or if a user chooses "install all." But a
user need not actually use the utility for the vulnerability to be exploited. ATI
Radeon previews. Just yesterday ATI posted a press release on the impressive looking Radeon video processor. On paper the video card looks to be very competitive (if not a possible trend-maker) and hopefully we will see some more official benchmarks shortly. Blatantly ripped from 3DNews, here are some of the more recent previews: HotHardware Preview Gamers Depot First Look Firingsquad Preview GamePC Overview
Playing
the Wallstreet game. Over the last 48 hours the tech stocks have taken a serious knocking and worst of all the brunt has fallen on Microsoft. Wallstreet analysts have labeled Microsoft's stock a sell because of the split talks with the DOJ and the "less-than stellar earnings". What this shows is that Wallstreet is on VERY shaky ground and the symptoms are everywhere. How can market analysts downgrade Microsoft without having any clear understanding of how the tech arena works? How can you say Microsoft has announced less than expected results considering the beatings the company has taken? I am not endorsing Microsoft but simply pointing out how jittery the market is. As soon as Microsoft's stock plummeted all the tech stocks took a major beating and all because of some nervous investors. This road leads to disaster. We have have tech stocks out there worth more than their parent companies - take Palm and 3COM as a perfect example. Palm is worth more on paper than it's parent company 3COM. Worst of all there are companies with outrageous stock values but they are not posting a single Dollar's worth of earnings. Is it just me that's worried? Apparently not: Just read what John Dvorak has to say here and below is a selected clip from his article. So what happens to these young dot-com executives when the scene tanks and they have to get real jobs? Few, if any, will take their pots of cash and put them in municipal bonds; of that I'm sure. They'll plunge it back into what they know best: the crapshoot, go-go, dot-com scene or something that feels the same. They'll be in the best position to benefit the next time a boom comes around, if it comes around again in their lifetimes. But until then, I'm predicting that these people will become some of the worst investors and worst managers in the history of business and will take the country to ruination when times change. (I just need to get this on the record before the competition does!) The result: a depression that will rival 1929. Okay, I've said it. We keep forgetting that in a hurricane, even pigs can fly. We have a lot of flying pigs around us, in case you haven't noticed. We need to be seeing more realistic stock values on Wallstreet and not these incredible over inflated values. It's pretty apparent that something is wrong because as soon as one of the market leaders takes a downturn, all the other follow soon because the market players are far too nervous. IBM
To Pre-Install Linux On Netfinity. IBM on Monday began selling its Intel-based Netfinity servers equipped with Linux from Caldera Systems (stock: CALD). The pre-installed option is a further commitment by IBM (stock: IBM) to the upstart operating system. In fact, IBM said it plans to add Linux packages from Red Hat (stock: RHAT) and TurboLinux as options as well. "We're looking at do-it-yourself and price-sensitive users," said Jay Bretzmann, the company's manager for Netfinity strategy. Basically, that's tech-savvy small businesses and larger companies with strong internal IT resources. He adds that Linux is also gaining popularity in hosting environments, which have a growing number of open-source applications such as Apache HTTP Server. Bretzmann said Netfinity buyers can save as much as 25 percent per server by opting for the open source operating system over Windows NT or Windows 2000. For now, IBM will offer pre-installed Linux only on two-way or single-processor Netfinity servers. Bretzmann said. However, support for four-way systems may not be far off. "The issue is scalability, but we're working with the open source community to help resolve some of those issues," he said. Bretzmann estimates that 8
percent to 10 percent of IBM Netfinity users run Linux. At the other end of the
spectrum, the company is pushing Linux as an option for its mainframe users.
Individuals familiar with IBM's plans say it will soon offer formal support for
Linux on its S/390 server. Sun
Tests New MAJC Processor. This is the first news I've ever heard about this processor. Here's the article from BetaNews: Sun recently displayed its
Microprocessor Architecture for Java Computing graphics chip to the public. The
'MAJC' chip is designed to deliver superior processing for multimedia, and is
set to ship soon. The processor recently completed the engineering stage, and is
now being manufactured by IBM Microelectronics. Tech News for Monday April 24th 2000.Matrox
announces G450. Another press release is going to be posted tomorrow. This time it's by Matrox on their upcoming G450 video card. There are so many new video cards soon to be on the market that it's almost enough to drive one crazy. How does one ever decide? Wait for benchmarks and driver stability tests to determine which is the card to choose. Now we have the Voodoo5, ATI's Radeon and let's not forget nVidia's GeForce2. My gut says that that nVidia holds the ace card but it's too early to make any educated guesses. The Matrox G450 AGP 2X/4X chip leverages a die shrink of the 0.25-micron Matrox G400 chip technology to integrate a digital flat panel transmitter, TV-out encoder, second RAMDAC and 64-bit DDR memory interface. By integrating these components directly on the chip, the company has re-architectured its award-winning Matrox G400 graphics technology into a full-featured accelerator that is set to standardize DualHead Display across more markets than ever before. Matrox's exclusive DualHead Display is a state-of-the-market technology that provides immediate and valuable benefits by allowing users to double their display real estate by pairing two display screens (RGB monitor, flat panel or TV) as many as eight different ways. Display versatility is further enhanced by
the Matrox G450's 165 MHz Transmission-Minimized Differential Signaling (TMDS)
transmitter, which outputs to a DVI-based digital flat panel at resolutions as
high as 1600 x 1200, in 24-bit color. Business professionals currently using
high-resolution analog monitors, as well as users who plan to take advantage of
increasingly popular digital flat panels, will benefit from the chip's 256-bit
DualBus architecture. This well-balanced architecture powers razor-sharp,
crystal-clear 2D graphics, even at taxing resolutions as high as 2048 x 1536 at
85 Hz, in 32-bit color on the primary display screen. And with two RAMDACs built
directly into the chip, the Matrox G450 ensures a superior-quality analog output
signal-not just to one, but to two displays simultaneously. ATI
Launches RADEON 256. Here it is ladies and gentlemen: ATI introduces the Radeon 256 video card. Read the full press release directly from ATI here. It will be curious to see how the Radeon stacks up against the Voodoo5 and the upcoming GeForce 2. The new chip is a quantum step forward in 3D acceleration for both high-end gaming and 3D workstation graphics. RADEON 256 has the world's fastest hardware transformation, clipping and lighting (T&L) geometry engine and will drive the creation of an entirely new generation of 3D applications and content. "Radeon 256 firmly establishes ATI in the high end, cutting-edge performance category of the PC and workstation markets," said KY Ho, chairman and CEO, ATI Technologies Inc. "ATI is committed to making significant, on-going investments to ensure a continuous stream of winning products in this category." The new chip supports the following firsts:
"ATI's latest generation, the RADEON 256, provides the most complete implementation we've seen to date of the DirectX7 Direct3D feature set and provides a good step toward the features of DirectX8," said Chas Boyd, graphics architect, DirectX, Microsoft. "By enabling full performance, hi-resolution gaming in 32-bit color, RADEON 256 finally makes today's 16-bit color games obsolete." At the core of the RADEON 256 GPU is a trio
of new technologies unique to ATI: The Charisma Engine for geometry processing,
Pixel Tapestry™ for rendering, and Video Immersion™ for digital video. Voodoo4
and Voodoo5 preview. Anandtech has posted up a huge 27 page report on the Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 card. At this point the cards are nothing overly exciting but then again it depends on your perspective. Here's what Anand has to say: To some that may seem pretty
disappointing, it all depends on what you were expecting from the card. In most
cases, the Voodoo5 5500 manages to outperform a DDR GeForce, but not by an
incredible amount and the Voodoo4 4500 is having quite a bit of difficulty
keeping up with an SDR GeForce. Ars-Technica
Recommended Systems. If you are in the market for building your own PC and you are confused as everyone else on what components to use then Ars-Technica has the article just for you. Read the full
article here. PKZip
Creator Dies. The creator of PKZip, Phillip W. Katz, died of complications from chronic alcoholism. Katz's file-compression software is used around the world. Katz was found dead April 14 in
a motel room holding a bottle of liquor, the Milwaukee County medical
examiner’s report said. Five other empty liquor bottles were also found in the
room, according to the report. U.S.
Government plans to break up Microsoft. I think any government should leave their hands off the business sector and let the market decide what's best for itself. It looks like it's going to be a strong possibility that the U.S. DOJ is leaning towards splitting up Microsoft. There is a survey in the MSNBC article and 80% of the readers wish the government would NOT get involved - I second that. WASHINGTON,
April 24 — The Justice Department and 19 states are leaning toward
asking a court to split Microsoft Corp. into two or three separate companies in
a plan designed to end the software giant’s monopoly in the U.S. computer
industry, people familiar with the discussions said over the weekend. GeForce
II feedback. Several web sites have broken nVidia's NDA (non-disclosure agreement) before the 26th to try and gain more hits to their web sites. I agree with Billy over at VoodooExtreme that it is "hitting below the belt" to gain user hits on your web site. There will be no
more nVidia GeForce2 information on Hitechbits.com until nVidia itself announces
the new product. The press release is scheduled for the 26th of April. Weekly
CPU prices. HipHardware was
has posted up this weeks' current CPU prices and the huge price cuts were by
AMD. The 1000mhz AMD Athlon CPU almost dropped by $400 which is a HUGE price
cut. Take a look a the entire CPU price list here. Tech News for Saturday April 22nd 2000.MCW2000
Preview - Liquid Cooling. PC Stats sent me the word that they have written up a review on the latest in CPU cooling technology. These new CPU coolers allow cooled liquids to cool your Intel Pentium II, Pentium III or AMD Athlon CPU to run at significantly cooler operating temperatures. Read the full review here. The flxability of this plate would also allow it to be used with an existing system to cool the coolent (by 5 degrees or more according to Swiftech) as it loops around the system, or like the above in a dual MCW2000 setup - where each cold plate has TWO TECS's. Something tell's me a 250 Watt PSU would have a hard time with this type of set up ;) For those of you who have all the cooling
gear already you could easily just get the cold plate and hook it up to your
existing pump system. But if your looking to begin water cooling and don't have
any gear, you have the option of getting everything you'll need from one
location instead of hunting around for this and that which can be a bit of a
pain as much as it is fun. Creative
Labs Annihilator Pro 2 rumors. This news post showed up on nVnews.net originally that pointed to rumors on the specs on the Creative Labs Annihilator Pro 2 which will be powered by the NV-15. Here's what it
says on the back of the box: USB
2.0 Specification To Spark New Chips. The final USB 2.0 specification is expected to be released next week at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in New Orleans, and to become available on the USB Implementers Forum website next Thursday. The release is expected to kick off a wave of silicon that supports USB 2.0, which will extend the full-speed transfer rate of USB from a possible 12 megabits per second in USB 1.1 up to 480 Mbits/s. The first systems using the 2.0 specification are expected to debut for the holiday selling season, and a number of companies are expected to announce 2.0 silicon at the USB Developers Conference, planned for May 15-18 in Anaheim, Calif. NEC (stock: NIPNY)
took an early plunge in mid-April, unveiling a USB 2.0 host controller that
supports the full 480-Mbit/s data-transfer rate. NEC is sampling the device this
month and plans to begin commercial production in September. NEC's silicon is
backward-compatible with the full-speed USB 1.1 standard, as it incorporates two
USB 1.1 controllers that will double the 12-Mbit/s speed limit of peripherals
that conform to the USB 1.1 spec. |
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