Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: g_m10 who wrote (10431)	12/7/1997 9:53:00 PM
From: j bayer	Respond to of 97611

If this was posted previously - sorry. Just found it interesting. The set-top computer is the future By Michael Kanellos December 5, 1997, 6:05 p.m. PT The term "set-top computer" is only about 48 hours old, but it could come to define a major market segment by the year 2000 as it appears that the much heralded convergence between PCs and TVs is finally taking place. The convergence is being driven by technological change in the TV arena and the need for new markets in the computer world. Digital TV broadcasting will begin next year, a new means of transmission that is incompatible with current TV. Simply put, users will have to get new set-top boxes or new TVs to watch television in the future. And rather than let the traditional consumer electronics players dominate this upgrade market, Intel and its partners are stepping forward with the set-top computer, essentially a TV-compatible box that runs on a scaled-down Pentium II. Further momentum should build next week, as various sources have said Intel will likely unveil alliances with broadcasters and cable companies at the Western Cable Show in Anaheim next week and the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Network Computer Inc. is also expected to announce new software alliances. (Intel is an investor in CNET the Computer Network.). "You will see Intel canvassing the Western Cable Show to get these cable operators to adopt the set top computer," said Richard Doherty, director of The Envisioneering Group , a marketing research firm based in Seaford, New York. "You've got over 100 million households in the U.S. and two-thirds of them have cable. We could see 50 million by the year 2000. "We're seeing Compaq and IBM sit in on the working groups," he added, referring to the organizations devoted to hammering out digital TV standards and the possibility that these vendors may market set-top computers. "It's very possible that Compaq and Gateway 2000 do this," said Dean McCarron, a principal at Mercury Research, a Scottsdale, Arizona based marketing research firm. The problem is that it is taking PC manufacturers a long time to face up to market realities. "They understand their existing customers who buy expensive boxes but they've misunderstood the new market," he added referring to the unexpected surge in popularity of sub-$1,000 computers, despite the fact that they don't have the bells and whistles of more expensive machines. McCarron believes that vendors will come around and begin offering set-top computers which are expected to range in price from $300 to $500. The technological shift within the television and cable industry is perhaps the strongest force pushing convergence. By the fall of next year, the ten largest U.S. viewer markets will be conducting digital TV broadcasting pilots, said Doherty. The 1998 Winter Olympics, in fact, will be used as an experimental platform for high definition broadcasting. More will follow. Although some analysts have stated that a lack of digital content could slow down the adoption of digital TV, Doherty pointed out that standard film uses a higher resolution than high definition digital TV. Ergo, most TV shows will adapt to the format easily. "It's inevitable," said Jae Kim, associate analyst at Paul Kagan & Associates of digital TV. For users to receive digital TV data, however, they will have three choices: put an add-in card in their PC and watch TV through that; buy a new TV; or buy a set top box that is compatible with digital TV. The third alternative seems the most customer friendly, commented Kim. In set top boxes, Intel and the major computer manufacturers, at least according to Doherty, may hold the upper hand here. Current set top boxes run on outdated technology that was developed ten years ago. Pentium II technology is far more current, and will allow vendors to incorporate additional functions into the box. While the low-end set-top computer may only slightly expand the capabilities of current set top boxes, vendors can build the devices so that users can surf the web, or even watch films on DVD. While Intel has said that devices that can receive broadcasts and use the web will cost between $300 and $500, with DVD the price could go up to $700 for the luxury models, said Doherty.

To: g_m10 who wrote (10431)	12/7/1997 9:57:00 PM
From: j bayer	Respond to of 97611

Found this to be interesting. Something CPQ could get into as well?? Not having much of a technical background I'm not sure. Military specialist touts stacked-DRAM modules -- Dense-Pac going commercial By Ron Wilson Garden Grove, Calif. - Armed with a new chief executive and a unique packaging capability, Dense-Pac Microsystems Inc. is moving beyond its military electronics niche to look for commercial customers. "Our job now is to let designers know that we are a cost-effective alternative for any kind of commercial system where space is at a premium," said Uri Levy, the company's new chairman and chief executive. Dense-Pac's specialty is the stacking of DRAMs. It has a wide range of memory modules that consist of thin-packed DRAMs stacked one atop the other. The resulting stack has the same footprint and pin-out as a single DRAM-except for separate chip-enable signals-but with the capacity of many chips, not one. For years the company has marketed its modules to the military airborne and ground-vehicle markets. But as the company needs to grow and the military now needs to shrink, Dense-Pac has turned to other markets. Obvious applications are handheld systems, automotive systems and other such areas where board area is a vital statistic. But the move to the commercial world required some adjustments. "When I came here there was no system for mass production of our modules," Levy said. "There wasn't even a data book engineers could use to specify our components." Production technique Levy has set about reorienting the technically strong company to the commercial world. He has helped produce a CD-ROM data book, revamp the company's Web site and fund the development of a production technique for the company's stacked packaging. The moves have already brought in at least one new account. IBM Corp.'s System 390 desktop group is supplying IBM-made DRAMs to Dense-Pac for repackaging; IBM then assembles the stacked devices into 1-Gbyte plug-in memory boards. In other commercial oppor-tunities, Dense-Pac is aiming stacked SRAM/ROM combinations and SRAM/flash combinations to such applications as cellular handsets and digital cameras. In the future, the company expects to move beyond memory, Levy said. IBM has expressed interest in stacking CPUs in ball-grid arrays for a multiprocessing application, so Dense-Pac is working out the technology to stack high-I/O chips with dissimilar pin-outs. This could produce-if power dissipation permits-a stacked component that includes CPU, memory and peripherals for an embedded processor, all within the footprint of a single chip.

To: g_m10 who wrote (10431)	12/7/1997 10:58:00 PM
From: edward miller	Respond to of 97611

>> 1. USB never realy took off and, chances are, never will. >> It's being replaced by FireWire... Whaaaat? Firewire is a high speed link for handling massive amounts of data, like between HDD and CPU. It runs at 100s of MB/s, with future speeds faster. The key is moving data fast. USB is a SLOW serial bus (Universal Serial Bus) to handle the very slow human interface, such as to the keyboard, the mouse. Also good for other low-bandwidth needs. The key is only one port, meaning only one jack in the back of the computer, which cuts costs. After all, how many Megastrokes per second can you key in <gggg>? Ed Miller

To: g_m10 who wrote (10431)	12/8/1997 11:33:00 AM
From: John Koligman	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 97611

Boris - I'm not a network engineer, but from what I've read about USB, it should heat up in 1998. WIN98 will have built in support for USB, and most new machines have been shipping with the ports for some time now, although there are none (or very few) peripherals available today. My understanding is that next year more stuff will come out, like scanners, where you will be able to plug them in via USB instead of messing around with a SCSI card and opening up your machine. As far as firewire is concerned, I'm under the impression that it is a higher data rate technology, but I'm also under the impression that it's a bit farther into the future than USB. Perhaps one of the tech experts on the thread could comment more about both! John