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From the starbridge website:
On September 2, 1998, SBS entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with a group of individuals interested in licensing a
HAL-4rW1ä Hypercomputer system. They and several other licensing groups are expected to take delivery of SBS
Hypercomputer systems in 1999 for uses such as an Internet search engine, earth-bound and satellite telecommunications
switches, and voice-over IP multiplexers.
On October 16, 1998, Brent D. Ward was retained as full-time outside counsel to SBS and left his law practice as a partner in
Parry Lawrence & Ward in Salt Lake City. He has since been named Executive Vice President and General Counsel to the
corporation.
In November 1998, SBS secured an agreement from Xilinx Corporation for the donation of FPGA chips with a retail value of
$100,000 to SBS for the manufacture of the first group of Hypercomputer systems for commercial leasing. These chips have
begun arriving and assembly of Hypercomputer systems is underway. Price concessions have also been obtained from
companies manufacturing the proprietary computer boards on which these chips are installed.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gilson is in the process of writing SBS's proprietary Viva software, also discussed below. The San Francisco
law firm of Morrison & Foerster is preparing a wide array of patent applications for both hardware and software under the
direction of Stephen C. Durant, a specialist in high-tech patent law. It is expected that these patent applications will be filed with
the U.S. Patent Office in early 1999.
Star Bridge Systems, Hypercomputer, Viva, IIDAL, Hyper-Specificity Processor, HAL-.25rW1, HAL-2rW1, and
HAL-4rW1 are marks of Star Bridge Systems, Inc., copyright 1998 by Star Bridge Systems, Inc. SBS's trademark attorney is
John W.L. Ogilvie of Salt Lake City.
SBS's HAL-.25rW1 Hypercomputer system, which is estimated to operate at a speed of 640 billion calculations per second,
has been in operation since September 1998. SBS's HAL-2rW1 Hypercomputer system, which is estimated to operate at a
speed of 6.4 trillion calculations per second, began operating in January 1999. SBS's HAL-4rW1 Hypercomputer system,
which is expected to operate at a speed of 12.84 trillion calculations per second, will be completed in February 1999 and will
be submitted to laboratories for third-party verification and benchmarking soon thereafter.
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Several groups are already seeking development licenses to use SBS's Hypercomputer systems as a powerful, new Internet
search engine, as high speed switches for terrestrial telecommunications, as switches in low earth orbit for satellite
telecommunications and for video compression for the broadcast media.
In the case of development licenses, SBS will usually own a 50% interest in the licensee companies. SBS's technology will be
licensed to these companies on an exclusive basis for a period of time.
By granting development licenses, SBS fosters the growth of many companies, each expanding "reconfigurable computing" into
a new market. Many of these companies are expected to offer stock for sale to the public, thus involving large numbers of
people in the success of "reconfigurable computing".
SBS's business strategy of granting development licenses to new companies is geared to persistent, strong investor interest in
high technology companies. The Los Angeles Times reported on November 8, 1998, that even in the midst of extraordinary
recent chaos in global financial markets and increasing skittishness among investors generally, "[o]ver the last four weeks
investors have flocked back to many of the same high-risk market sectors they fled in the late-summer rout."
According to this article, the mutual fund investment category posting the biggest gains during those four weeks and for the year
to date was U.S. technology stocks, which increased 35.8% for the four-week period and 20.5% year to date. The fourth
highest category was U.S. telecom stocks (which figures heavily in SBS's business strategy), which increased 27.0% for the
four-week period and 18.5% year to date.
Beyond SBS's Hypercomputer systems is a world of almost unlimited applications for "reconfigurable computing". At a
minimum, potential markets for new applications encompass the entire field of information technology, communications, and
electronics. "Reconfigurable computing" will make personal computers immensely more powerful, fast and flexible. The day will
come when today's PC users will want Hypercomputer systems as their information appliance of choice and will be able to
acquire them. "Reconfigurable computing" also makes possible whole new categories of small-scale computer products. Soon
small reconfigurable computers will be embedded in many present-day consumer products such as automobiles, ovens,
toasters, vacuums, dishwashers, cameras, and video players.
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