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 : Son of SAN - Storage Networking Technologies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Douglas Nordgren who wrote (1144)	3/31/1999 6:22:00 PM
From: Douglas Nordgren	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4808

Tech Data Establishes SAN Business Unit biz.yahoo.com Distributor First In The Channel To Offer Value-Added Resellers Dedicated Support Focused On This Rapidly Emerging Enterprise And Workgroup Platform CLEARWATER, Fla., March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Tech Data Corp. (Nasdaq: TECD - news) today announced it has created the first channel business development unit dedicated to the rapidly emerging segment known as Storage Area Networks (SANs). In addition to an expanded SAN product set, Tech Data will provide resellers with advanced technical support, educational services and marketing resources for resellers requiring enterprise- and workgroup-level storage solutions. Independent market research firm International Data Corp. (IDC) estimates SANs will generate revenues of approximately $11.4 billion by 2002 and represent roughly 37 percent of all external server storage units sold during this period. ''With the growth of storage-intensive requirements such as data warehousing, data mining and Internet browsing, companies are turning to resellers for assistance in building their next generation of information management solutions,'' said Roy Appelbaum, vice president of product marketing for Tech Data's networking division. ''Tech Data's increased focus on SAN products and services will provide resellers with the added support needed to increase their sales within this market, while helping them to identify incremental opportunities.'' Tech Data's new Storage Area Networks business unit, led by Marketing Manager Allison Porter, features more than 30 of the industry's leading storage manufacturers with products ranging from Disc/RAID and tape technologies to CD/optical and connectivity solutions. ''The multiple protocol support of storage area networks is fueling the growth,'' Porter said. ''This inherent flexibility allows the SAN infrastructure to act as both a server interconnect and as a direct interface to storage devices.'' Tech Data Soars 20.5% on Positive Earnings Surprise cbs.marketwatch.com

To: Douglas Nordgren who wrote (1144)	4/2/1999 10:20:00 AM
From: J Fieb	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4808

Douglas, Speaking of NAB, this may be a good bookmark for NAB news.... conventionnews.com Guess TEK/AVID are already working to update...... the name is AvStar.. AvStar Systems Looks To Tap Emerging Market By Michael Murrie When many users of newsroom systems go to NAB they'll find the name of their vendor has changed... again. The new name is AvStar, a joint venture of Tektronix NewStar and AvidNews. AvStar Systems LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) will have more than 100 employees and remain based in Madison, Wisconsin. Tektronix will manage sales for AvStar. The enterprise is jointly owned and funded with each partner contributing $1.5 million. "The combined enterprise owns 70 to 80 percent of the newsroom computer seats around the world," the new president of AvStar, Matt Danilowicz, said. The joint venture represents the fourth generation of ownership shuffling in less than a decade for some newsroom system users. For example, the old Basys company was purchased by Digital Equipment Corporation, and then acquired by Avid Technology (along with another system). NewStar, once owned by Dynatech Corp., was later acquired by Tektronix. Now two of the biggest newsroom system competitors are one happy family. In what some view as a limited market for newsroom systems, two other vendors joined forces with their systems late last year, too. QTV, best known for its teleprompters, and DCM, a supplier of newsroom systems, jointly produced a new Windows NT newsroom system called WinCueNews. It includes two parts, an automation system to control production equipment and a text/video manager for the journalist's desktop. It can also search and retrieve low-resolution video from a server. The AvidNews/NewStar shuffle is unsettling for some users of newsroom systems, especially when it comes to customer service. "I have already experienced having been lost by the AvidNews bureaucracy," Bill Avery, news and program manager for WOFL-TV in Orlando, FL, stated. "I haven't had any contact with them unless I initiate it and often not then. "The downside to these mergers," Avery continued, "is that they combine a tremendous number of clients and then cut support staff. A companion issue is the reorganization that inevitably occurs, and you lose your sales and support contacts entirely. The upside is the ability to combine the best elements from their product streams." The existing users of NewStar and AvidNews can expect some improvements to their systems before NAB. AvidNews will ship version 1.2, and NewStar for Windows will ship a software release ready for the year 2000--Y2K compliant, as the computer folks say. The new joint venture is supposed to continue to support the existing NewStar and AvidNews computers and provide a migration path for these customers to eventually move into the new AvStar. Danilowicz said the first AvStar computer system should be available in the third quarter of this year. It will combine the journalist functions of AvidNews with NewStar's producer lineup. Also, the new system will include the workflow model of EditStar and the MediaBrowse subsystem. EditStar is an intuitive system for editing news video while simultaneously writing news copy. MediaBrowse allows news writers and producers to search and retrieve low-resolution images from their from their computer work stations and send edit decision lists to an Avid NewsCutter nonlinear editor. At NAB, expect AvStar to show enhanced capabilities to interface with Avid NewsCutter DV. Ultimately the Avid and Tektronix folks want to offer newsroom systems even more integrated with their other products, especially Profile video servers and NewsCutter, to record video feeds, edit video, and play it on air. The company said that only five percent of the news operations are disk based, as opposed to videotape. Thus, they see a big potential for sales of disk systems. So this year look for demonstrations of a more sophisticated networking system, Fibre Channel, connecting and even switching signals among Avid NewsCutters and Tektronix Profiles. These systems are supposed to include new capabilities with the marketing names of ContentShare and SimulEdit/SimulPlay. SimulEdit is the ability to share video among multiple editors. More than one editor can view or edit multiple versions of a story at one time using the same raw video, provided it is on the network. SimulPlay provides the ability to play and even go to air with video without waiting for an entire file to be transferred to the video server. Only the first 110 frames must be transferred to begin playing. It seems to resemble video streaming on the World Wide Web, except, of course, you're dealing with much larger video file sizes on an in-house system. For more information on AvStar, call TK. The Digital Television site will soon start a 12 piece series sponsored by Philips DVS... The next update of Digital Television: The Site is April 10 with the online version of "The Guide To Digital Television, second edition" and the 12-part series "Television Today: Business Opportunities For Digital Television" (sponsored by Philips Digital Video Systems) as well as our regular monthly features. digitaltelevision.com Will track this for FC stuff. Remember they have a partnership with SGI so if they use SANs, they will probably get it from them? ..... Philips Digital Video Systems For NAB '99, Philips Digital Video Systems offers new technologies that will define the industry over the next several decades including data broadcasting, advanced MPEG development, asset distribution/management, video streaming over the Internet, and more. Philips' products include Digital Cameras, Film Imaging, Digital Video Servers, Routing and Master Control, Digital Live Production Switchers, Data Broadcast Systems, Digital Transmission Systems, and Internet Transmission.

To: Douglas Nordgren who wrote (1144)	4/2/1999 10:49:00 AM
From: J Fieb	Respond to of 4808

KJ, Have to read the I/O insights quite a few more times b4 it starts to sink in. Thanks. Since the SGI SAN pr piece mentions Panasonic thought I'd repost the pr from them....... Riding The DVCPRO Wave By Michael Grotticelli Secaucus, NJ--Panasonic Broadcast & Digital Systems Company (PBDSC) unveiled its product offerings for this year's NAB with a clear emphasis on helping broadcasters make a cost-effective transition to digital--and eventually high definition--television production. Delivering its message under a show theme of "YourVision," it was also evident that the company plans to market its wide variety of DVCPRO-based products to a myriad of users, from broadcasters and post production houses to Business and Industrial (B&I) users. Panasonic continues to support the DVCPRO platform--that includes 25, 50, and, now, 100 Mbps (DVCPROHD) versions of Panasonic's small-format, digital production equipment--with new products to enhance the line. These include a new DVCPRO-based video production server (AV-SS500), a News and Program Cache server (AJ-DR7000), a new studio editing VTR (the AJ-D850, with three hour record/play time), and several new cameras with and without switchable aspect ratios. New DVCPRO50 gear features the ability to choose between tape-saving DVCPRO ENG mode or high resolution 4:2:2 EFP mode. These include the AJ-D910WA (2/3-in. IT CCD) camcorder, AJ-D92 field recorder, AJ-D940 slow-motion player, and the AJ-D95DC AC/DC desktop VTR. The AJ-D910WA camcorder-- available with a choice of three different viewfinders--also features selectable 4:3/16:9 operation and optional DVpix Link, Panasonic's exclusive field production system that stores shot logging data in camera memory and records it on tape during the eject cycle. This data can then be read by Panasonic's newsBYTE 4X transfer DVCPRO nonlinear editing system. While the DVCPRO50 equipment is targeted at digital production resulting in high-quality standard definition (480i) pictures, DVCPROHD is being touted as the "Gold Standard" among HD format equipment for high-quality studio production. These new studio and EFP cameras represent the first 100 Mb equipment to be shown by the company, although they will not be available until the end of this year. The new additions include the AJ-HDC10 and AJ-HDC20 100 Mb camcorders and the AJ-HD150 studio VTR, and all support the 1080i format. "Panasonic's showing of affordable HD resolution DVCPRO solutions reflects our stated plan to evolve the DVCPRO family to fulfill the wide variety of requirements of ENG and [ITU-R601] and HD resolution EFP/ENG applications," said Stuart English, the company's new vice president of marketing for the Digital Systems Company. "The DVCPRO recording system's unique resolution scalability provides broadcasters and producers alike an unparalleled protection of their investment dollar as they transition to the digital television future." Although it was stated that the company is not backing away from its earlier position to develop 720p production equipment (several prototype cameras are being tested), this year's NAB will only see 1080i products in the booth on the show floor. Panasonic is showing two "true 1080i" CCD cameras, the AK-HC880 studio and AK-HC800 portable EFP cameras. "We feel that the demand for [720p] equipment is not there yet," English stated. "On the flip side, 1080i has a very strong presence on a worldwide basis, so we've decided to offer those products first. Certainly, we will produce 720 equipment as the demand increases." For HD field recording, they'll introduce the AJ-HD2200 portable D-5 HD field recording deck, designed to complement the AK-HC830 portable camera. The ENG unit offers 12V DC operation and a power consumption of under 50 watts, according to the company. It records 10-bit resolution, full-bandwidth, 4:2:2 sampled HD signals with four audio tracks. Addressing what has become a hot issue for post production professionals, Panasonic has evolved its D-5 HD processor product to include switchability between 1080 interlaced and progressive modes. The AJ-HD3000 mastering studio VTR is also capable of recording and playback at various frame rates (60i, 50i, 24p, 25p, and 30p). Panasonic also said they are looking more closely at the B&I "Proline" market and will introduce a range of DVCPRO (25 Mbps)-based products to be known as the Professional Video (PV) series. The first product is the AJ-D400 3-CCD camcorder at a price of just under $9,000 (without lens). Other units in the PV line include the AJ-D215 camcorder and AJ-D440 and AJ-D450 studio VTRs. Availability is targeted for May. Finally, Panasonic announced the availability ("sometime after NAB") of its AJ-UFC1800 Universal DTV Format Converter--seen at last year's NAB--that enables broadcasters to convert TV signals between all ATSC-compliant DTV formats. The unit can adjust picture aspect ratios with "pan and scan" functions and supports multiple frame rates (such as 60, 50, 30, and 24 Hz). "Our position about DTV is... we have so many different technologies inside Panasonic that we can address any customer need," English added. "DTV doesn't only mean high definition. Digital means so many different things and we [as a company] are evolving that way... from the high-end HD broadcaster to the guy producing video for the Internet." For more information, call Panasonic at (800) 528-8601, or visit Panasonic at NAB booth #L22901. On The Floor... At NAB '99, Panasonic is teaming with a number of companies that have announced support for the DVCPRO codec in their products to present a DVCPRO Partners Inter-Operability demonstration at booth #L12120 in the LVCC's new North Hall. The exhibit will feature companies such as Avid Technology, JVC, NDS Americas, Pluto Technologies, SGI, Tektronix, and Quantel displaying their products' DVCPRO-compliant capabilities in a networked (SDTI-based) system within the booth. The idea is to show the seamless transfer of compressed digital video between the different companies' devices. The transfers will all be done using compressed streams, over a combination of SDTI and Fibre Channel. Other companies displaying product include Tiernan, Matrox, Gennum, and Pinnacle Systems/Truevision.