Dell confirmed reports it was discontinuing digital audio receiver it introduced year ago as part of agreement with SonicBlue. Receiver has met limited success since start and didn’t fit into company’s future plans, said Ken Lanshe, dir. of worldwide storage development. At same time, Dell took wraps off 3.6-lb. notebook PC ($2,049) and is readying 3-lb. model based on Intel’s new low-power processor that runs at 1.3 v. Latitude C400 has Pentium III 1.2 GHz processor, 12.1” LCD screen with 1,024x768 resolution, 128 DRAM, ethernet LAN and PC card slots and optional CD-RW or DVD-ROM drives. Specs on 3-lb. model weren’t available, but it will priced slightly higher than C400, company said.
Acclaim Max Sports started shipping Jeremy McGrath Supercross World for PlayStation 2, Acclaim Entertainment announced Wed. Title ($49.99) is said to feature new software engine developed exclusively for next-generation systems that fosters “perfect mix of simulation and arcade racing action.”
SanDisk and Toshiba developed 1 GB CompactFlash memory card that can program at 10 MB per sec. and be read at twice that speed. Chip can store 2 bits in each memory cell using multilevel cell technology that essentially stores twice data of 1-bit/cell, 512 MB device using same size silicon. SanDisk and Toshiba started volume production at latter’s Yokkaichi, Japan, factory using 0.16-micron process, and 1 Gb chip is geared for 0.13-micron design. Card will be available in first quarter, price not set. CompactFlash cards currently have maximum capacity of 512 MB ($400-$450). At same time, SanDisk started marketing first Memory Stick cards under licensing agreement with Sony. While Sony is manufacturing initial Memory Stick product for SanDisk, latter expects to take over production next year, spokesman said. SanDisk will transfer multilevel cell technology to Memory Stick with goal of boosting its capacity to 512 MB and 1 GB in 2002, 2 GB in 2003, Sony Senior Memory Stick Mktg. Mgr. Dulcie Neiman said. Previously, Memory Stick’s maximum capacity was 256 MB. “Sony has to do this because they're having trouble getting the market to be very broad,” SanDisk spokesman said: “All their competitors don’t want to make Memory Stick product because then they would have to depend on their competitor for memory.” At same time, SanDisk is opening digital photo kiosk at Staples store in Seattle and plans to add 40-50 more in year, spokesman said. Kiosk is designed to develop pictures stored on flash cards regardless of manufacturer, spokesman said. Price will be about 45? per print, with development process taking about 3 min., spokesman said. Rollout of kiosks is substantially short of original goal of having 2,000 in place this year. Photo Me International, which developed concept, ran into delays in developing technology, SanDisk spokesman said.
Bam Entertainment said it had begun shipping its first PlayStation 2 title, Driven, based on recent theatrical film starring Sylvester Stallone. Title ($49.99), which offers 2- player multiplayer racing action, was developed by company’s London-based studio.
Internet continues to globalize and become culturally diverse, according to State of the Internet study by U.S. Internet Council (USIC) and International Technology & Trade Assoc. Internet surpassed half-billion online users in 2001, study said, with native English speakers losing dominance, now representing 45% of Internet users. N. America, Europe and Japan continue to dominate online world, report said, but other areas such as China, India and S. Korea are beginning to play larger roles. Architecture of Internet is changing to reflect those changes, with many new multilingual domain names being introduced along with new top-level domain names, report said. Growth is showing need to upgrade Internet’s architecture to higher IP protocol and explore new online security tools, report said. While many online businesses failed, e-commerce, e-marketplaces, content and service providers, application service providers, peer-to-peer networks, customer relationship management services and e-learning services all have established viable online business spaces, report said. English-speaking and Scandinavian nations have proved to be most e-business ready environments, although France, Hungary, Japan, Mexico and S. Korea have high levels of information technology investments and attract e- business cultures, report said. Some of most mature e-govts. include Canada, Finland, Singapore, U.K., U.S. USIC concluded with 4 principles for policymakers: (1) Internet services for free and developed nations will continue to bring more benefits than problems. (2) Best approach to Internet policy allows freest flow of information and the unfettered access for all people. (3) Internet will mirror same cultural, economic, social and political fault lines that underlie all international relations, like other mass media that have transcended geographic boundaries. (4) More study is needed on how to manage Internet to accommodate cultures that feel threatened by outside influences while still remaining true to principle of free speech.
NVidia is working to develop graphics chip technology for handheld PCs, although implementation may be 2 years away, Mktg. Vp Daniel Vivoli said. Such chip would require that manufacturing process be reduced to 0.10 microns, he said. NnVidia’s graphics chips, including those deployed in Microsoft’s xBox videogame console, are produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg.Co. using 0.15-micron process that’s expected to transition to 0.13-micron by mid-2002, Vivoli said. Advent of graphics chips in handheld PC and cellular phone applications comes as latter readies 3G technology designed to handle video. NVidia gave hint of handheld PC plans as it unveiled new version of notebook PC chip that’s expected to debut in Toshiba model in Feb. NV17M, which replaces GeForce2 introduced year ago, boosts memory speed to 250 MHz from 143 MHz, has 8 GB memory bandwidth vs. 2.6 GB in previous model and can process 400 million pixels per sec., against 286 million. With introduction of NV17M, nVidia will seek to boost share of graphics chip market in notebook PCs to 15% by year-end 2002, from current 6%, Vivoli said. ATI Technologies is market share leader at around 50%.
Lower contributions from Pokemon franchise caused 4Kids Entertainment to report drastically lower 3rd quarter profit of $1.49 million (11? per diluted share) vs. year-earlier $10.72 million (82?) on 60% lower revenue to $9.88 million. However, company reported positive results for promotional and licensing activities for its Cubix franchise. Licensee 3DO this month offered Cubix! Robots for Everyone for PlayStation and Game Boy.
THQ announced public offering of 2.75 million shares of common stock at $53.50 per share Wed. Offering was first disclosed in SEC filing in Aug., when company originally planned to offer only 2.5 million shares.
Texas Instruments (TI) used Comdex show Tues. to announce digital baseband and analog chipset for building Eureka DAB reception capability into small battery-operated portables. Handheld prototype device demonstrated at Comdex by Personal Telecom also offers MP3, voice recording and FM tuning capabilities. TI said Personal Telecom was offering design to CE manufacturers interested in creating DAB radios for Eureka markets in Europe and elsewhere. Design is scheduled to be available in first quarter 2002. “We believe battery-operated radios will be vital for the DAB market,” said Naresh Coppisetti, mgr. of TI’s DAB digital radio operations.
New version of music notation program is available, developer Sibelius Software said. Sibelius 2 program has more than 200 new features and enhancements compared with original software, including use of artificial intelligence to arrange and orchestrate music automatically. That feature was partly designed by Michael Price, whose orchestration credits include HBO Band of Brothers miniseries that concluded Nov. 11, Sibelius said. New version is for Windows PCs, with Mac OS-X version expected in first quarter (www.sibelius.com).