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March 30, 2003
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Motorola reveals nanocrystal chip
Motorola plans to announce on Monday that it has manufactured prototypes of a flash-memory chip that relies on a thin layer of silicon crystals to retain data, a breakthrough that could help the flash industry overcome looming technical hurdles.
If the chip moves to the mainstream, flash-memory chips--used to store data and applications inside cell phones, industrial equipment and portable memory cards--would likely become cheaper or, conversely, more powerful compared to existing chips because manufacturers could squeeze more memory cells into a smaller space.
"We think we can achieve the same density with half the area," said Ko-Min Chang, manager of memory devices in Motorola's semiconductor product sector.
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Iraq's female health crisis
The Head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr Thoraya Obaid, a Saudi citizen born in Baghdad, told BBC News Online: "All too often the needs of women are neglected in the rush to provide relief.
"We must ensure that the needs of Iraqi women are fully addressed in our humanitarian response."
Two thousand new babies are born every day in Iraq.
UNFPA spokesperson William Ryan says: "This is a population in dire straits.
"Pregnancies are frequent and dangerous even without the disruption of a war.
"Women's health in Iraq has been so undermined by sanctions and conflict, that it's a dangerous situation."
"All too often the needs of women are neglected in the rush to provide relief"
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Cisco switches on the speed
Cisco Systems on Monday plans to unveil several upgrades for one of its more popular products, the Catalyst 6500 line of switches.
Most of the equipment gear is geared toward making the switches faster. About 100,000 companies use the Catalyst 6500 switches to create networks out of personal computers, telephones and other equipment, said Cisco Vice President Soni Jiandani.
Among the more notable updates is Cisco's new supervisor engine, which costs $28,000. The engine, available now, doubles the traffic that the Catalyst 6500 can manage, Jiandani said.
The seven other upgrades, ranging in price from $7,000 to $60,000, will be available in the next few months, she said.
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New 'Green' Office Buildings
In the commercial real estate world, environmentally friendly buildings are getting a boost from a new reality about the bottom line: It doesn't take a lot of green to be green anymore.
Environmentalists have been pushing so-called green construction since before the first Earth Day in 1970. But until recently, most mainstream commercial builders and their clients were uninterested, put off by technology that was cumbersome, unreliable and -- the real deal breaker -- expensive.
"We're a very practical nation," said architect Dan Heinfeld of Irvine-based LPA. "As soon as you're telling people something costs more, it goes against their basic grain."
Toyota Motor Corp. was no exception. The Japanese automaker wanted to make a statement about its commitment to producing clean, fuel-efficient vehicles, but it was unwilling to spend substantially more to make its sprawling new complex on Western Avenue in Torrance easy on the environment.
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U.S. forces curb use of media satphones in Iraq
U.S. military commanders in Iraq have banned the use of certain satellite phones carried by journalists attached to their units, apparently fearing the signal could give away their location to Iraqi forces.
Several Reuters reporters with U.S. forces in Iraq said on Sunday they had been told to switch their Thuraya satellite phones off. One said his phone was being confiscated.
"Officers have ordered me to hand my phone in and I am giving it to one of the officers," correspondent Matthew Green said. Other journalists travelling with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were also having phones taken, he said. "They say it's for security, that the Iraqis can use it to triangulate the signal and fire missiles," Green said.
Several journalists travelling with non-Marine units said they were still able to use their phones, although they had heard about the order.
Questioned on the new rules, Major-General Victor Renuart told a news briefing at U.S. Central Command in Qatar on Saturday the order was not meant to restrict media coverage.
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High-end LCDs arriving this year
Big is not always beautiful, depending on your taste, but for monitors surely this rule always holds true.
You've seen our reviews in the last few days, where we've taken a good look at two large, high-resolution LCD monitors from two major vendors (IBM and Philips) at opposite user targets and price ranges. Here in Singapore, in the region where most of these displays are made after all, I can see a massive proliferation of large UXGA LCD units, some of which (the 19-inch range) go for as low as US$ 900.
Even the new ultraslim 20-inch IBM L200 UXGA monitor retails on their Web site at a standard US$ 1350 price, and you can imagine that IBM's real street price will probably be quite a bit lower than this. And that is from a vendor considered to be expensive.
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Adobe delves into DVD authoring
Publishing and graphics software giant Adobe Systems plans to enter the market for high-end DVD authoring software.
The company plans to announce on Monday the upcoming release of Encore DVD, a collection of tools for organizing video and other content on a DVD, creating interactive menus and burning the final product to a disc.
Adobe has offered basic DVD authoring tools in some of its video-editing products, including Premiere. But with recordable DVD drives becoming increasingly common in new PCs, the company saw a need for a full-featured application that integrates easily with other Adobe products, said Giles Baker, an Adobe product manager.
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Big Brother Is Watching You Shop
The U.S. government has discovered a powerful resource in its war against terrorism -- credit-card records, hotel bills, grocery lists and other records detailing the private lives of its citizens.
Government investigators are turning to commercial databases to track down and isolate possible hijackers and suicide bombers before they strike, raising fear among privacy advocates that long-standing protections against government snooping may be eroded.
The Transportation Security Administration is developing an airline passenger-screening program that would check private records such as credit reports to assess risk, prompting a fierce debate about the merits of such "pattern recognition" systems.
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U.S. may slap stiff duties on Hynix
The United States may impose punitive import duties on chip shipments of South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor next week, dealing a fresh blow to the already struggling company, industry sources said.
The U.S. Department of Commerce is set to unveil a preliminary ruling on Monday over allegations lodged by Micron Technology that the U.S. chipmaker was materially injured by imports from South Korean chipmakers that received illegal state aid.
South Korea and Hynix have denied the claims.
A representative for the U.S. Commerce Department said the ruling would be made public on the agency's Web site on Tuesday. A Micron representative said the company did not have any comment.
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E-mail lifeline for war relatives
Technological advances have transformed the way the Iraq conflict is viewed, allowing journalists to accompany troops in action inside Iraq and providing a myriad of news sources for people back home.
And e-mail is offering some comfort to families desperate for news of their loved ones in the armed forces.
Improved communication has allowed almost daily contact with relatives on the front line.
Families of the crew of the USS Constellation can dial the so-called sailor phone for a daily update of the ship's activities in the Persian Gulf.
Amy Matthews bought a new computer two days after the war began in order to keep up to date with her husband, Sergeant Ronnie Matthews, a marine on board USS Tarawa.
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