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Edupage, 28 April 1996. Edupage, a summary of news items on information
technology, is provided three times each week as a service by Educom,
a Washington, D.C.-based consortium of leading colleges and universities
seeking to transform education through the use of information technology.
*****************************************************************
TOP STORIES
Japanese Chip Production Full Speed Ahead
Chip Demand On The Rise In Asia
Network PC Or Information Appliance?
Biped Animation Software
Continental To Offer Phone, Internet Service
Internet Long-Distance To Fight Phone Fees
ALSO
Flat Pricing On GTE Airfone
New LCD Displays
Memphis, Cairo Links
Apple Delays Copland
Hey, Big Spender
JAPANESE CHIP PRODUCTION FULL SPEED AHEAD
While U.S. companies are pulling back on new chip factory construction,
three of Japan's largest semiconductor manufacturers are going forward with
big expansion plans. Hitachi will spend $1.12 billion on a next-generation,
64-megabit memory chip plant, scheduled to open in the first half of 1998.
Mitsubishi Electric is upgrading its factory in Saijo, Japan, to produce
64-megabit chips by October 1997, and NEC is pouring about $1.85 billion
over the next decade into a research facility to develop even more advanced
one-gigabit memory chips, starting in late 1997. "This is how they will
survive in this market," says an analyst with Morgan Stanley Japan Ltd.
"Without this type of more stable investment policy, I think they can't
survive as a first-tier group." (Wall Street Journal 26 Apr 96 A8)
CHIP DEMAND ON THE RISE IN ASIA
Dan Klesken, an industry analyst with Robertson, Stephens & Co., is bullish
on the long-term chip market: "If you look at the U.S. over the next 20
years, we're going to generate about 25 million new jobs. But if you look
at Asia, including China, that region is going to generate about 250 million
new jobs. Those new wage earners will be buying PCs, digital TVs, digital
cellular phones, etc. The industry today will consume about 250 acres of
silicon. But, by my calculations, it's going to be up around 1, 600 acres
in about 10 years' time." (Investor's Business Daily 29 Apr 96 A6)
NETWORK PC OR INFORMATION APPLIANCE?
Farzad Dibachi, a former Oracle senior VP leading the push for the $500
network PC, has started his own company and thinks he has a better idea.
Dibachi's new firm, Diba, plans to develop technology that will allow
consumer electronics companies to manufacture a variety of inexpensive,
single-purpose appliances. "I think it's a brilliant idea," says the
president of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. "They have started from
ground zero and built a new thing that isn't a computer, it's an information
appliance." Oracle Executive VP David Roux isn't so sanguine: "He's got
the right train on the wrong track." (Wall Street Journal 26 Apr 96 B3)
BIPED ANIMATION SOFTWARE
A new software program from Autodesk's newly formed Kinetix unit takes the
drudgery out of computer animation. Biped, a plug-in module for Autodesk's
3D Studio Max, supplies the animation sequence for how a stick figure would
move between any programmer-specified point A and point B, filling in
details such as how arms would swing and the head would nod as the character
moves along. Another module, Physique, supplies even more detail for 3-D
figures, such as how the bicep would bulge when the arm was bent, etc. The
whole thing's "pretty amazing," according to a Dataquest analyst. (Business
Week 29 Apr 96 p93)
CONTINENTAL TO OFFER PHONE, INTERNET SERVICE
Continental Cablevision isn't wasting any time in taking advantage of the
new telecommunications deregulation act. It will begin offering subscribers
in California and Florida telephone and cable modem service later this year,
with plans to rapidly expand into Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York.
By the end of the year, Continental expects to have upgraded its systems in
New England, and will have the ability to offer 1.1 million subscribers
cable modem service. (Broadcasting & Cable 22 Apr 96 p61)
INTERNET LONG-DISTANCE TO FIGHT PHONE FEES
New Internet long-distance provider ShadowTel vowed to fight a Canadian
regulatory commission decision that it must pay contribution fees to phone
companies to help keep local rates low. The company's position is that
rules for long-distance resellers should not apply to it because it uses
Internet technology from beginning to end. (Ottawa Citizen 27 Apr 96 E4)
=================================================
FLAT PRICING ON GTE AIRFONE
GTE Airfone is changing its strategy on phone call pricing, ditching its
per-minute charges for a flat $15 fee. The new arrangement will present
significant savings for callers who chat five minutes or more. The new
rates will kick in on May 1. (Investor's Business Daily 29 Apr 96 A6)
NEW LCD DISPLAYS
Researchers at Kent State University's Liquid Crystal Institute are working
on a cheaper liquid-crystal display technology that produces clearer images
using less energy. The new displays use a cholesteric liquid-crystal
material that reacts differently to light than the material used in
conventional displays. Rather than twisting the light so it can pass
through a filter, one ray is reflected, and the other is transmitted --
electrifying the chemical turns it clear. Because the cholesteric LCDs
reflect light without the need for polarizing filters, they can be bright
and legible without being backlit, thus saving energy. The panels will be
able to run about 10 times longer on batteries than is possible with
conventional displays. (Scientific American May 96 p32)
MEMPHIS, CAIRO LINKS
Microsoft plans to release major upgrades of both Windows 95 and Windows NT
in late 1997 or early 1998, with the code-named Memphis and Cairo software
versions being the first step toward a standardized Windows for corporate
users. The two programs will share the same basic, 32-bit kernel "around
1998." But some analysts are skeptical about Microsoft's ability to bring
products out on time, while others point out that by 1998, the company will
need to begin launching a 64-bit version of its NT Server to work with
planned 64-bit Unix systems planned for that timeframe. "The fact is there
will always be two versions of the kernel," says a Forrester Research
analyst. (Information Week 22 Apr 96 p22)
APPLE DELAYS COPLAND
Rumors from sources within Apple say that the introduction of Copland,
Apple's next-generation operating system, will be delayed until mid-1997.
(Computer Industry Daily 29 Apr 96)
HEY, BIG SPENDER
In a debate at a meeting of the American Association of Advertising
Agencies, technology pundit George Gilder (author of "Microcosm") remarked
that "the consumer will definitely pay for information on the Internet," but
was challenged by skeptic Clifford Stoll (author of "Silicon Snake Oil"),
who argued that "the dirty little secret of Internet is that it's a
neighborhood of cheapskates" for "as soon as you charge people pennies to
click onto icons, they stop." (New York Times 26 Apr 96 C17)
Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) & Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educom.edu). Voice: 404-371-1853, Fax: 404-371-8057.
Technical support is provided by the Office of Information Technology,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
***************************************************************
Edupage ... is what you've just finished reading. To subscribe to Edupage:
send mail to: listproc@educom.unc.edu with the message: subscribe edupage
Yogi Berra (if your name is Yogi Berra; otherwise, substitute your own
name). ... To cancel, send a message to: listproc@educom.unc.edu with the
message: unsubscribe edupage. (If you have subscription problems, send
mail to educom@educom.unc.edu.)
Educom Review ... is our bimonthly print magazine on information technology
and education. Subscriptions are $18 a year in the U.S.; send mail to
offer@educom.edu. When you do, we'll ring a little bell, because we'll be
so happy! Choice of bell is yours: a small dome with a button, like the
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service"; or a small hand bell; or a cathedral bell; or a door bell; or a
chime; or a glockenspiel. Your choice. But ring it!
Educom Update ... is our twice-a-month electronic summary of organizational
news and events. To subscribe, send mail to: listproc@educom.unc.edu with
the message: subscribe update Samuel Goldwyn (if your name is Samuel
Goldwyn; otherwise, substitute your own name).
Archives & Translations ... Edupage is translated into Chinese, French,
German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Romanian, and
Spanish. For translations and archives, see < http://www.educom.edu/ >.
Or send mail to translations@educom.unc.edu for info on subscribing to any
of these translations.
Today's Honorary Subscribers ... Yogi Berra, the baseball player and
manager, and Samuel Goldwyn, the movie producer. Both had a way with words.
Berra was the first person to report experiencing "deja vu all over again,"
and Goldwyn once told a group of dealmakers to "include me out" of their
project.
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Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
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