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7/22/2001: 2001, an Annus Horribilis? Nooo...: WORSE!!

    According to information of the counsel Gartner Dataquest who quotes The Register, in the first trimester of 2001 the sales of PCs descended for the first time in 15 years.
    It is a question of a seemingly small descent, 1,9 %, but more than sufficient to force the companies of the sector to cancel contracts, dismiss hundreds of personnel, not to construct the projected factories... Of the big ones, only Dell manages to increase minimally his sales, probably thanks to the fact that it is "cannibalizing" the quota of other manufacturers.
    The avalanche of negative news reaches really dramatic dimensions between the companies dedicated to the business of the memory, which does not wonder: the chips of DRAM of 64 and 128 Mbits are selling in his historical minimum, in many cases below the manufacture prices. And thanks to the companies impulse like Crucial Micron, the DDR-SDRAM is already almost at the same price as the SDRAM PC133 of quality.
    The situation hardly can change in short or half term: the question is that the users do not see any need to change his current PCs, especially in the managerial field, where normally more benefits can be obtained. Will be able to change this situation the arrival of the new Windows XP? In the opinion of this servant, by no means.

More information in:
www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/20523.html
www.pricewatch.com
2001: Annus Horribilis of the industry of computers?
AMD cuts moreover his prices away
Good economic results for AMD... and regular for Intel
Crucial micron bursts the prices of the memory DDR
The memory low SDRAM up to ridiculous prices
It lowers the price of the microprocessors and the memory
The computer companies worried by the descent of the sales

News written for: Juan Herrer�as

His publicity in CsH

7/20/2001: Apple renews all his scale of iMacs, iBooks and PowerMacs

    Steve Jobs, president of Apple, has announced in the fair Macworld of New York a renewal of the scale of computers Apple, so much of dessert as portable. A small renewal that it affects for the most part to the increase of the speed of the processors G3 and G4, made by Motorola.
    This way, the iMacs reach speeds between 500 and 700 MHz with his processors G3.  2 come with 256 cache memory KB level , 128MB OR 256 MB memory , hard disks from 20 to 60 GB and reader or retape recorder of CD-ROMs, according to configurations. The bus Federal Security Service keeps on supporting in 100 MHz and with graphic support of the ATI Rage 128 Ultra AGP 2x.
    The scale PowerMac G4 is renewed by two new incorporations. A model to 867 MHz and another dual model with 800 MHz processors . In both cases, 256 cache memory KB incorporates L2 and 2 MB of cache memory L3. They are equipped with series with a port AGP 4x (with the available Geforce3 across the Apple web page), two ports USB, two ports Firewire and a connector Ethernet. The 867 MHz model comes with the SuperDrive, capable of reading and of writing so many CD-ROMs as DVDs. On the other hand, there is confirmed the suspension of the production of the Cube by his low sales (it would not be for design, the truth).
    Also the new (portable) iBook stands out, with important physical changes: now it is smaller and light, silver and with many other connection ports.   GB incorporates a processor G3 500 MHz in configurations with up to 128 MB of RAM and hard disk of 10 . A portable ultrapowerful one (enough more than many portable Intel) from 1.299 $.
    On the other hand, proper Steve Jobs mentioned that the first big update of the system Mac OS X (the version 10.1) will not come until September; it seems that the clients who have already the Mac OS X will be able to gain access to this update paying only the cost of manipulation and mailing.
    The proper Jobs defines this version checked like the point of transition between the classic S.O. of the Mac and the new generation X. And the fact is that it is already known, a good machine with a good operating system is always a perfect "marriage"...

More information in:
www.apple.com/es/imac/
www.apple.com/es/powermac/
www.apple.com/es/pr/q401/030701cube.html
www.apple.com/es/ibook/
www.apple.com/es/pr/q401/180701macosx101.html
www.theregister.co.uk/content/39/20464.html
ATI keeps on equipping the Apple iBook
Piece of news ATI RADEON MAC EDITION
Prepared, ready...: already! Mac OS X is already here
Apple presents his new Power Mac G4 with SuperDrive
Avalanche of innovations Apple in hardware and software

News written for: Ignacio Jim�nez of the Ship

7/19/2001: ATI presents the technology SMARTSHADER

    ATI has just made official a new architecture that it will incorporate into his next projects, between them the next RADEON 2 (R200). The architecture SMARTSHADER would be equivalent (overcoming it?) to the engine nFINITE of NVIDIA that incorporates the GeForce3. This way, ATI wants that the developers could create visual effects of high quality, as well as have full freedom and rapidity in the development of the same ones, by means of the programming of the very same graphic chip.
    ATI is collaborating closely with Microsoft for the current DirectX 8. The architecture SMARTSHADER will be compatible with the next version 8.1. On the other hand, the proper ATI is developing the extensions OpenGL that will support this new architecture.
    SMARTSHADER incorporates many advances in the field of the Pixel Shaders ("eyeshadows of pixel"), which ATI defines like "small programs that execute on every pixel renderizado for �l graphic controler". It can realize up to 6 textures in every past one, reducing in a considerable way the use of the band of memory of the graphic card. This way the quality increases without reducing the number of stills per second.
    Also he supports the technology Vertex Shaders of the DirectX 8, which execution target the apexes of the objects are 3D. This way, it is possible to modify the form and position of the objects, being able to give place to physical particles models like water in movement, dust, rain...
    At this point and seen the seen, I do only one to myself he asks. When NVIDIA was finishing the design of his "revolutionist" GeForce3, somewhere near December, 2000: was imagining everything what ATI had in mind? Perhaps the answer would be curious...

More information in:
www.ati.com/na/pages/corporate/press/2001/4389.html
www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1504
ATI confirms the arrival of the RADEON 2 and "he allows to love" with 3
ATI licenses his graphic chips to third
ATI presents the technology TRUFORM of his futures chips
Piece of news ATI RADEON MAC EDITION
ATI presents the new technology for Pok�mon
ATI also remembers the users of cards PCI
ATI buys FireGL

News written for: Ignacio Jim�nez of the Ship