Intel Corp. disclosed Tuesday that its 90-nanometer (0.09-micron) process will include a technique called "strained silicon", a process which allows transistor performance to improve without additional process shrinks. In March, Intel executives disclosed that the 90-nm process was already being tested on a 52-Mbit SRAM cell, a simple circuit used to test new process technologies. Intel tipped a few more details on its manufacturing techniques Tuesday, and reiterated that its first 90-nm products would be released in the second half of 2003.
Intel's P1262 90-nm process, as Intel calls it, will include a gate length of less than 50 nm and a gate oxide thickness of 1.2 nm, which Bohr claimed to be the smallest in the industry. Intel will retool its fab in Hillsboro, Ore., later this year to support the new process, followed by its fabs in New Mexico and Ireland. Intel will marry the finer90-nm technology with its largest 300-mm wafer lines, greatly increasing the potential number of microprocessors per wafer. However, the company will not retrofit its 200-mm wafer fabs with the 300-mm technology, Bohr said.
Government IT contractor GTSI Corp. has announced a series of orders totaling $50.3 million to provide Microsoft Office products to a number of federal agencies. The recent orders all involve enterprise licensing agreements and include five three-year contracts for Office products. The orders came from the Air National Guard Bureau, the Defense Contract Management Agency, the Customs Service and other Department of Defense and intelligence agencies.
"GTSI continues to expand its strategic sales relationship with Microsoft," said GTSI Chairman and CEO Dendy Young. "GTSI's exclusive focus on government clients -- and our unique understanding of their procurement needs -- will give us an expanding role as a trusted partner in fulfilling software and other enterprise requirements."
It's tempting to declare Microsoft's ambitious .Net strategy a flop - as some have. After all, two years have slipped by since Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates redirected his troops to find new ways to profit from increased business and consumer use of the Web. Meteoric success did not follow, prompting some company watchers and competitors to deride .Net as .NotYet. Big mistake.
Microsoft is more determined than ever to recast itself as a major innovator and supplier of Web-centric software. After early missteps, the software titan has tenaciously latched on to a tiered plan to immerse its products deep inside corporate data centers, as well as in consumers' living rooms. The goal: catch the next big wave of technology spending as businesses move to further tap the power of the Internet.
Microsoft will launch its Xbox-based online gaming service, dubbed Xbox Live, on November 15, the company says. The late 2002 date corresponds with plans announced last year when Microsoft launched Xbox, a powerful video game console that has lagged behind competition from Sony and Nintendo. Xbox Live will utilize broadband Internet connections to let gamers connect and match their skills. Unlike other video game systems, the Xbox includes the hardware required to make an Internet connection. However, Microsoft will require customers to purchase a $50 starter kit to get connected; the kit includes the necessary software, a 12-month subscription to the service, and a headset microphone for in-game voice discussions with other players.
Microsoft is developing upgrades to its enterprise templates and frameworks for the next major version of the Visual Studio .Net platform that will let developers scale applications to the enterprise level. The Redmond, Wash., company introduced preliminary versions of these development tools in February, when it announced Visual Studio .Net 1.0. Microsoft is working to enhance the tools to be more robust and scalable, with support for Web services federation, business orchestration and test tools, said sources familiar with the company's plans.
"There's nothing like this out there today. This isn't a 'catch-up' effort," said one developer, who wished to remain anonymous. "If Microsoft pulls this off, [Whitehorse is] going to be a killer tool. It's going to be conceptually similar to BEA [Systems Inc.'s] WebLogic Workshop, but much more encompassing and with Microsoft's notoriously good developer usability."
Chipmaker RF Micro Devices on Monday unveiled what it claims is the smallest version yet of an integral part of a cell phone known as a "front end receiver." The Greensboro, N.C.-based company said it's shaved a half-millimeter off all four sizes of the receiver, which is the first semiconductor that a phone signal passes through when it reaches a handset. RF Micro Devices spokesman Michael Coady said the new chip designs are to meet the growing demand by cell phone makers for tinier components. That creates room for handset makes like Nokia or Motorola to increase the size of a phone's screen or add new functions, like the ability to watch videos.
Microsoft has a "problem" other companies could only wish for: what to do with its huge hoard of cash? And everyone seems to have an answer for spending the $38.7 billion in cash and short-term securities reported on Microsoft's balance sheet on June 30. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader believes the Redmond, Wash.-based behemoth should pay a dividend. Credit Suisse First Boston analysts want the company to buy back more stock. And one investor joked that Microsoft could have helped bail out WorldCom by giving the bankrupt telco a few billion dollars.
Don't look for any of those options from Bill Gates and Co. For one thing, Microsoft's cash balance is not as enormous as it seems by at least one measure. And with big plans to expand into new markets such as entertainment and wireless -- plus the antitrust cases still looming -- Microsoft is more likely to reinvest in itself than declare a dividend or embark on a major acquisition in the near future. Microsoft, stung by bad investments during the Internet boom, is also more cautious now about where it puts its money.
USB 2.0, the newer, faster version of the Universal Serial Bus technology used to transfer data to and from computer peripherals, has at long last reached maturity. Over the past few months, manufacturers have shipped hundreds of peripherals compliant with USB 2.0, which at 480Mbps lets you transfer data 40 times as fast as the old standard, USB 1.1. Now the new standard is reaching major-market PCs. Just this week, PC Magazine Labs tested a Compaq Evo Ultra-Slim Desktop equipped with USB 2.0 ports. (PC Magazine also recently reported on the various kinds of labels USB 2.0 products can claim title to.) "Within a year, USB 2.0 will be in almost every new PC," says Brian O'Rourke, a senior analyst who focuses on converging markets and technologies for research firm In-Stat/MDR.
Computer maker Sun Microsystems said on Friday it had loaned $6.3 million to six current and former executives and directors since 1999. About $5.4 million in loans, which date back to October 1999, were still outstanding as of Thursday, the company disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Santa Clara, California-based company, which makes computers that manage networks, said it made the loans to help executives with vesting restricted stock, exercising stock options, and home purchases due to job-related moves. Jonathan Schwartz, the company's executive vice president for software, received loans totaling $4 million, which were still outstanding, according to the SEC filing.
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