2 January
2003
By:
Agitator!!
Once
again, it has been an amazing year. We crossed the 3GHz barrier
for desktop PC's. It was also the year we saw buzzwords like
"nanotech", "hyper-threading" and "digital
rights management" proliferate. CD burners warped into
overdrive. Quantum and molecular computing moved closer to
reality. Games like Unreal Tournament 2003 and No One Lives
Forever 2 pushed the bounds of graphics. While we anticipate
things like cinematic graphics and SerialATA in 2003, it's
also a time to look back and revisit many of the top technology
stories that made the headlines.
January
Wearable
computing got a boost when Microvision introduced their NOMAD
Augmented Vision System. ATI shipped their FIRE
GL 8800 workstation graphic boards. THX
certified car audio systems would soon find its way into
the 2003 Lincoln LS. During 2002, DDR333 memory went from
overclocker's toy to mainstream memory option. In January,
the AMD faithful were rewarded with the introduction of the
2000+ AthlonXP. Intel countered with the release of their
0.13-micron "Northwood" Pentium 4's with 512KB of
L2 cache and the 845D chipset that offered support for DDR
memory.
Apple
introduced the new iMac
personal computer and iPod
portable music player. Pioneer unveiled their DEH-P90HDD,
the first AM/FM/CD player with built-in 10 GB hard disk drive
for in-car use. Kenwood joined them with their Music
Keg Digital Media Storage system. USB 2.0 gained popularity
as more devices became available and motherboard support became
standard. Creative launched their Sound
Blaster Extigy - the first external Sound Blaster. Dolby
was quite busy moving into the car, gaming and headphone markets.
NVIDIA finally removed the integrated GeForce2 MX from their
nForce chipset and called it the 415-D. Real
Networks joined with TiVo and their DVR's.
One of the technologies that exploded in 2002 was wireless
connectivity. Companies like D-Link
jumped onboard. ATI decided to allow other vendors to produce
graphic cards based on their chips. ATI also entered the handheld
market with their IMAGEON 100 Display Co-Processor. eSynch's
Oxford Media announced that their EnhancedDVD-ROM technology
would allow for multiple full-length movies on one DVD-ROM...but
nothing more was heard from them. A crystal
that stopped light could facilitate quantum computing
and the Earth escaped a brush with a killer
asteroid.
CD-RW
drives made incredible speed jumps in 2002. In January, 32X
recording speeds were just making appearances on the store
shelves. By the end of the year, 52X drives were being announced.
TDK announced the first
2GB Multi-Mode CD/ML Burner that promised to triple the
capacity of CD-RW media. It was supposed to be released in
the second quarter of 2002. VisionTek announced that they
had earned the No. 1 spot in retail sales. Six months later,
they were in bankruptcy. A microchain that closely resembled
a bicycle chain was fabricated at the Department of Energy’s
Sandia National Laboratories.
With
the release of the 2.5.2 kernal, Linux offered initial support
for USB 2.0. Flexible
transistors were set for mass production. Electronic Arts
made life a little easier for consumers (and the environment)
by packaging games in DVD-sized boxes. Macrovision pursued
digital rights management with their SafeAudio
protection. Sony has unveiled their "TechnoLOOK"
Digital Video Microscope. With the mantra "smaller
is better", Cybernet launched their Zero-Footprint-PC.
EA's
Medal of Honor: Allied Assualt gave gamers a more realistic
World War II experience. HP received a patent for a molecular
computing advance. A company called ZeoSync
promised a revolutionary multidimensional encoding technology
that could allow compression rates of up to 100:1...but as
of now, nothing has materialized. Apple unvieled their Dual
1-GHz Power Mac G4. JVC announced the D-VHS
“D-Theater” Software Platform for HD prerecorded content.
And finally, TSMC demonstrated the first 0.10-micron
ICs.
|
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
|
| Page
1 - January - THX Car Audio, 2GB
Multi-Mode CD/ML Burner, etc |
| Page
2 - February - GeForce4, DDR333, Serial ATA, etc. |
| Page
3 - March - DDR400, Time Travel, Nanotubes, etc. |
| Page
4 - April - Opteron, Wireless Monitors, Life on Mars,
etc. |
| Page
5 - May - (Part 2) |
| Page
6 - June - (Part 2) |
| Page
7 - July - (Part 2) |
| Page
8 - August - (Part 2) |
| Page
9 - September - (Part 3) |
| Page
10 - October - (Part 3) |
| Page
11 - November - (Part 3) |
| Page
12 - December - (Part 3) |
