2 January
2003
By:
Agitator!!
March
March
started off poorly for many when Comcast took over for the
bankrupt Excite@home. Samsung introduced 400MHz, 128-Megabit
Double-Data-Rate Synchronous DRAM (DDR400)
capable of processing data at 3.2 Gigabytes per second. For
those who love cloak-and-dagger, there was something from
real life - President Bush activated plans for a "shadow
governement"...in case the nation's capital was crippled
by terrorist attack.
Like a Phoenix, Reseller
Ratings, came back from the dead. The Security Systems
Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA) had many consumers
worried. In a move to bring color to more handheld users worldwide,
Palm unveiled
the Palm m130 and m515 handhelds. Apparently some Xbox units
scratched the game discs. Utilizing Constant Angular Velocity,
Oak Technology unveiled the first 48X CD-R/RW Controller.
Intel
brought Pentium 4 Technology to mobile
PCs. DivXNetworks released DivX
5.0. TMSC verified their 90-nanometer process technology
with fully functional 4MB SRAM. Microsoft
technology hit the road in BMW's 7 Series. Plasmon
announced development of Ultra Density Optical (UDO), the
next generation of 5.25" optical drive will increase capacities
from 30GB to 120GB. Scientists explained why Time
Travel is possible. CNN planned to remove free video news
feeds from its site and include them in a subscription channel.
Central
Command released the Vexira
Antivirus Rescue Disk System - universal Antivirus Rescue
System for Windows, Linux, Unix, DOS, OS/2. Creative Labs
announced plans to purchase 3DLabs. Intel's Channel Operation
shipped their 100
Millionth boxed processor. Philips launched a single-chip
solution which should bring Super Audio CD (SACD) to the high-volume
consumer market. Intel
built the World's first one square micron SRAM cell. A company
called Y.S.
Tech unveiled new Tip-Magnetic Driven Fans.
While
Intel was busy adding Level 3 cache to the Xeon
processor MP, MadOnion released PCMark2002.
AMD announced their upcoming move to .13 micron technology.
They also announced their new AthlonXP 2100+ desktop processor
and the mobile AMD Athlon 4 processor 1600+. TDK
demonstrated a drive that incorporated a MultiLevel (ML) read/write
chip that adds a 2 GB recording mode to its standard CD-R/RW
capability. Not content to let NVIDIA own the integrated graphics
market all by themselves, ATI unveiled the RADEON
IGP Family for AMD-based systems.
IBM announced new Modular Architecture, eServer,
for Intel-based systems. Samsung began sampling DDR400. Envivio
announced the first MPEG-4
Real-Time Encoder with DVD Resolution. Several executive
members of the DVD+RW
Alliance announced new DVD+RW products with DVD+R (write
once) functionality. NVIDIA unveiled their nForce 620-D And
615-D Platform Processors with DDR333 support. Casio introduced
their Ultrathin Digital Camera, the EXILIM EX-S. VIA launched
the Apollo P4X333 chipset for Intel Pentium 4 systems. Microsoft
stumbles on releasing USB 2.0 drivers for Windows 2000.
Abit
announced the MAX family of motherboards that are legacy-free.
Plextor introduced a CD-RW/DVD-ROM
Combo Drive. Microsoft lost a courtroom battle over their
Windows trademark to upstart Lindows.com. Intel revealed the
industry's first dual processing capabilities for thin, low-power
"ultra-dense" blade servers. An asteroid as wide as a Boeing
747 narrowly missed Earth in March — and we never knew it
was coming.
HP
claimed victory in the Compaq merger conflict. In order to
protect children, the State of Pennsylvania passed a measure
mandating Internet censorship. Micron began samping DDR400
even before their DDR333 was available for sale. NVIDIA launched
their new Select
Builder Program. RealNetworks released the RealOne
Player for Pocket PC Devices. Lexmark was first to market
with a 4800
dpi resolution inkjet printer. Apple unveiled the cool
Cinema
HD 23-inch Flat Panel Display. Senator Hollings angered
many people by introducing the hated digital piracy bill (now
called the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion
Act, or CBDTPA). Xybernaut unveiled the Personal, Wearable
Desktop called Poma.
Bell
Labs scientists transmitted 64 channels of data at 40
gigabits per second per channel over 4000 kilometers (2500
miles). Elsa introduced their Synergy4 Quadro4-based Graphics
Cards. The Cindy
Smart doll was the first interactive doll that possessed
the sense Of sight. AMD picked up more momentum with the announcement
that SuSE Linux AG will offer full 64-bit support for AMD's
"Hammer" family of processors JEDEC muddied the waters with
a revised
memory roadmap that did not include DDR
I at 400MHz.
A
team at Johns Hopkins University in the US has developed a
prototype chip which uses light
instead of wires as an interface. Panasonic began spearheading
an effort to make
DVD-audio a standard in automobiles. 3ware's Escalade
7000 controllers enabled over a Terabyte (TB) of storage
on a single ATA RAID Card. TDV
Technologies announced plan for life-like stereoscopic
3D viewing on Internet-connected home computers. 3-Dimensional's
nano-technology added another method for physical protection
of media content. Nanotubes
measuring just 100 atoms in diameter were created from designer
molecules that were customized to self-assemble into angstrom-sized
circuit elements.
Finally,
March also saw the first consumer models of the Segway-Human
Transporters being sold - by auction.
