Billy Florence News: Fast Times At Laptop High
Fast Times At Laptop High
The “Emerging Tech” thread of the Consumer Electronics Show is always fun to follow. Of particular interest were several new products poised for a 2006 release that will significantly improve the business life of the laptop-dependent road warrior.
DUAL-CORE TECHNOLOGY FOR LAPTOPS
When Intel and AMD released their dual-core processors in the spring of 2005, they were limited to high-end desktop PCs. In Las Vegas, Intel announced that its Centrino Duo Mobile Technology is ready to roll – featuring “Core Duo,” the first dual-core chip for laptops. And all indications are that AMD will not be far behind.
Dual-core technology places two separate processing units on a single chip, allowing them to work in true parallel mode. This is a step up from multi-threading, in which a single unit operates two separate processing threads. Operating systems (like Windows XP and the forthcoming Vista) and programs (like Adobe Photoshop CS) that utilize multi-threading run even better with dual-core processors. In addition, gaming software performance is increased dramatically. But the greatest boon for the average business consumer is the great leap in multi-tasking efficiency, which rises to virtually seamless levels with many applications.
Dell, HP, and Sony have already announced shipments of dual-core laptops in the late winter and early spring, in both desktop replacement and thin-and-light models. Starting prices range from $1700-$2200, which does not represent much of a jump in purchase costs. (Single core thin-and-lights generally hover around the $1500 mark, while desktop replacements push up closer to $2000.)
HOLOGRAPHIC STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
Computer engineers have long been aware of the theory and even the practice behind holographic data writing. All that was lacking was a medium stable enough to handle the rigors of 3D storage and retrieval, and inexpensive enough to promise affordable products. CES InPhase Technologies, an offshoot of Bell Laboratories, unveiled a new polymer that they say fits the bill. Labeled “TapestryÔ HDS4000,” the media records at the same red laser wavelength already utilized in CD and DVD recorders. Because of the dramatically increased density levels of the data storage, InPhase predicts that, in the very near future, up to 500 GB could be stored on a device the size of a business card.
Holographic storage splits a laser into a signal beam and a reference beam. Data is stored on the signal beam in a checkerboard pattern of light and dark segments, representing the 0s and 1s of the binary language. When the beams are reunited, the stored data is reflected precisely in the resulting interference pattern, which is then recorded in the light-sensitive media. Data is retrieved by bouncing the reference beam off the media, thereby reconstructing the stored data and sending it to a detector. Because the data is presented holographically, it can be read in parallel, thus adding dramatically increased retrieval speeds to the list of exciting promises this new technology offers.
To be sure, holographic storage technology will be a boon for all levels of computing – mobile, desktop, and mainframe. But it is especially promising for the laptop traveler, always ready for new ways to work faster and more efficiently, while minimizing necessary space and weight.
NAND FLASH TECHNOLOGY IN LAPTOPS
By all accounts, the day of the zero-spindle laptop, in which hard drives and their myriad problems are relegated once and for all to the trash heap of cyber-obsolescence, is still a good 5-7 years away. Nonetheless, Samsung and Microsoft used the CES to reveal the joint production of a hybrid mobile hard drive that utilizes NAND flash memory as a cache when the drive is idle. The disks are scheduled to begin shipping this fall.
Samsung is the industry leader in NAND technology, which has already revolutionized both the cell phone and digital audio player market. The advantages of flash memory over hard drives include smaller size and weight, more efficient power usage, and solid state technology, with no moving parts to break or malfunction. Samsung predicts that its hybrid drive will reduce battery consumption by 36 percent, which is only a taste of the good things to come as single-spindle laptops give way to the evolution of their zero-spindle progeny.
Remember the clunky cell phones we all used five years ago? Remember how big iPods were just last fall? Take a look at your palm-sized flip phone or your teenager’s iPod Nano by comparison, and you’ll have some idea of what awaits us in laptop portability as the dawn of NAND flash memory creeps over the technological horizon. More information on road warrior gadgets on CNET.
Sources: CES, Kamaron Institute
© 2006 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers blog site.
The “Emerging Tech” thread of the Consumer Electronics Show is always fun to follow. Of particular interest were several new products poised for a 2006 release that will significantly improve the business life of the laptop-dependent road warrior.
DUAL-CORE TECHNOLOGY FOR LAPTOPS
When Intel and AMD released their dual-core processors in the spring of 2005, they were limited to high-end desktop PCs. In Las Vegas, Intel announced that its Centrino Duo Mobile Technology is ready to roll – featuring “Core Duo,” the first dual-core chip for laptops. And all indications are that AMD will not be far behind.
Dual-core technology places two separate processing units on a single chip, allowing them to work in true parallel mode. This is a step up from multi-threading, in which a single unit operates two separate processing threads. Operating systems (like Windows XP and the forthcoming Vista) and programs (like Adobe Photoshop CS) that utilize multi-threading run even better with dual-core processors. In addition, gaming software performance is increased dramatically. But the greatest boon for the average business consumer is the great leap in multi-tasking efficiency, which rises to virtually seamless levels with many applications.
Dell, HP, and Sony have already announced shipments of dual-core laptops in the late winter and early spring, in both desktop replacement and thin-and-light models. Starting prices range from $1700-$2200, which does not represent much of a jump in purchase costs. (Single core thin-and-lights generally hover around the $1500 mark, while desktop replacements push up closer to $2000.)
HOLOGRAPHIC STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
Computer engineers have long been aware of the theory and even the practice behind holographic data writing. All that was lacking was a medium stable enough to handle the rigors of 3D storage and retrieval, and inexpensive enough to promise affordable products. CES InPhase Technologies, an offshoot of Bell Laboratories, unveiled a new polymer that they say fits the bill. Labeled “TapestryÔ HDS4000,” the media records at the same red laser wavelength already utilized in CD and DVD recorders. Because of the dramatically increased density levels of the data storage, InPhase predicts that, in the very near future, up to 500 GB could be stored on a device the size of a business card.
Holographic storage splits a laser into a signal beam and a reference beam. Data is stored on the signal beam in a checkerboard pattern of light and dark segments, representing the 0s and 1s of the binary language. When the beams are reunited, the stored data is reflected precisely in the resulting interference pattern, which is then recorded in the light-sensitive media. Data is retrieved by bouncing the reference beam off the media, thereby reconstructing the stored data and sending it to a detector. Because the data is presented holographically, it can be read in parallel, thus adding dramatically increased retrieval speeds to the list of exciting promises this new technology offers.
To be sure, holographic storage technology will be a boon for all levels of computing – mobile, desktop, and mainframe. But it is especially promising for the laptop traveler, always ready for new ways to work faster and more efficiently, while minimizing necessary space and weight.
NAND FLASH TECHNOLOGY IN LAPTOPS
By all accounts, the day of the zero-spindle laptop, in which hard drives and their myriad problems are relegated once and for all to the trash heap of cyber-obsolescence, is still a good 5-7 years away. Nonetheless, Samsung and Microsoft used the CES to reveal the joint production of a hybrid mobile hard drive that utilizes NAND flash memory as a cache when the drive is idle. The disks are scheduled to begin shipping this fall.
Samsung is the industry leader in NAND technology, which has already revolutionized both the cell phone and digital audio player market. The advantages of flash memory over hard drives include smaller size and weight, more efficient power usage, and solid state technology, with no moving parts to break or malfunction. Samsung predicts that its hybrid drive will reduce battery consumption by 36 percent, which is only a taste of the good things to come as single-spindle laptops give way to the evolution of their zero-spindle progeny.
Remember the clunky cell phones we all used five years ago? Remember how big iPods were just last fall? Take a look at your palm-sized flip phone or your teenager’s iPod Nano by comparison, and you’ll have some idea of what awaits us in laptop portability as the dawn of NAND flash memory creeps over the technological horizon. More information on road warrior gadgets on CNET.
Sources: CES, Kamaron Institute
© 2006 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers blog site.
posted by Billy Florence at
6:40 PM
