AU Optronics has reportedly landed mobile phone LCD orders from Motorola and will start shipping 1.8”, 1.9”, 2” and 2.2” panels 3rd quarter. Among AU’s other customers is Apex Digital, which is using a 3.5” panel in its new portable hard-disc AV recorder (CED June 23 p2), Pres. Stephen Brothers said. The 3.5” display has a 320x240 resolution.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published its semi-annual regulatory agenda, which contains certain U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulatory rulemakings (rulemakings).
About 34 million (27%) of Internet users are aware of VoIP service and 4 million (13%) have considered getting it for home use, according to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and the New Millennium Research Council (NMRC). It said that 11% of Internet users (14 million) had made some form of phone call over the Internet and that 4 million Americans who had considered switching to VoIP -- “mostly technophiles and generally well off economically” -- represented “the near-term potential for the home VoIP market.” It said 2/3 of those who had heard of VoIP had a high speed connection either at home or work. “I believe that these survey numbers highlight that the vast majority of Americans are not quite ready to throw away their land lines and cell phones for Internet telephony,” said NMRC’s Allen Hepner: “That said, with one in 8 Internet users considering signing up for VoIP, even modest industry take-up rates over the next 5 years are sizeable figures.”
An application from Intelsat, Lockheed Martin and Comsat was placed on public notice Fri. at the FCC. Intelsat announced in May its plans to purchase Comsat General from Lockheed for $90 million (CD May 12 p9). Under the agreement, Intelsat would acquire a private land mobile radio license, a geostationary satellite space station license, 6 satellite earth station licenses and other earth station licenses and authorizations. Petitions on the application are due July 26, the Commission said. Oppositions are due Aug.5 and replies Aug. 10.
Online wireless retailer LetsTalk said a survey it conducted found that 1/3 of Americans would give up their wireline phone if wireless carriers lowered rates and improved service. Only 9% said they would not give up their land line phones under any conditions. Asked about the biggest considerations for going all wireless, 42% said cheaper wireless minutes and 31% better coverage. “We were shocked at the sheer number of Americans who would consider dropping their local phone service,” said Delly Tamer, CEO of LetsTalk.
The first privately funded spacecraft carrying a human was launched into space Mon. morning for a 2 hour space flight, said sponsor Scaled Composites (SC). According to reports, the SpaceShip One launch took place around 9:45 a.m. EST from the Mojave Airport in Mojave, Cal. A White Knight jet carried the spacecraft 50,000 ft. into the air. Astronaut Michael Melville then detached the craft from the jet and proceeded an additional 62 miles above the Earth’s surface before returning to the airport for a landing. The flight was designed and built by Scaled Composites and funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe congratulated the team on the successful flight and said the “pioneers” behind the flight are helping to “open the door to a new marketplace offering the experience of weightlessness and suborbital space flight to the public.” SpaceShip One’s flight took place just months ahead of the deadline for the Ansari X-Prize, where contestants must design and build a craft that can take up to 3 passengers into space, return to Earth with the craft substantially intact, and make the same flight in the same craft within 2 weeks. The $10 million prize is funded through Jan. 1.
The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) held a quarterly meeting on June 18, 2004 in Washington, DC to discuss and receive updates from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials on various trade and customs issues.
When the new videogame consoles start shipping next year or in 2006 by Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), they face various potential stumbling blocks, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter said in an industry report Mon.
Nearly 840 gigabytes of data traveled roughly 10 thousand miles in under 20 minutes in April, according to Sprint and the Swedish National Research & Education Network (SUNET). The data traveled from San Jose, Cal., to the Un. of Lulea in Sweden, across SprintLink and the GigaSUNET IP backbones at 4.23 gigabytes per sec., officials said. The transmission path included 40 IP routers (35 SprintLink networks and 5 SUNET) and the end hosts were Dell 2650 servers. The PCs were connected using Intel PRO/10GbE ten- gigabit Ethernet adapters, officials said. Sprint/SUNET said they beat the existing record (61,752 terabit meters/sec.) in the IPv4 single stream category of the Internet2 consortium’s “Internet Land Speed Record” competition by close to 12%, and almost tripled the record in the Guinness Book, officials said. “The record Sprint beat was done on a private network but Sprint ran the bulk data on a public network during high use. It’s the difference between driving to Dulles Airport at 3 a.m. with no one but you and a state trooper vs. the evening at rush hour” said a Sprint spokesman. The Internet2 consortium, based in Indianapolis, verified the accomplishment and will give Sprint/SUNET recognition in the fall, officials said.
New Game Releases: Hip Interactive said it signed a deal with developer Blue 52 -- terms not disclosed -- to publish the action game Stolen worldwide. It said the game was expected to ship in March 2005. As part of the deal, Hip said it “owns all rights to the multi-format game and property.” Hip CEO Arindra Singh said “we are anticipating the game to be one of our top sellers in fiscal 2005”… Ubisoft shipped Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow for PS2 at $49.99 in the U.S… Buena Vista Games said it was collaborating with Capcom on Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge. It said the game is in development by Capcom… Mastiff said it planned to ship the action game Gungrave: Overdose for PS2 “in early fall”… Square Enix said it will ship an updated game in its Dragon Quest series this winter, AP reported from Tokyo. The report said the new SKU -- Dragon Quest 8: The Sky, Ocean, Land and a Cursed Princess -- will be for PS2… Atari shipped Shadow Ops: Red Mercury for Xbox at $49.95.