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May 8, 1999
News
- If you want to find out more information about the CD that comes bundled with my
upcoming book, "Personal Computer Secrets," then head over to the book section
of my web site. On the new CD-ROM link you’ll be able to see a complete list of the
36 applications—including freeware, shareware and demo versions—that will be on
the CD. On another personal note, if you can get access to ZDTV, I’ll be on Silicon
Spin with John Dvorak this Tuesday, the 11th at about 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
- The big news of the week for PC users was the announcement by National Semiconductor
that they’re getting out of the PC microprocessor business. National Semiconductor
owns the Cyrix line of x86-compatible processors, including the MII, which are
increasingly found in the sub-$500 category of PCs. The company made the move because they
said they were losing too much money in the business. While they may try to sell the MII
line and future technologies to another vendor, it essentially looks like the processor
race now falls to Intel vs. AMD, with a few smaller companies throw in for good measure.
While it’s not clear exactly what this development will mean to the overall PC
market, there has been speculation that it could make sub-$500 computer and some of these
free computer offers a bit tougher to find because many of them used (or planned to use)
Cyrix processors.
- As a result of several developments going on now, watch for more music to come to your
PC. In addition, your computer is going to become an important part of your overall audio
system. Real Networks held their annual conference in San Francisco this week and among
the many new products and strategies debuted was a beta version of Real Jukebox. Real
Jukebox is the company’s first MP3 player and encoder, meaning it can be used to
convert existing audio CDs and other digital audio files into MP3 format. In addition,
Real Jukebox works with other types of digital audio files, including the company’s
own G2, in their native format. Real Jukebox is also part of a larger company strategy
that will allow you to move streaming audio files from one place to another, such as into
some of the growing number of portable MP3 audio players, including Diamond’s RIO and
Creative Labs’ Nomad. Real Jukebox can also automatically look up and then store the
contents of various CDs, such as artist, song titles and more. Once it has that data, you
can use it to create customized playlists or collections of songs by dragging and dropping
song names.
- In conjunction with this announcement, consumer electronics giant Thomson/RCA also
announced that they will be building and selling a new portable MP3 player called Lyra
that’s expected this fall. While no details about the product were available,
it’s very interesting to see a large consumer electronics company—as opposed to
a computer peripheral manufacturer—get into this market.
- If you’re looking for a printer you can take with you on the go, you may want to
check out Brother’s new MP-21C portable color printer. The $299 MP-21C offers 720 x
720 dpi resolution and uses low-power piezo electric printing technology. The primary
benefit of this technology is that it allows the printer to be powered through a
notebooks’ PC Card slot without yet another AC adapter to carry around. In fact, all
you have to do is plug the provided PC card and cable into one of your notebook’s PC
card slots and you’re set. Brother is also offering the $349 MP-21Cdx, which is
designed for home or business desktop use. The MP-21Cdx also bundles in an optional
30-sheet automatic paper feeder, AC adapter and parallel port and cable kit.
- Several companies introduced new notebooks this past week, including Micron and
Hewlett-Packard HP, some of which are based around Intel’s new mobile Celeron
processors. Micron’s main new entry is the feature-rich Transport NX, which includes
a 15" active matrix display. In addition, the $2,899, 8.3-pound Transport NX comes
standard with a 333 MHz mobile Pentium II, 64 MB of RAM, 6.4 GB hard drive, and 24x
CD-ROM. HP’s new Omnibook XE2 line, which starts at $1,600, is an all-in-one design,
like the Micron Transport NX, that incorporates a hard drive, floppy and 24x CD-ROM in a
single package without needing to swap out components. In addition, the XE2 line includes
a built-in 56K modem, memory of 32 or 64 MB, 4.1 or 6.4 GB hard drives, Celeron or Pentium
II processors, 12.1 or 13.3-inch active matrix or HPA passive matrix screens, and a total
weight of just under 6 ½ pounds.
- If you’re looking for a simpler, less expensive notebook-like computer, you might
want to check out IBM’s Workpad Z50. Unlike regular notebooks, the $999 Z50 is based
on Microsoft’s Windows CE operating system, which is often used in smaller handheld
devices. The 2.6 pound, one-inch thick Z50 has all the typical features found in other CE
devices, included the Pocket Office applications built into ROM and 16 MB of flash memory
for storing data and additional applications. Unlike any other CE device, however, the Z50
also includes a full-size Type III PC Card slot, which enables you to add a tiny hard
drive—IBM’s amazing 340 MB Microdrive—which greatly enhances the long-range
usefulness of the Z50. The IBM Microdrive won’t be available until the 3rd
quarter of this year, but it’s a nice option to have. Other unique features of the
Z50 are an 8.2" screen with support for 64,000 colors, a keyboard that’s 95% the
size of a regular notebook and an integrated Pointing Stick.
- Microsoft had several bits of operating system-related news this past week. First of
all, the company released Service Pack 5 for Windows NT 4.0. The new Service Pack, like
previous ones, includes a variety of different bug fixes, most of which are relatively
obscure (and none of which, by the way, are necessary for Y2K compliance). Microsoft this
week also released Windows 98 Second Edition to manufacturing, which means we should start
seeing it on store shelves in about a month or so. Similarly, the first Windows 98 Service
Pack should be available around that time. Finally, the company also officially unveiled
the third beta version of Windows 2000, which is actually an upgrade for Windows NT, not
Windows 98. The company is still shooting for a release date in October of this year, but
many industry analysts are skeptical, believing it’ll be closer to the year 2000.
- Speaking of which, there’s a new Y2K information site put together by a consortium
of PC manufacturers. The new site, which is at www.pcy2000.org, provides a straightforward
explanation of the issues relating to Y2K-compliance with PCs and offers information on
how to perform some basic tests to see if your system is ready for the Year 2000.
- If you still don’t have anti-virus software for your Windows-based PC, here’s
an offer you can’t (or at least, shouldn’t) refuse. Computer Associates is now
offering a completely free copy of the Personal Version of their Inoculate It anti-virus
software. Best of all, not only is the main program free, the company also says they will
make application updates and virus definition updates available for free as well. To find
out more, check out the link I have for Inoculate It on my This Week’s Links page.
- Finally, memory prices for 64 Mbit memory chips, which are typically used in 64 MB SIMMs
and DIMMs, dropped to their lowest level ever this week. As a result, if you’re
shopping for a memory upgrade, now may be a good time. But make sure that the price drops
are reflected in the memory you buy because sometimes there’s a lag between when the
component prices drop and the final product prices drop as well.
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