Alpha EV7 in January 2003
SEMI: 2002 chip equipment market down 32%
SDRAM will remain actual at least for a quarter
Targus announces QWERTY keyboard for Toshiba e330/e335/e740 PDAs
Nokia ships Camera Headset HS-1C
Alpha EV7 in January 2003
Without any rush and rumours the message about the release of the new Alpha EV7 chip arrived. According to the specified data, the new processor will be announced in January 2003, that just slightly differs from the initial roadmap (stating the late 2002).
The next one, EV79, is expected in 12 months only, because now HP works with the Alpha line in the "support mode", saving HP hundreds million dollars and enabling to focus on the IA64 support. As you remember, Hewlett-Packard (and Compaq – in June 2001) has already announced the gradual reduction of the Alpha project along with PA-RISC processors and smooth moving to the Intel Itanium platform. Currently Alpha and PA-RISC solutions bring about $5 billions a year, but already in 2002 the Alpha market is expected to reduce by at least $200 million. The smaller this market will be, the less investments will be made, and finally HP will only support already existing systems. This is expected to happen in about 2004, and Alpha systems will be supported until at least 2006.
Well, nobody doubted that "Itanium wins" after Intel has purchased the intellectual rights for the Alpha platform. It’s surpring that any new Alphas are being released at all. But as we speak of the Alpha EV7, it’s worth remembering some details about it.
According to the provisional data, EV7 will initially feature the 1.2GHz clock. The new core is expected to have 1.75Mb of 7-level L2 cache with error correction, and the FSB will provide up to 19.2Gb/s bandwidth. Besides, the core will also feature a couple of RDRAM controllers.
These are the details known about the Alpha family for now:
|
Processor
|
EV68C
|
EV68C
|
EV7
|
EV79
|
|
Specifications
|
| Clock, GHz |
1
|
1.25
|
1.2
|
1.6-1.7
|
| Max. energy consumption, W |
65
|
75
|
155
|
120
|
| Crystal size, sq.mm |
125
|
125
|
400
|
300
|
|
Process technology
|
| Vdd, V |
1.65
|
1.65
|
1,65
|
1.2
|
| CMOS, micron |
0.18
|
0.18
|
0.18
|
0.13-SOI
|
| Package |
FC/LGA
|
FC/LGA
|
FC/LGA
|
FC/LGA
|
| Pin number |
675
|
675
|
1443
|
1443
|
|
Release
|
| Samples availability |
March 2000
|
March 2000
|
April 2001
|
Q3 2003
|
| Volume shipments |
April 2001
|
December 2001
|
Q1 2003
|
H1 2004
|
SEMI: 2002 chip equipment market down 32%
SEMICON Japan, that took place this week, brought the updated and less comforting data about the semiconductor equipment market. Basing on October and November sales analysis, Stanley Myers, CEO and president of SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International), announced that the worldwide chip-making equipment and materials shipments will reduce by over 32% in 2002 down to $18.9 billions from $28 billions of 2001.
Though SEMI believes the situation will improve within the following years due to the improvements of the industry, indicated by the increased load of facilities in 2002. According to SEMI, already next year capital construction investments will increase up to the 15% equipment market growth ($21.8 billion). In 2004 we should expect another considerable 21% growth ($26.4 billion). And only by 2005 the growth will reduce to 4% (and the market will be $27.5 billions already).
| Worldwide semiconductor equipment market, $ billion |
|
Equipment type |
2001 |
2002 |
Growth, % |
2003 |
Growth, % |
2004 |
Growth, % |
2005 |
Growth, % |
|
Wafer production |
20.99 |
13.44 |
36.0 |
15.41 |
14.7 |
18.69 |
21.3 |
19.55 |
4.6 |
|
Assembly-packing |
1.41 |
0.99 |
30.2 |
1.13 |
14.6 |
1.40 |
23.6 |
1.44 |
2.7 |
|
Testing equipment |
3.40 |
2.74 |
19.7 |
3.20 |
17.0 |
3.93 |
22.8 |
4.04 |
2.9 |
|
Other |
2.23 |
1.79 |
19.6 |
2.03 |
13.0 |
2.39 |
18.0 |
2.47 |
3.5 |
|
Total: |
28.03 |
18.95 |
32.4 |
21.77 |
14.9 |
26.41 |
21.3 |
27.51 |
4.1 |
Source: The DigiTimes
SDRAM will remain actual at least for a quarter
After the wide spreading of new DDR chipsets, the demand for SDRAM memory and systems started to decrease. However, after the prices for Intel 845S SDRAM chipsets and AMD Duron CPUs had been considerably reduced, many makers started to build inexpensive entry level systems. There has even been a period of increasing SDRAM prices, but it’s not a surprise, as the prices of DDR modules is at least 50% higher than similar-capacity SDRAM.
Many wonder how long will SDRAM systems remain afloat? Chipset makers like VIA Technologies and SiS believe SDRAM will be actual for at least a quarter. As you know, the "massive attack" of Intel Springdale with its dual-channel DDR is expected eaqrly in Q2. Then, according to the provisional forecasts, signel-channel DDR will be shifted to the low-end, pushing SDRAM out.
Source: The DigiTimes
Targus announces QWERTY keyboard for Toshiba e330/e335/e740 PDAs
Targus, the well-known mobile accessory maker, announced the Noteworthy Click ´n´ Type Keyboard for Toshiba e330, e335, e740 PDAs.
The new accessory, developed together with Toshiba engineers, features 50 buttons and the control cursor.
Targus Noteworthy Click ´n´ Type will cost $44. It’s already available for ordering at Toshiba´s North American website.
Nokia ships Camera Headset HS-1C
Nokia started shipments of the interesting Nokia Camera Headset HS-1C, being a miniature VGA cam plugged to a Nokia phone via the Pop Port. After the shooting images can be browsed on the phone screen and sent along with a text comment.
Nokia Camera Headset HS-1C specs:
- Weight: 60g
- Dimensions: 72.7x28.4x18.4mm
- Cable length: 850 mm to the jack and 700 mm to the headset
- Color: Light Champagne
- Interface: Pop-Port
- Resolution: VGA (640 x 480)
- Image size: 30Kb (Higher), 12Kb (Lower)
- Bit depth: 24-bit
- Photosensivity: 30 lux
- Operational temperature range: —30°C to +70°C
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