September 2017 – The workstations are making their ways through to the creative community. At this point, it’s no surprise that HP updates their Z8, Z6 and Z4 workstation with advances design including reliability and capacity.
The new designs have been implemented to support the increased performance of the units. Higher power with up to an 1700W power supply, a dual processor configuration supporting up 56 CPU cores, more storage with up to 48TB built in, support for up to 3 Nvidia Quadro P6000 series GPUs and now, 3TB of RAM spread over 24 memory slots, and dual 10GBe network interfaces. This high performance configuration requires a focus on airflow and cooling, and the new designs support that.
The HP workstations are being targeted to higher end applications such as machine learning, virtual reality, and advanced (4K and 8K). As the content created needs a high level security the new machines are maintaining it and security measures such as HP Sure Start Gen3, TMP2.0, Secure Authentication and HP SecureErase are all part of the product line.
In the era of electronic presentations and global collaboration via video conferencing the office environment has been changing rapidly and need more better suitable tools. Not that long ago the laser pointer was broadly used by the presenters but had some flows. The main one was – it could not be seen by other parties in shared video calls or on conference room flat screen monitors. Now this problem is solved. Logitech has introduced a new presenter tool named Spotlight that has advanced pointer system that’s better than a laser. Spotlight not only is better by putting the highlighting function into the image created by the computer before it gets to the display, but also more stylish and more functional.
Magnify Capability in New Logitech Spotlight Presenter
Stylish – three buttons and one large one in the 3 different colors bodies – gold, black and silver. Functional – It has a long range of 30 meters (100 feet) so a presenter can walk freely in the room while giving a presentation. It has 3D cursor to play videos and open links. It manages time by giving vibration alerts. It charges fast! Only 1 minute for 3 hours of presentation. When is fully charged a battery last up to 3 months.
The functions are programmable and can be customized to a user needs.
The details: it supports slides and presentations integrated with AV, slides can be send forward and back and control with the gestures; a volume can be raise on embedded media. Spotlight runs on both Windows and Mac for programs including Powerpoint, PDF, Google Slide and more. It operates by the Bluetooth connectivity or 2.4GHz USB wireless connection. A presentation is enable by a software that is new on the market. The software has three modes if item focus on the screen. Spotlight – circular highlight on the screen while the rest of a picture dims; Magnifier – that changes the spotlight to magnifier to show the details of the image; and the third mode that changes the circle area of the magnifier to an outline circle.
December, Logitech – Logitech SmartDock is secure meeting room console designed for Skype for Business. It can transform your meeting with a rich, collaborative experience. At Video Collaboration Press Briefing that took place November 21, 2016 at Logitech Headquarters in Newark, Joan Vandermate walked us through the details of the LogitechSmartDock and presented the functionality of the unit that was just shipped to the market.
The full interview and product demo can seen below:
October, SMPTE – At the first day of Centennial SMPTE ATC conference three speakers: Paul Debevec, Co-Chairman of Science and Technology Council, George Joblove, Co-Chairman and Jack Holm, Co-Author of Science and Technology Council SSL Project Committee presented the challenges and issues in color rendering using the solid state lighting (SSL) along with a solution – a Cinematographic Spectral Similarity Index. The new color index is based upon the similarity of a luminaire’s spectrum to a reference spectrum that eliminates the need for any assumption of the specific observer or camera spectral sensitivity.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Science and Technology Council has investigated the issue the last few years. The AMPAS project was presented at SMPTE Tech Conference in 2009 (“State of Solid State Lighting”), at NAB conference in 2011 (“Chromatic Chaos: Implications of Newly Introduced Forms of Stagelight”) and again at SMPTE in 2013 (“Color Predictor Tool”). “The Experiment” conducted in 2010 showed that luminaire spectral power distribution affects skin tone, makeup, costumes, props, and sets. It showed differences in color for 4 different sources despite all of them being at the same color temperature.
The characteristics of Spectral Similarity Index (SSI) that is a solution for that issue are following:
it defines how close a test spectrum is to a reference spectrum (e.g. tungsten),
does not assume a spectral sensitivity for the camera/film/eye,
single value representing quality of curve fit,
index is easy to understand
easy to include on luminaire/lamp packaging and literature.
The presenters explained the technical aspects of SSI but the final message is that the index yields a confidence factor, where a high score implies predictable color rendition for cinematography, and a moderate score implies possible color rendition challenges. The look of the image and the color of the things on the large screen for cinema, and now with the addition of HDR (high dynamic range) and WCG (wide color gamut) being available on home television screens, means color rendition for projects is once again at the forefront of the content creators vision.
IDF, September 2016 – At the Intel Developer Forum, while a lot of the discussion was on IoT and smart connections, Intel continued their technology advancement and development of multi-core processors for the consumer computer market. The company held a briefing to announce their 7th generation Core series microprocessor.
The new processors continued the take advantage of the new process technology. The processors use the Intel 14nm+ technology which is an updated and advanced version of the 14nm process released a short time back. This new process is about 12% faster than the standard 14nm process and allows for increased productivity in the design. The new process is not only faster but also lower power so the designs of the new PC’s using them can be thinner and lighter with longer battery life.
The higher density design on the 14nm+ process allowed for the addition of a new graphics engine to be built into the chip that will now support UHD 4K video without an additional external GPU card or chip. This will all the computers for be used for immersive applications such as VR, and high resolution movies.
This year, there are supposed to be over 100 designs from multiple manufacturers that will be released with the new core generation core processors. These designs now support new standard functions such as USB 3.1, Thunderbolt 3, Windows Hello, a pen/stylus, and 4K display panels. These will enhance both gaming/entertainment and standard office productivity. The computers with the new processors, and supporting the new DDR4 DRAM memory and Flash memory storage solutions, are many times faster and more productive than a computer from as little as 5 years ago.
Flash Memory Summit, August 2016 – The process of consumerization of flash memory started around 2004. This year NAND prices drop below DRAM prices for the first time at the same density. Panasonic and Sanyo launched the first flash-based camcorders. SanDisk inaugurated Flash Sansa MP3 players. In 2005 NAND revenue exceeded $10 billion when Apple introduced its first iProducts.
Below is the timeline of consumerization of flash memory.
2005 – Apple introduced its first two flash-based iPods, the iPod shuffle and the iPod nano. Microsoft launched Hybrid Hard Disk Drive concept. MMCmicro card was introduced by MMCA. 70nm process was initiated. Micron introduced NAND product. Over 3 billion flash chips were shipped. NAND GB shipments overtook those of DRAM.
2006 – Flash revenue exceed $20 billion. Intel introduced Robson Cache Memory, now known as Turbo Memory. Microsoft launched ReadyBoost. M-Systems announced 4-bit MLC technology. That was an important year for SanDisk. The company announced 4-bit NAND technology and the microSDHC card. SanDisk acquired two enterprises: Martix Semiconductor and M-Systems. Samsung and Seagate demonstrated first Hybrid Hard Disk Drives. IMFT was formed by Intel and Micron to manufacture NAND flash. Spansion introduced ORNAND flash. 56nm process was announced. 300 mm wafers started to be produced.
2007 – Flash revenue exceeded $22 billion (NAND $14.5B) Toshiba introduced eMMC NAND and first MLC SATA-based SSD. IMFT started shipping 50nm NAND flash. Apple launched the iPhone with 4GB or 8GB of flash. Fusion-io announced 640 GB ioDrive MLC NAND-based PCIe X4 board. BitMicro launched 3.5”SSD with capacity of 1.6TB for military applications. Spansion acquired Saifun. Several laptop MLC SSDs were introduced with up to 128 GB of flash. Dell launched SSD option for laptop models. Sub-$200 netbook computers were introduced with flash memory storage. Microsoft initiated flash-based Zune Player. Seagate launched the Hybrid Storage Alliance and the first hybrid HDD, the Momentus PSD.
2008 – SanDisk introduced ABL to enable high speed MLC, TLC and X4 NAND. 34nm process announced by Intel and Micron. Toshiba initiated first 512GB MLC SATA-based SSD. Intel and STMicro spanned off Numonyx. IBM demonstrated first “Million IOPS” flash array. EMC announced use of flash-based SSDs for enterprise SAN applications. Apple introduced two generations of MacBook Air, with 64GB and 128GB SSDs and no HDD option. Micron, Samsung and Sun Microsystems announced high-endurance flash memory. Violin introduced first fully flash-based storage appliance. Samsung announced 150GB 2.5”MLC SSD with SATA II Interface. Several companies demonstrated MLC flash SSDs with up to 256GB for notebook apps. Micron introduced first serial NAND flash. Toshiba developed 3D NAND structure, BICS. Apple sold 1M iPhone 3Gs in 3 days, with 8GB or 16GB of flash.
2009 – Intel, Micron introduced 34nm TLC NAND. Samsung introduced the first full HD camcorder with a 64GB SSD. Seagate entered SSD market. SandForce introduced first compression-based SSD controller. Virident and Schooner launched first flash-based application appliances for the data center. Pillar Data converted Axiom SANs to SSD. Plaint introduced first SAS SSD. SanDisk shipped 4-bit/cell SDHC and Memory Stick Pro cards. Western Digital acquired SiliconSystems and got into SSD business. NVELO introduced first PC flash caching software “Dataplex’. SanDisk introduced 100-year flash storage vault. The revenue reached 19 billion.
2010 – Toshiba introduced 128GB SDcard based on sixteen-chip stack. Intel, Micron introduced 25nm TLC and MLC NAND. Numonyx was acquired Micron, SST by Microchip. Samsung started producing 64 Gb, 3-bit NAND and introduced high-speed 512 GB SSD utilizing toggle-mode DDR NAND memory. Seagate announced first self-managed hybrid HDD, the Momentus XT with 4GB of NAND flash and 500GB HDD storage. The revenue reached $26 billion.
2011 – Year of many acquisitions: LSI acquired SandForce; SanDisk acquired IMFT, Apple acquired Anobit, Fusion-io acquired IO Turbine. Intel announced Smart Response SSD caching for PCs. Seagate introduced II generation Momentus XT hybrid HDD with 8GB of NAND flash and 750GB HDD storage. Richard Pashley, Stefan Lai, Bruce McCormick and Niles Kynett from Intel received FMS Lifetime Achievement Award.
2012 – Ultrabooks begin to ship with Smart Response SSD cache. SanDisk and Toshiba announced 19nm flash memory enabling 128Gb chips. Macronix and Winbond entered NAND flash business. Seagate introduced SSHD combining flash memory with a HDD. Elpida introduced ReRAM. Micron and Intel launched 20nm 128Gb NAND chip using hi-k planar cell. SK Hynix formed upon SK Telecom’s acquisition of controlling interest in Hynix Semicondactor. MOSAID sampled 333GB/s HL-NAND. Adesto acquired Atmel’s Serial NOR business. Spansion introduced 8Gb NOR chip. DensBits Technologies introduced Memory Modem. Proximal Data introduced AutoCache. SanDisk acquired FlashSoft. OCZ acquired Sanrad. Samsung acquired NVELO. Intel acquired Nevex and introduced CacheWorks. LSI introduced Nytro flash with MegaRAID CacheCade caching software. Micron introduced 2.5-inch PCIe enterprise SSD. SanDisk co-founder, Eli Harari, received FMS Lifetime Achievement Award.
2013 – Samsung announced availability of 24-layer 3D V-NAND and demonstrated 1TB SSD at FMS 2013. Diablo Technologies announced Memory Channel Storage technology. SMART Storage Systems incorporated Diablo Technologies designs into ULtraDIMM. Western Digital and SanDisk introduced SSHD using iSSSD combined with an HDD. Toshiba introduced line of SSHDs. Everspin Technologies announced shipments of STT MRAM. Micron and other companies sampled 16nm flash memory. SanDisk released CFast 2.0 memory card, fastest memory card for professional video. M.2 PCIe interface formalized NVMe standard issued to accelerate communications with flash storage. Western Digital acquired sTec, Virident and Velobit. SanDisk acquired SMART Storage Systems. NVMdurance introduced software to extend flash endurance. Micron acquired Elpida. Intel introduced Intel Cache Acceleration Software. Fujio Masuoka, formerly of Toshiba, received FMS Lifetime Achievement Award. The revenue reached $30 billion.
2014 – Samsung, SanDisk and Toshiba announced 3D NAND production facilities. SanDisk introduced 4TB Enterprise SSD. SanDisk announced 128GB microSD card, a 1000x increase in capacity on device’s 10th anniversary. IBM announced eXFlash DIMMs using SanDisk ULLtraDIMM’s implementation of Diablo Memory Channel Storage technology. Samsung rolled out II generation of 3D V-NAND with 32 layers. Spansion introduced HyperFlash NOR with 333 MB/s HyperBus. Toshiba acquired OCZ. Everspin introduced and ramped production of ST-MRAM. Samsung introduced 3-bit/cell 3D NAND SSDs. Adesto shipped one-millionth CBRAM. SK Hynix acquired Violin’s PCIe SSD business. Seagate acquired LSI/Avago storage business. SanDisk acquired Fusion-io. HGST acquired Skyera. Samsung acquired Proximal Data. Simon Sze, formerly of Bell Labs, received FMS Lifetime Achievement Award.
2015 – SanDisk introduced InfinitiFlash storage system. Cypress Semiconductor acquired Spansion. Toshiba and SanDisk announced 48-layer 3D NAND. Intel and Micron announced 384Gb 3D NAND. Samsung introduced first NVMe m.2 SSDs and 4 B layer V-NAND. SanDisk introduced 200GB microSDXC UHS-I-card. Cypress introduced 4MB serial FRAM. Intel and Micron announced 3D XPoint Memory. Intel introduced XPoint-based “Optane” DIMMs and SSDs. Bob Norman, formerly of SanDisk and Micron received FMS Lifetime Achievement Award. The revenue reached $35 billion.
2016 – SK Hynix sampled 3D NAND m.2 NVMe SSD. XMC broke ground on first China-owned NAND flash fab. Micron presented 768Gb 3D NAND. Western Digital acquired SanDisk. Micron shipped 3D NAND. Everspin announced 256Mb MRAM chips and 1 Gb chips by the end of year. IBM adopted TLC to PCM. Samsung shipped 48-layer 3D NAND. Kinam Kim, President System LSI/Semiconductor Business, Samsung received FMS Lifetime Achievement Award.
The revenue for 2016 is estimated to reach $37 billion.
Information from Flash Memory Summit. Flash revenue numbers provided by Objective Analysis.
