Compaq Computer Corp led the way yet again followed by IBM and
Posted by adminCompaq Computer Corp led the way yet again, followed by IBM and Dell Computer Corp, both in the United States and worldwide.ComputerWire www puterwire . The United States saw PC unit shipments increase by 20 per cent, the highest quarterly growth rate since 1995, making it the fastest growth of any major region. IDC attributes the growth to the arrival of new products on the market such as MMX-based and sub- $1,000 (pounds 650) desktop computers that spurred upgrades and attracted first- time buyers. Worldwide PC sales soar Worldwide personal computer sales grew by 16 per cent over the first quarter, compared to 13 per cent year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter of 1996, according to International Data Corp.
Optical switching increases the ease of network management as signals can be re-routed, and damaged or overloaded parts of the network can switch to low-traffic routes in real time. When combined with WDM, optical amplification has the advantage of being able to amplify all the channels at the same time, saving time and increasing available bandwidth. A current trial in East Anglia is using eight-channel WDM - as well as optical amplification, which enhances signal speed by not having the time delay of digital amplifiers which wastefully convert light to digital and return the signal to light. BT, which has been developing WDM for 15 years, has found too expensive to use. WDM is already used in the US, where the longer distances involved make laying new fibre more expensive. As a result of work at its R&D labs at Martelsham Heath, BT reckons it can provide near- infinite bandwidth for its telecoms infrastructure by using three key advances: wave division multiplexing (WDM), optical switching and optical amplification.
BT has come up with a technique which it claims can use more of the 99.99 per cent of optic-fibre capacity that is currently unused, and is applying the changes to its infrastructure backbone. "We focus on areas where people are not going to be offended by it"n. Nurseries, generally, are not online, and the cost of connecting them to the Internet, along with a smaller market of computer owning parents, might hinder KinderCam's take- up in Britain.Concerns over privacy may also get in the way "We don't like to look at it as surveillance," Mesnik says. Axis is also talking to banks about installing the NetEye at cashpoints to deter theft and "phantom withdrawals".This would be simple to implement in Europe, as cashpoints are already networked to the banks' central computers. The NetEye has an IO port which can activate the camera, for example, if an intruder crosses an infra-red sensor beam. Other areas include monitoring manufacturing lines, and security.