H P C w i r e The Electronic News Magazine for High-Performance Computing *** January 28, 1994: Vol. 3, No. 4, Circulation: 14,724 *** This Week's Table of Contents Represents 164 Pages of Text -------------------- * -------------------- =============================== IN THIS ISSUE =============================== 2377) SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: 1994 HPC Hardware Buyers' Directory 1361) ANALYSIS: Interactive TV: Plot, Characters, Games, and Profits 1358) FEATURE STORY: Breaking Historical Mold of Microprocessor Industry 608) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: MPP Shares & Forecast Misleading..............41 ***************************************************************************** FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON RETRIEVING STORIES, PAGE TO THE END OF THIS FILE For a free 4-week trial subscription, email: trial@hpcwire.ans.net Subscription Information: sub@hpcwire.ans.net. or Select 601 ============================================================================= S P E C I A L S U P P L E M E N T 1994 HPC HARDWARE BUYERS' DIRECTORY ---------- * ---------- LINES 2376) HPCwire SYSTEM SURVEY...............................................122 "Are you satisfied with your HPC system performance?" "What is important when you evaluate an HPC system?" "What are the most challenging requirements in running your HPC applications?" Over 900 readers responded to HPCwire's System Survey. 2377) 1994 HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING HARDWARE BUYERS' DIRECTORY..........297 A comprehensive listing of high-performance computing vendors. 904) INTEL's SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEMS DIVISION CELEBRATES 10th ANNIVERSARY. Smaby Group and IDC rank Intel as #1 in SHPC industry. Latest MPP market data available along with Intel background information. ================================== NEWS BRIEFS ============================== LINES 2378) ARCTIC REGION SUPERCOMPUTING CENTER ORDERS 128-PROCESSOR T3D.........35 ARSC scheduled to install 128-processor CRAY T3D MMP system during first quarter at University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, Cray Research, Inc. 2379) IDENTITY CRISIS: NCR NOW AT&T GLOBAL INFORMATION SOLUTIONS...........97 NCR Corporation changes its name to AT&T Global Information Solutions to reflect its set of global capabilities in computing and communications. 2380) HPCwire SOFTWARE TO HELP INTEL PUBLISH ON INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY...58 Intel's Supercomputer Systems Division has licensed INFO Select, the electronic publishing software used to publish HPCwire. Intel plans to use INFO Select to improve communications with their user community. ============================================================================= ALSO THIS WEEK 2381) Cray Research Appoints U.S. West VP Hapka to Board of Directors......11 2382) GEC-Marconi Awards Mercury Computer $10 Million Subcontract..........33 2383) ACC's Amazon Breaks Industry Price-Per-Port Barriers for LAN/WAN....120 FINANCIAL WATCH 2384) Convex Computer Corp. Q4 Loss Exceeds Analysts' Estimates............41 2385) Cray Computer Reports 1993 Financials, Loss Less Than 1992...........65 2386) Cray Research Returns to Profitability with 1993 Revenues...........115 2387) Digital Equipment Files $1 Billion Registration with SEC.............22 2388) IBM Announces Q4 & 1993 Results: Loss for Year after Charges........310 2389) Silicon Graphics Records 37% Increase in Quarter Net Revenue.........33 EUROPEAN UPDATE 2390) Addendum: ECU Europort................................................8 2391) Advanced RISC Machines Wins Cirrus Logic as Fifth Arm Licensee........9 2392) Dutch Government Invests 35 Million guilders in HPCN.................17 SOFTWARE 2393) SunPro Unveils SPARCompiler C++ 4.0; Claims 300% Speed Boost.........75 NETWORKING UPDATE 2394) HP Demos Fibre Channel Cluster, Workstation ATM Connectivity........104 2395) NEC Eyes U.S. Network Controller IC Market with ATM Chip Set.........56 2396) TGV Signs as Charter Member of State-of-the-Art Showcase in Beijing..42 SUPERHIGHWAY REPORT 2397) BellSouth Plans to Connect Southeast to 106 Sites by August..........65 2398) WurcNet Proposes Advanced Multimedia Network for Western Canada.....305 2399) U.S.-Chinese Enterprise Hooking China Up With Rest of World..........53 ============================ INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT ============================= 739) 800 FLY CORP Announces Corporate Travel Savings Via E-Mail..........96 755) HPCwire Electronic Publishing Software Now Available...............101 ============================== QUOTE OF THE WEEK ============================ 1358) "Why should Europe invest in microprocessors at all? Is the CEC funding the development of just another microprocessor to join an already crowded market? The answers to these questions come from a combination of four major factors..." -- Alfonso H. Molina, Professor, University of Edinburgh ============================== ANALYSIS & FEATURES ========================== 1361) INTERACTIVE TV: PLOT, CHARACTERS, GAMES, AND PROFITS................145 News Analysis by Norris Parker Smith, Editor at Large Hewlett-Packard is joining the rush toward interactive TV, but current tryouts will test only half the concept. Genuinely participatory entertainment remains a dream. Hollywood and the gamesmakers hope to create a new art form, but both are burdened with their pasts. 1358) BREAKING THE HISTORICAL MOLD OF THE MICROPROCESSOR INDUSTRY.........368 Feature Story by Alfonso H. Molina, Professor, Edinburgh University U.S. companies remain the undisputed leaders in the world semiconductor market. Thus far, European presence has lacked major significance. Now, the Europeans want a change. 1362) CLUSTERS -- PART II: DEDICATED CLUSTERS VS SCALABLE SYSTEMS........152 Commentary by Norris Parker Smith, Editor at Large Low costs suitable for slender budgets have enabled dedicated workstation clusters, designed from the start as compute servers, to seize market share from parallel systems. Faster interconnects are reducing latency, making these custom clusters more competitive. ============================ HPCwire INFORMATION ============================ 601) Subscription Information for HPCwire.................................57 602) Contribute Your News, Tips, and Information to HPCwire...............24 603) How to Get On/Off Distribution List; Masthead; E-Mail Contacts.......41 608) Corrections/Letters to the Editor....................................32 950) A Complete Index of HPCwire Back Issues..............................48 ================================= JOB BANK ================================== 667) Employment Opportunities for January 28, 1994........................24 604) Post Your Help Wanted Listings in HPCwire's Job Bank.................58 ============================= OTHER DEPARTMENTS============================== COMPUTER CENTERS 2889) Medicine Meets Virtual Reality at Ohio Supercomputer Center..........54 2991) EVENT - The Emerging Virtual Environments National Testbed...........96 FACTS & FIGURES 2992) National Energy Research Supercomputer Center October Downtimes......46 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 2993) CISE December 1993 Newsletter and Organizational Chart..............315 CONFERENCES 2888) Calendar of Upcoming HPC Events......................................12 SCIENCE & HUMAN INTEREST NEWS 2994) It's Reading, Writing & Supercomputing for Hawaii 8th Grader.........56 2995) Nuclear Weapon Experts Lack Confidence in Simulated Testing..........82 1439) Walking Whale Fossils Link Land Animals To Modern Whales.............53 1440) Greater TMI Disaster Prevented by Cooled Molten Nuclear Fuel.........59 ======================== H P C w i r e S P O N S O R S ==================== Product specifications and company information in this section are available to both subscribers and non-subscribers 901) ANS 902) IBM Corp. 904) Intel SSD 905) Maximum Strategy 906) nCUBE 907) Digital Equipment 908) Hewlett-Packard 909) Fujitsu America 910) Convex Computer 912) Avalon Computer 914) Applied Parallel Res. 915) Genias Software 916) MasPar Computer 919) Transtech Parallel 921) Cray Research Inc. =============== LAST ISSUE'S MOST REQUESTED ITEMS FROM HPCwire ============== 1360) Clusters -- Part I: Wringing Cycles Out of Idle Desktops............197 1357) Intel's $92M Sales Led 1993 Parallel Market by a Hair...............115 1359) High Performance Computing in Trouble................................59 667) Employment Opportunities for January 21, 1994........................24 =========================== NEXT ISSUE IN HPCwire =========================== * Updated List of World's Most Powerful Computing Sites * ============================================================================= Copyright 1994 HPCwire. Feel free to distribute this Table of Contents. =============================================================================