icrutcher@opensystems-publishing.com ■ INDUSTRY NEWS Rugged mobile tablet PC use expected to rise IMS Research’s most recent survey found that users of rugged mobile computers expect their consumption of tablet PCs to significantly increase during the next three years. According to IMS, this finding confirms the trend that tablet PCs will become more widely accepted in the rugged mobile computer market. An IMS survey of companies that purchased rugged mobile computers found that some 17.6 percent expected to buy tablet PCs within three years, a significant increase over current market penetration. As IMS Research analyst and report author Tim Dawson points out, “Tablet PCs are a versatile alternative to rugged handheld and vehicle-fixed PC solutions. The nature of these products means that they can be used in both handheld and vehicle-fixed applications.” For more information: www.imsresearch.com AMI Semiconductor reports record revenues in 2003 AMI Semiconductor (AMIS), a designer and manufacturer of integrated mixed-signal and structured digital products for the automotive, medical, and industrial sectors, reported record revenues of $454 million in 2003, up from $345 million in 2002, helped by a strong fourth quarter. The company experienced revenue growth in each of its target end markets with communications up 56 percent and automotive, medical, and industrial growing 44, 27, and 21 percent respectively. AMIS also reported a 34 percent growth in three-year revenue from design wins over 2002. “2003 proved to be a banner year for AMI Semiconductor in all facets of the company, including our successful IPO,” said Christine King, President and CEO of AMIS. For more information: www.amis.com Augmentix closes $3 million in funding Augmentix, a provider of enhanced commercial servers for missioncritical applications, recently announced that it has closed a round of funding from Austin Ventures. An initial capital investment of $3 million will allow Augmentix to bring to market its first products, which have been in development for more than a year. “Our preliminary meetings with enthusiastic prospects have confirmed the validity of our approach to building cost-effective mission-critical servers,” said Augmentix President and CEO Chris Melson. “With the support of Austin Ventures, we can now focus on delivering systems that will enable telecommunications, government agencies, industrial automation, and medical imaging companies to keep their most demanding and important applications running without interruption.” For more information: www.augmentix.com Data I/0 announces programming support for Texas Instruments’ digital signal controller Data I/O, a provider of manual and automated programming systems, announced high volume programming support for Texas Instruments’ TMS320F2810 digital signal controller on its Sprint family of device programmers. “We are pleased to announce this support for the F2810,” said Bruce Rodgers, Data I/O Director of Semiconductor Relations and Marketing. “The automotive market is an important customer group for our company, and we expect many users will embrace this family of TI devices for their range of applications.” For more information: www.data-io.com MIPS Technologies verifies newest 24K processor family with Mentor Graphics’ Vstation TBX accelerator MIPS Technologies, Inc. and Mentor Graphics Corp. recently announced that the performance of the MIPS32 24K family of processors, which operates from 400 MHz to 550 MHz worst case in a 0.13-micron process, was verified using the Mentor Graphics Vstation TBX verification accelerator. “With Mentor Graphics’ verification accelerator, we were able to boot both Linux and the Windows CE .NET operating systems. We ran thousands of tests and 1.8 billion random verification cycles per day while still meeting our internal delivery schedule. With this level of verification quality, we are delivering a 24K core that is proven, solid, and reliable,” said Don Ramsey, Director of CAD operations at MIPS Technologies. For more information: www.mentor.com WIN Enterprises unveils new website WIN Enterprises, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of embedded systems for OEMs, has unveiled www.win-ent.com, to highlight its design and manufacturing expertise. According to the company, every service required for x86-based electronic product development is outlined on the new site. The site features in-depth product information, an expanded services section, several case studies, and a Request for Quotation (RFQ) form. For more information: www.win-ent.com Sun adds SSE support to Solaris Sun has released its quarterly update for the Solaris version of the UNIX operating system, adding support for several Intel processor features and for Sun’s new UltraSparc IV processor, the company announced recently. The new version runs faster on x86 chips including Intel’s Xeon and Advanced Micro Devices’ Opteron through support for Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE) technology, which speeds operations by letting a chip run a single instruction on multiple data elements. Sun said the support is included both in Solaris itself and in its Java software and announced that server maker Rackable Systems will offer the x86 version of Solaris on its products. For more information: www.sun.com 8 / Summer 2004 <strong>Embedded</strong> <strong>Computing</strong> <strong>Design</strong>
RSC #9 @ www.embedded-computing.com/rsc