1. What's Wrong With Intel?
Illustration: Gordon StuderThe Buzz: Remember those supercharged notebooks I mentioned back in May? Well, the next-generation mobile Sonoma chips needed to power them won't be available until 2005. Nor will the 4-GHz Pentium 4 chip. Those are just a couple of missteps in a recent series that included Intel's owning up to flaws in two PC chip sets and a similar delay in releasing digital high-definition TV chips. Should consumers be looking elsewhere?
Bottom Line: Not to worry. This qualifies as a slump, not a collapse. "It's mostly a case of bad luck," notes Nathan Brookwood of market research firm Insight 64. When Intel releases dual-processor cores on a single chip in 2005, the company should receive a big boost that will help it leave a difficult 2004 behind for good.
2. Home Broadcasts
The Buzz: You'll have to wait until the end of the year, but the $249 SlingBox Personal Broadcaster will enable you to stream video from an audiovisual source (such as a set-top box, a TV, a DVR, or even a video camera) to a phone, a laptop, or any network-attached device that has a screen. The SlingBox digitizes an analog signal, compresses it, and sends a dynamically optimized stream to you wirelessly or via the Net. The session is limited to a single stream, and it comes from a source you already pay for, so the device should satisfy the movie industry and its lawyers.
Bottom Line: Behold the birth of a brand-new product category, and just in time for the holidays.
3. Wi-Fi-to-Cellular Handoff
The Buzz: Don't be misled by its plain looks. Motorola's CN620--part of a larger corporate telephone system--is an extremely versatile little phone. A dual Wi-Fi (802.11a) and cellular (GSM) device, it uses Wi-Fi to make VoIP (Voice over IP) calls and should be able to switch seamlessly between the two networks without dropping a signal. The phone runs Windows CE, sports an HTML browser, and supports all of the corporate phone system basics. Due later this year, the CN620 will initially be offered by VoIP infrastructure vendor Avaya. No cellular carrier had been announced at press time.
Bottom Line: As cost-saving VoIP takes off, so will demand for Wi-Fi/cellular combos. It's strictly a business play for now, but consumers should get a turn soon.
4. Mainstream Graphics Power
The Buzz: Earlier this year, dueling high-end graphics releases from rivals ATI (the Radeon X800) and NVidia (the GeForce 6800) broke new ground in game performance--for anyone with $450-plus to burn. Now the rest of us can enjoy much the same horsepower for $200 or less. NVidia's GeForce 6600 series (based on the same architecture as the 6800) should be out in both AGP and PCI Express versions now; ATI's upcoming Radeon X700 will first be PCI Express only.
Bottom Line: With the appearance of graphics-taxing games like Doom 3, Far Cry, and Half-Life 2, gamers are starting to need more oomph. Pat yourself on the back if you waited for this round of price drops. Then get shopping.
Contributing Editor Steve Fox covers buzzworthy products, ideas, and trends. Contact him at steve_fox@pcworld.com. Go here for more Plugged In.
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