Picture-perfect images, without the camera: PC's will soon match the feats of mightier machines

Article Abstract:

A graphics technology, known as rendering, has previously been available only on powerful computers and has been used for applications such as special effects in movies or for flight simulators. In some applications, generating a single image can require trillions of calculations, so that several hours might be needed even on a powerful system. But workstations and microcomputers now are more powerful. According to Larry Barels, chmn and CEO of Wavefront Technologies, a company that makes rendering software, levels of realism will be achieved on microcomputer environments in three years. Already, by 1990, Next Inc plans to introduce a circuit board that will generate photo-like images, although creating such an image might take several minutes. Rendering is part of a broader movement toward multimedia computing, which combines images, sound and text.

Computer integrated systems design, Innovations, Officials and employees, Product development, Beliefs, opinions and attitudes, Computer-aided design, Computer aided design, Photography, Multimedia systems, Computer graphics, Image Generation, NeXT Computer Inc., Multimedia Technology, Ray Tracing, Barels, Larry, Wavefront Technologies Inc.

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Radio frequencies' use sought for computers (Apple Computer Inc., computer communications)

Article Abstract:

Apple Computer Inc asks the Federal Communications Commission to set aside 40-megahertz of radio frequency for wireless computer network communication. The FCC will likely take up to a year to decide whether to allocate the bandwidth, which would be taken from space currently used by public utilities, railroads and law enforcement agencies. Apple wants the frequencies, to be used by all computer companies, for an emerging technology that links computers by radio signals rather than by the traditional hard wiring method. Observers reckon that Apple must have some type of communications technology on the drawing board that would be used for wireless local area networks. Such wireless networks are currently marketed by NCR Corp and Motorola, but they share frequencies with other uses.

Regulation, admin. of utilities, Computer industry, Laws, regulations and rules, Radio broadcasting, Political activity, Frequency allocation (Telecommunications), United States. Federal Communications Commission, Wireless LANs, AAPL, Science and technology policy, Radio frequency allocation, Local area networks, Wireless local area networks (Computer networks), LAN, Apple Inc., Government Regulation, Radio Communication, Radio Frequency, Wireless Network

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Servers spurring an evolution in computing: the new machines speed a variety of tasks

Article Abstract:

A new class of specialized computers called network servers constitutes an expanding area of business opportunity. Servers perform work for microcomputers or workstations linked into networks. Servers accomplish specialized tasks: 'computational servers' handle high-speed, complex calculations; 'file servers' act as librarians, allowing users to share and store common files; and 'print servers' let users share a printer. There are 'communications servers,' which connect one network to another; and there are 'facsimile servers.' Many companies are designing products from scratch, hoping they can produce servers that are less expensive and more effective than the general-purpose computers that have traditionally filled the server's role.

Computer networks, Usage, Equipment and supplies, Technological forecasting, File servers, Networks, Future of Computing, File Server

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