Category: Technology

SGI has begun volume shipments of the Silicon Graphics 1600SW digital flat panel monitor for Apple Macintosh computers. The monitor is bundled with the new Macintosh version of the Number Nine Revolution IV-FP graphics accelerator in the Apple Macintosh version of the Digital Flat Panel Solution Pack. The graphics card provides the digital display interface, and features 32MB of graphics memory. The monitor features a 19-inch CRT-equivalent, 17.3 inch 1600 x 1024 pixel screen. It offers three times the brightness and five times the contrast of a comparably-sized CRT, with no flicker.

San Franciso-based Macromedia, Inc. has announced an agreement under whichMacromedia will acquire Elemental Software for $24 million in a stock forstock transaction. Elemental Software is a privately held company thatdevelops and markets software that enables corporate users to build Webapplications for e-business solutions. Elemental's products includeDrumbeat 2000, Drumbeat 2000 JavaServer Pages Edition, and eStore Builderfor Drumbeat 2000. Upon completion of the acquisition, the Elemental

Macromedia Inc. has announcedthe worldwide availability of Flash 4. Flash 4 includes support for high-fidelity MP3 streaming audio and commands for creating interactive sites. In addition, Flash 4 streamlines the development process with a revamped authoring environment optimized to help developers create bandwidth-efficient Web sites. MP3 streaming audio support in Flash 4 allows designers to create new Web audio applications, such as long-form animations with voiceovers and background music, while keeping files small enough for low-bandwidth delivery.

Alias|Wavefront, an SGI company, is shipping Maya 2 for Microsoft Windows NT and Silicon Graphics IRIX workstations. Maya 2 includes a number of feature enhancements, timesaving workflow improvements, and across-the-board performance optimizations for 3D animation and visual effects. New features include Wavefront IPR (Interactive Photorealistic Renderer), a rendering technology that allows users to edit lights, shaders, textures and visual effects in a final rendered image.

Two films are about to make history as the first widely released featurefilms available to moviegoers via digital projection. One is STAR WARSEPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE; the other is the English romantic comedy, ANIDEAL HUSBAND. Beginning June 18, and continuing for four weeks, a digitalversion of Oliver Parker's AN IDEAL HUSBAND will play in New York City andLos Angeles. Check your papers for locations and times. For STAR WARSEPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, CineComm Digital Cinema and Texas

SGI's Silicon Graphics(R) Onyx2(TM) visual workstation will be used toproduce and project the world's first scientifically accurate 3D atlas ofthe Milky Way Galaxy at the new Hayden Planetarium as part of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History's Rose Center for Earth and Space in New YorkCity, which opens in 2000. As the centerpiece of the Hayden's 68-foot"virtual dome" Space Theater, Silicon Graphics Onyx2 will manipulatemassive scientific datasets containing billions of stars -- 100,000 times