<nettime> Viridian Note 00130: Portable Chips

[Bruce Sterling <bruces@well.com>]

Key concepts: chips, Transmeta, Linux, laptops, 
cellphones, web pads

Attention Conservation Notice: It's a soft-vaporware
news release of primary interest to technical specialists.

Links:
http://www.transmeta.com

Entries in the "Dead Mike" Design contest:
http://www.earthlight.co.nz/~bretts/dm.html
http://www.spaceways.de/Viridian/deadmike.html
http://users.erols.com/ljaurbach/MikeCycle.htm
http://www.stewarts.org/users/stewarts/deadmike.html
http://www.interlog.com/~shamann

Viridian contests archive:
http://www.bomoco.com/Viridian/viridian.htm

This contest expires February 15, 02000.
**********************************************************

Transmeta's design team, which includes one of the 
architects of RISC, have designed a brand-new chip 
expressly for portability and low power.  The basic stunt 
here, known as "Code Morphing," moves a lot of former 
energy-sucking hardware activity into software.  This 
shrinks the chip drastically, making it much smaller than 
Intel and AMD products.  It took Transmeta five long years 
to juggle all this dynamic compiling and code optimizing, 
but they now announce themselves ready to ship the new 
"Crusoe" chip.

    This chip, built by IBM, is so energy-wary that it 
adjusts its own speed and voltage on the fly. It'll run 
top speed on two watts.  It'll sleep on ten milliwatts. 
Crusoe laptops will run PC software, while the handheld 
Internet gizmos run Linux. Transmeta envisions a new 
product category of Internet "web pads" and ultra-light 
laptops that run all day on a single battery.

   Imagine these chips combined with the Motorola postage-
stamp fuel cell.  One foresees a world of cheap, green, 
recyclable laptops made out of bamboo, glass and straw, 
that run for months or years by sipping booze.  Really.  
No kidding.  The trend is here. If you ask for it loudly 
enough, you'll get it.

********************************************************
Viridian Disaster, Forwarded E-mail Department:

"Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 09:44:11 -0500
"From: Tony Socci <tsocci@usgcrp.gov>

"Dear Folks:

"Unfortunately, due to the snow emergency and the shutdown 
of the federal government, we have cancelled today's US 
Global Climate Change seminar  (January 25th),  'The 
Earth's Surface Temperature in the 20th Century: Coming to 
Grips with Satellite and Surface-Based Records of 
Temperature,' with Drs. Wallace and Trenberth.  We will 
however, reschedule this seminar for a later date and keep 
you informed accordingly.  Thank you for your patience and 
understanding."
Anthony D. Socci, Ph.D.
Associate Director
Office of the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)
400 Virginia Ave., SW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20024
http://www.usgcrp.gov/
*********************************************************


O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O
JUST A MOMENT WHILE I BOOT UP MY FOUL-WEATHER BOOTS
O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O




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