Launch of 1394-Equipped PC Products from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba and Others Demonstrates FireWire’s
Continued Strength in the Personal Computer, Notebook, and Handheld Markets
Innovative New Companies Also Design FireWire into “Briefcase Supercomputers” and Handheld “Talking” Computers
DALLAS, Tex., USA -- July 5, 2007 – FireWire, the leading
standard for video and audio connectivity, has emerged in an exciting new set
of 1394-equipped PCs and handhelds from global industry leaders and emerging
companies this year. Companies such as Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Fujitsu
and Gateway – along with a group of innovative designers of handhelds and
high-performance computer products.
In late June, Toshiba Corporation launched its new 1394-equipped 14-inch
feature-packed Tecra X9 designed primarily for business users. The Tecra X9
comes in a black or silver casing and includes a built-in fingerprint reader
along with the 1394a input and a DVD burner.
Hewlett Packard also continues to deliver 1394-equipped products, with the
introduction of its newest Pavilion notebook, the dv2500t, which includes
four-pin 1394a connectivity. The new dv2500t was launched in May; key
specifications include 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 processor, 2GB DDR2 memory, and
160GB hard drive.
Announced last month, the Dell XPS M1710 is the company’s latest premium
gaming notebook, featuring 1394 and a 17-inch widescreen. On the inside it
houses the 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo processor, up to 4GB of RAM and the NVIDIA
Go 7900 GTX graphics card with 512MB of memory. Dell also in late June
announced a new set of Inspiron PCs featuring a full range of standard
connections including 1394 on its Inspiron 1420, 1421, 1520, 1521, 1720 and
1721 notebooks.
Among the most innovative developers is NextComputing, creators of the first
flextop computer, which announced its 1394-equipped NextDimension portables
family at the annual NetWorld Interop Conference in Las Vegas. Featuring 1394a
and the low voltage 50W version of Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor 5300 Series,
the NextDimension provides up to eight cores in the briefcase-sized "supercomputer."
Another new design with FireWire is the handheld Small-Talk Ultra from GW
Micro, which is based on the world’s smallest ultra personal computer (uPC).
Small-Talk Ultra is a full-featured talking Windows XP computer, which
contains a 1GHz processor, 30GB hard drive, 512MB of RAM, built-in 57-key
keyboard, a color transflective display, and integrated wireless, Bluetooth,
and FireWire. A full copy of Window-Eyes and external CD-ROM are also
included.
Other global leaders designing 1394 into new PCs and notebooks are the
following:
-
Fujitsu Computer Products, which in June introduced the new E8410 Lifebook
notebook, featuring the Intel Centrino Pro processor technology with 64-bit
Core 2 Duo Processor along with a 1394a port;
-
Everex, with its new StepNote XT5000T, a 17-inch notebook built around an
AMD Turion X2 processor and NVIDIA Go 7600 card, with 1394;
-
Gateway, with two new 1394-equipped laptops, the 15.4-inch E-475M and
14.1-inch E-265M, both of which come with Intel’s Santa Rosa CPU platform
includes: 800MHz front side bus and 64-bit capability, Intel GM965 chipset, GMA X3100 graphics or with Intel PM965 chipset paired with ATI Mobility Radeon
X2300 HD dedicated video card.
“FireWire has become a standard fixture on the new generation of personal
computers, with particularly high penetration in a compelling new generation
of notebooks,” said James Snider, executive director of the 1394 Trade
Association. “Many of the new systems just announced, such as the Dell M1710
and the Tecra X9, are designed for very different markets – and are getting
very good reviews from the industry. We expect to see this trend continue as
manufacturers realize the value of 1394’s speed and reliability for specific
applications or for connecting with a home or business network.”
The 1394 Trade Association is a worldwide organization dedicated to the
advancement and enhancement of the IEEE 1394 (FireWire) standard. For more
information please visit www.1394ta.org
Contact:
Dick Davies
415 652 7515
ipra@mindspring.com
