COMPUTER chip maker Intel demonstrated its fastest processor ever at the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover, Germany, this week. It showed a PC with a Pentium II running at 700MHz - more than twice the rate of today's speed king, a 333MHz model.
The megahertz rating defines the speed of the processor which routes instructions to various parts of a computer and the software that runs on it. The higher the number, the faster the computer can carry out instructions.
The company said such leaps in processing power would help spark a boom in the Internet and increase the global PC population to more than one billion in the next few years from 200 million now. "I can easily see it hitting one billion in five years," said Intel senior vice-president Albert Yu. "It is going to be a very different world."
In its demonstration, Intel used a PC to show an animated underwater scene that undulated with the current of the sea. As Yu moved the computer's mouse, it instantly wheeled the perspective of the animation skyward into a sun beaming into the depths and downward where submarines drifted by - all in a warping, watery image. "You usually need a very powerful graphics workstation to do that," Yu said.
After the demonstration, a second program that measures processor speed showed the Pentium II was running at 702MHz.
At that speed, a Pentium II PC would have the performance of what was the world's fastest "supercomputer" only a few years ago.
Gert Huegler, the president of Vobis Microcomputer, one of Germany's top PC suppliers, said such massive processing power would enable PCs without extra equipment to talk to users and respond to spoken commands. "That means many more people will use PCs. The ease-of-use border will fall," he said.
Intel, the world's top chip maker with about 85 percent of the market, said 700MHz chips should hit the market in the next few years. A 450MHz model is expected by the end of this year. "This is still a technology demonstration, but that is where we are going," said spokesman Michael Sullivan.
Next month, Intel will launch a new Celeron processor brand that will hit 300MHz later this year and appear in PCs priced from R6 000, Yu said.
Video game maker Nintendo introduced a new version of its popular hand-held video game unit that will not only take digital pictures, but put faces on game characters.
"Game Boy Camera" is a cartridge featuring a swivelling lens that fits into any Game Boy or Game Boy Pocket unit. It turns the system into a low-cost, easy-to-use digital camera with an on-screen photo studio.
Nintendo will also offer a printer that can be attached to the camera to print photo stickers for children to collect and trade.
The camera can take and store up to 30 digital images that can be viewed one at a time or as a slide show in sequential or shuffle order.
Children can manipulate the photos using onboard software with stamps to decorate images with items such as horns, goofy facial features and text. Paint functions can also be used to draw or retouch photos.
Nintendo will start selling a new colour version of the Game Boy system later this year.
Other products that caused a stir at CeBIT were re-writable DVD drives - a technology some experts say will replace home video and CD-ROM in one swoop. The first Windows CE2 hand-held PCs with colour screens also attracted a lot of interest.
Greg Gordon
The megahertz rating defines the speed of the processor which routes instructions to various parts of a computer and the software that runs on it. The higher the number, the faster the computer can carry out instructions.
The company said such leaps in processing power would help spark a boom in the Internet and increase the global PC population to more than one billion in the next few years from 200 million now. "I can easily see it hitting one billion in five years," said Intel senior vice-president Albert Yu. "It is going to be a very different world."
In its demonstration, Intel used a PC to show an animated underwater scene that undulated with the current of the sea. As Yu moved the computer's mouse, it instantly wheeled the perspective of the animation skyward into a sun beaming into the depths and downward where submarines drifted by - all in a warping, watery image. "You usually need a very powerful graphics workstation to do that," Yu said.
After the demonstration, a second program that measures processor speed showed the Pentium II was running at 702MHz.
At that speed, a Pentium II PC would have the performance of what was the world's fastest "supercomputer" only a few years ago.
Gert Huegler, the president of Vobis Microcomputer, one of Germany's top PC suppliers, said such massive processing power would enable PCs without extra equipment to talk to users and respond to spoken commands. "That means many more people will use PCs. The ease-of-use border will fall," he said.
Intel, the world's top chip maker with about 85 percent of the market, said 700MHz chips should hit the market in the next few years. A 450MHz model is expected by the end of this year. "This is still a technology demonstration, but that is where we are going," said spokesman Michael Sullivan.
Next month, Intel will launch a new Celeron processor brand that will hit 300MHz later this year and appear in PCs priced from R6 000, Yu said.
Video game maker Nintendo introduced a new version of its popular hand-held video game unit that will not only take digital pictures, but put faces on game characters.
"Game Boy Camera" is a cartridge featuring a swivelling lens that fits into any Game Boy or Game Boy Pocket unit. It turns the system into a low-cost, easy-to-use digital camera with an on-screen photo studio.
Nintendo will also offer a printer that can be attached to the camera to print photo stickers for children to collect and trade.
The camera can take and store up to 30 digital images that can be viewed one at a time or as a slide show in sequential or shuffle order.
Children can manipulate the photos using onboard software with stamps to decorate images with items such as horns, goofy facial features and text. Paint functions can also be used to draw or retouch photos.
Nintendo will start selling a new colour version of the Game Boy system later this year.
Other products that caused a stir at CeBIT were re-writable DVD drives - a technology some experts say will replace home video and CD-ROM in one swoop. The first Windows CE2 hand-held PCs with colour screens also attracted a lot of interest.
Greg Gordon
