HP sends out invites for an 8 April 2013 webcast event-- the unveiling of the hyperscale server part of Project Moonshot, the HP take on densely packed low-power servers. 

The launch follows 18 months of development since the November 2011 announcement of Project Moonshot. It was first revealed as "Redstone," an ARM-based design packing either 288 EnergyCards (a Calxeda reference design packing x4 EnergyCore SoCs, x4 DIMM slots and x4 SATA slots on a single daughterboard) on a 4U rack-mount server or 2800 on a full rack, together with shared power, cooling and management infrastructure.

In 2012 HP changed direction with Gemini, an architecture-agnostic server design supporting both x86 Intel Atom and ARM processors. The server to be revealed on the 8 April event will probably carry the Atom S1200 chip, as repurposed with 64-bit server support, but customers wanting to use ARM chips can work with HP to recompile application code. Read more...

Extron’s new TeamWork is a simple and intuitive collaboration system that supports groups of 4 to 6 users.

To start the TeamWork system, one simply connects one of the system's "Show Me" control cables to the video output on your device.

As soon as an active signal is detected, AC power is automatically directed to the display. By pressing the "Share" button on the "Show Me" cable, the button lights and the switcher automatically selects the appropriate input.

When done, users simply disconnect and walk away, and the TeamWork system automatically turns itself off and is ready for the next collaboration session. The TeamWork collaboration system is HDCP-compliant and supports full resolution, full frame rate digital video up to 1080p/60 and analog computer-video up to 1920x1200. Read more...

In its European debut at ISE 2013, ZeeVee brought out four new HDbridge 2000 Series encoders/modulators which support the main European standard for smarter, higher-density broadcast transmission of HD video over coaxial cable*.

Designed for applications in the pro AV, digital signage and broadcast markets, the units lower costs because they are compatible with existing technologies (uses existing coaxial cabling)-- and because they provide a number of new features for faster deployment and advanced management.

The units each broadcast up to four HD (1080p/i or 720p) channels. They can be easily combined to distribute hundreds of channels over existing coaxial cabling to an unlimited number of HDTVs. MPEG2 video and AC3 audio encoding ensure compatibility with any HDTV worldwide.

In a single 1RU chassis, the HDb2620 and HDb2640 offer two and four 1080p/i channels respectively, while the HDb2520 and HDb2540 provide two and four 720p channels. For rapid deployment, all channels can be set at once. All HDbridge 2000 Series units also feature Web-based Maestro head-end management software. Read more...

University of Southampton researchers create hollow, air-filled fibre optic cable-- eliminating the latency of standard fibre technology by pushing data at 99.7% of the speed of light.

The hollow optical fibre transfers data at up to 73.7TBps (roughly 10 terabytes per second), some 1000 times faster than current 40-gigabit optic links.

"Light propagates 31% slower in a silica glass fibre than in vacuum, thus compromising latency," the paper, titled "Towards high-capacity fibre optic communication at the speed of light in vacuum," says.  Read more...