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In this issue. . .

* The Talking Web
* Membranes for Treating Drinking Water
* Genetic Futures
* The Magic of Liquid Crystals
* Microsoft.Net
* High Hopes for a Low-Power Chip
* The Wild, Wild Future
* 3-D Vision via Polymer-Metal Composites
* P2P: New Legs for an Old Concept


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(Full text of SRIC-BI publications is available to sponsoring 
clients only.  To find out if your company is a sponsor, please 
visit http://www.sric-bi.com/info.shtml.)
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The Talking Web

The ubiquitous telephone has new allure, allowing people to
gain access to the Web or intranets via voice.  Competition
for the voice-portal market will be fierce, and we have yet
to see all possible synergies of voice technology and Web-based 
applications. (Voice Portals and the Emerging Voice Web)
http://www.sric-bi.com/BIP/Bulletin/B288.shtml#2289


Membranes for Treating Drinking Water

A facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will be the first to
use membrane separation to clean finished water supplies.
Demand for membrane posttreatment of water should grow as
other states seek to protect open reservoirs from
contamination. (September Membrane Separation Viewpoints) 
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/MS.shtml


Genetic Futures

Scientists are pushing to define genes' roles in maintaining
health and causing disease. And commercial interests are
fast on their heels, looking for new drug targets. As these
advances accelerate, will attention to ethical, legal, and
privacy issues keep pace? (Genetic Futures: From Human Genome 
to Human Application)
http://www.sric-bi.com/BIP/Bulletin/B288.shtml#2290


The Magic of Liquid Crystals

Liquid crystal polymers have a peculiar physical-chemical
makeup that keeps them in an ordered crystalline state even
when they are liquid. The resulting low viscosity gives LCPs
an opportunity to unseat metals or even ceramics in
electronic interconnect devices, relay and capacitor
housings, sockets, pin-grid arrays, battery packs, and other
applications.(September Engineering Polymers Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/EP.shtml


Microsoft.Net

In June 2000, Microsoft announced a major strategy shift
that gives new life to the networked-computing paradigm. The
tightly integrated Internet environment of Microsoft.Net
promises seamless access to data files, software,
applications, and services from any Internet-connected
device. (Microsoft.Net and the Emergence of Cross-Platform
Networking)
http://www.sric-bi.com/BIP/Bulletin/B288.shtml#2291


High Hopes for a Low-Power Chip

Intel believes that its new flexible Xscale chip will be
able to handle the signal-processing requirements of a wide
range of portable intelligence devices. The low-power chip
will run ultra-low-power battery-driven personal digital
assistants as well as more power-hungry next-generation cell
phones. (September Portable Intelligence Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/PI.shtml


The Wild, Wild Future

Attendees at a recent Scan meeting looked for "wild cards"
likely to undermine the status quo. New computers that serve
users on the fly, plans that allow employees to design their
own health benefits, a comeback of system theory, and
image-based tissue databases are just some of the blips
showing up on the radar screen. (Wild Cards, July 2000)
http://www.sric-bi.com/BIP/Bulletin/B288.shtml#2292


3-D Vision via Polymer-Metal Composites

Metal-matrix composites have new possibilities in optical
applications--a departure from their usual structural and
electrical uses. By combining a low-refraction metal and
high-refraction dielectric material, scientists are creating
3-D photonic crystals that operate in the visual frequency
range. (September Metal-/Intermetallic-Matrix Composites
Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/MMC.shtml


P2P: New Legs for an Old Concept

New applications such as Napster are making people take
another look at the possibilities of peer-to-peer (P2P)
computing in the Internet environment. P2P could lessen the
Internet's role as a conduit between stores of information,
allowing any PC owner to reach into any wired hard drive in
the world. Will P2P-based services be the next killer app? 
(September Internet Commerce Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/IC.shtml


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Copyright 2000 by SRI Consulting Business Intelligenc.