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In this issue:

* Shifting Alliances
* Deadbeat Batteries
* Airborne Data
* Creative Strategies for Global Intranets
* More Brain Power with Artificial Neural Networks
* Changing Fortunes for Bluetooth
* Government-Driven eLearning in Europe
* Computing Grids
* Tissue Issues
* Forward Thinking at the Europe Scan Meeting
* Eyeballs: The Next Display Screens


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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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Shifting Alliances

In recent years, companies have been forging new types of
networked alliances to stay competitive. Unlike the
short-lived alliances of the past, these new alliances can
last for a long time, with partners changing their
relationships as business conditions dictate. (Alliances in
the Network Economy)
http://www.sric-bi.com/BIP/Bulletin/B299.shtml#2343


Deadbeat Batteries

Wireless devices and portable entertainment products are
developing so fast that batteries can't keep up with their
power demands. Battery makers, device engineers, and chip
makers will have to work together to make up for lagging
battery development, primarily by improving power management
both within batteries and in devices. (Batteries for
Portable Electronics Devices: Are They Sufficient?)
http://www.sric-bi.com/DF/summaries/Batteries1001.shtml


Airborne Data

Qwest has become the first major carrier to install
free-space optics (FSO) transmission systems. The systems
use lasers to send data through air to nodes on the rooftops
of connected buildings or in office windows. By eliminating
the need to install fiber in the ground, FSO allows carriers
to connect new customers much faster and at lower cost than
ever before. (September 2001 Fiber-Optic Communications
Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/FOC.shtml


Creative Strategies for Global Intranets

Nike, Cathay Pacific, and the World Bank Group, among other
multinationals, want to get more mileage from their
intranets. In these companies, intranets are becoming
virtual work spaces for collaborative product design,
community building, corporate branding, process improvement,
and any number of other corporate activities.  (Global
Intranet Strategies)
http://www.sric-bi.com/BIP/Bulletin/B299.shtml#2344



More Brain Power with Artificial Neural Networks

Artificial neural networks can process immense quantities of
information and make sense of unstructured and complete
information. As a result, practical applications are moving
quickly from the laboratory to the marketplace, aiding
decision makers in finance, energy, medicine, and
transportation. (Neural Networks in Finance, Energy,
Medicine, and Transportation)
http://www.sric-bi.com/BIP/Bulletin/B299.shtml#2345


Changing Fortunes for Bluetooth

Two years ago, Bluetooth, a wireless personal-area-network
technology, appeared to be the dominant candidate to build
interconnectivity among portable devices and eliminate the
need for cables. But the technology's slow start has opened
the door to a variety of alternative and competitive
solutions for wireless networks. (Bluetooth and Wireless
Networks)
http://www.sric-bi.com/DF/summaries/Bluetooth1001.shtml


Government-Driven eLearning in Europe

European governments consider eLearning a social as well as
an economic function, and their eLearning initiatives
reflect this thinking. Initiatives in the United Kingdom and
Germany, for example, emphasize lifelong learning, span the
entire spectrum of adult education, and seek to provide
eLearning to people at all levels of society. (LoD Bulletin,
Third Quarter 2001)
http://www.sric-bi.com/LoD/bulletins.shtml


Computing Grids

IBM is leading the way in exploiting the Internet to connect
computer processors in potentially massive virtual systems.
So far, these computing grids are largely at work in the
academic and scientific research communities. However, IBM
hopes eventually to deliver grid computing to large
corporations, much as electric-power companies now deliver
power to consumers. (September 2001 High-Performance
Computing Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/HPC.shtml


Tissue Issues

Scientists are making great strides in growing tissue to
replace worn-out or diseased body parts or help generate new
ones. The first wave of products--scaffolds for growing skin
and bone tissue--is already on the market. Whole-organ
generation is considerably farther away. (Commercial
Prospects for Tissue Engineering)
http://www.sric-bi.com/BIP/Bulletin/B299.shtml#2346


Forward Thinking at the Europe Scan Meeting

At a recent Scan meeting in Europe, SRIC-BI analysts
discussed the pressing need for companies to find creative
ways to encourage new business when their high-growth
markets plateau. Attendees also discussed new opportunities
to assuage public concerns about food safety and the need
for companies to rethink their strategies for online
communities. (Europe Scan: July 2001)
http://www.sric-bi.com/BIP/Bulletin/B299.shtml#2347


Eyeballs: The Next Display Screens

Surgeons are trying out a prototype of an innovative
head-mounted display from Microvision that delivers
high-definition images directly onto the retina. The
technology uses a low-powered laser to scan images and paint
a single stream of pixels onto the retina.  Microvision is
pitching the technology as an eventual rival for flat-panel
and cathode-ray-tube displays but needs to bring the cost
down first. (September 2001 Virtual Environments Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/VE.shtml


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Copyright 2001 by SRI Consulting Business Intelligence.