Issue: Volume: 23 Issue: 11 (November 2000)

News - 11/00



The mean scores represent the combined, weighted results of the 10 tests, measured in the number of frames per second the machines were able to execute. The larger the numbers, the better the performance. The $ per composite figure represents the system price divided by the mean score.

To see how the same workstations fared in other benchmark tests, or to review results from additional workstations, visit www.spec.org/gpc.

Largest mean score shows best performance. Companies listed are voluntary participants.
Source: SPEC/GPC benchmark results August 2000. Copyright Standard Performance Evaluation Corp.




Video technology vendor Play Inc. (Rancho Cordova, CA) announced that its 3D animation subsidiary, Electric Image (Rancho Cordova, CA), is now an independent corporation. According to Play, the separation was achieved through an "amicable management buyout." Play acquired Electric Image in 1998....Ubi Soft Entertainment (Paris) has agreed to acquire fellow game publisher Red Storm Entertainment (Morrisville, NC)....Haptic technology developer Immersion Corp. (San Jose, CA) has entered into an agreement to acquire Virtual Technologies (Palo Alto, CA), also a maker of real-time 3D physical-interaction applications and devices....Graphics card maker Diamond Multimedia has been shut down by owner S3 (Santa Clara, CA). The company had announced earlier this year that the Diamond division was for sale. The shutdown does not extend to S3's Fire GL graphics card arm....Design analysis software developer Ansys (Southpointe, PA) has agreed to buy computational fluid dynamics applications vendor ICEM CFD Engineering (Berkeley, CA) for approximately $12.4 million in cash and Ansys common stock....Sriven Multi-Tech (Hyderabad, India), a developer of broadband multimedia content, has acquired visual effects house Station X Studios (Santa Monica, CA)....The employees of Web collaboration software vendor CoCreate Software (Fort Collins, CO) have purchased the company with help from independent financial investors. CoCreate was originally established as a subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard in 1996.....

New launch: DesignFreak.com, a high-end content portal for professional computer graphics artists at www.designfreak.com

News is written and compiled by Jenny Donelan.