NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Web Page sponsor Oxley Developments
www.oxleygroup.com
22 Mar 06. BATTLESPACE understands that the first lab-based ‘Sensor-to-Shooter’ Experiment has been carried out by Overwatch Systems as part of its FCS contract. We understand that a Textron Ground Sensor located the target and processed information through the kill chain to a B1 Bomber. Boeing is providing more detail in due course.
21 Mar 06. Microsoft delays launch of Vista. Microsoft plans to delay the consumer launch of its much-anticipated Windows Vista operating system to January 2007. It had originally aimed to launch Vista – the first major update since Windows XP was introduced five years ago – in the second half of 2006. Now, a version will be available for corporate customers from November 2006. Vista will then be rolled out for consumers after the holiday shopping season, said a spokesman for Microsoft – the world’s biggest software maker. But analysts said this could throw some PC manufacturers and retailers into turmoil. (Source: BBC)
22 Mar 06. World debut for new grab loader at CV Show. Atlas Cranes says its Terex Atlas GL118, making a world debut at the CV Show is a totally new concept in grab loader design. Available with single or double stand-up controls complete with access ladders, the eight metre reach GL118 has single circuit hydraulics, internally routed hoses and pipes and a main lift ram with dampening protection to safeguard against operator damage. Other advantages range from low-level in-line slew tubes, giving a 4250 slew and heavy duty bronze bearings and pressure gauges mounted on each platform. Other cranes on show will include the T30.2, 36.2, 92.2, 125.2 and the 290.2E.
17 Mar 06. Hackers get Mac running Windows. Not even Apple’s own technical staff thought the feat was possible. Hackers have managed to get Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system running on an Apple Mac computer. The success ends a competition started to see if the feat was even possible when Apple unveiled computers that used Intel chips. The pair who managed the feat won $13,854 (£7,895) in prize money for their trouble. The software used to put Windows on the Mac is now being circulated so others can try to replicate the success. In January 2006, the first Apple Mac computers using Intel chips were unveiled at the Macworld show by company boss Steve Jobs. Soon after the unveiling, Mac enthusiast Colin Nederkoorn kicked off a competition to see if it was possible for the two operating systems to run independently on the same machine. To tempt entrants, he put up $100 of his own money – a prize fund that gradually grew as news about the competition spread. The rules of the competition stressed that to win hackers must get both Windows XP and Apple’s OSX running on the same machine and neither operating system must conflict with the other. (Source: BBC)
17 Mar 06. Wind River Systems, Inc. announced that the U.S. Army’s Future Combat System (FCS) program will standardize on Wind River® Workbench as the foundation of the FCS Software Development Environment for its software development activities. Faced with the challenge of managing one of the most complex software development projects in history, Boeing, as Lead Systems Integrator (LSI) for FCS, chose to standardize on a single development environment for FCS software development. Boeing selected Wind River Workbench, based on its ability to operate across multiple development sites, hosts, operating systems and companies developing for the FCS program. Wind River’s involvement in the FCS program stands to increase overall productivity while significantly reducing risk, complexity and program costs compared to traditional development environments.
20 Mar 06. Lockheed Martin has completed the first kill vehicle pathfinder seeker for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Multiple Kill Vehicle System. Lockheed Martin is testing the pathfinder seeker in its hardware-in-the-loop