Neowin.net

IBM's Lotus Software will kick off its 11th annual Lotusphere user conference this week reiterating its J2EE and Web services-based collaboration mantra of the past few years.

Most of the show's emphasis will focus on the Workplace strategy, first introduced last year, which is designed to break collaboration technologies down into components that can be embedded in applications and business processes.

At the show, Lotus plans to detail Version 2.0 of the Workplace platform, featuring integration with Eclipse open source tools and tools tailored to nonprogrammers. Eclipse tools offer a rich client experience by streamlining the process of pulling in a traditional Notes look and feel as well as features such as drag and drop and offline capabilities.

Also debuting at the show will be Workplace Builder, another feature in 2.0 that delivers tools to let nonprogrammers customize and store work as a template in Workplace.

Lotusphere also will unearth more details about Version 7.0 of the Notes Domino messaging platform, due at the end of 2004 or early 2005, said Ken Bisconti, vice president of messaging at IBM.

Version 7.0 will offer DB2 as an optional data store and improved portal and application connectivity. IBM also plans to give users a quick glimpse of Notes beyond 7.0, where the focus of development will be to blend its J2EE-based Workplace environment with its traditional collaboration products.

"We will focus on communications about … how [customers] can go forward with our strategy," Bisconti said.

News source: InfoWorld - IBM lays out collaboration plans

Sadler said the company expects DRAM unit shipments would increase as much as 18 percent in 2004, on top of an 11 percent rise in the prior year while content growth would be in the range of 30 to 50 percent driven by a resurgence in the corporate market.

Said Sadler, "2003 was a good year for memory content due to [Microsoft] Windows XP deployment, broadband demand and strong consumer PC sales but we are also beginning to see an increase from the business market."

Another strong growth area for memory suppliers is the wireless handset market where a combination of huge volume — more than 500 million units per year #151; and rising memory content, which Sadler puts at 16 Mb per phone today, is raising optimism in the industry.

"You've got memory growth, camera phone growth and high number," Sadler said. "Cellphones will undoubtedly be the key growth in future."

In his own presentation at the conference, Bill Stover, Micron's vice president and chief financial officer, said the company's capital expenditure would increase in 2004 to a range of $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion from approximately $1.1 billion in 2003.

Stover estimated total global DRAM capital expenditures rose to $6 billion in 2003 from $5 billion in 2002. Capital expenditure in the industry has fallen from as high as $20 billion 1996 and $9 billion at the height of the last industry expansion in 2000.