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Hardware

Transmeta Details Continue to Unravel 327

Posted by CmdrTaco from the we-need-more-data dept.
KrisJon writes "Redherring has some info on Transmeta's pending announcement of its product line." It comments about Torvald's keynote today (and it says he won't spill the beans, but that The Transmeta Website should update and actually contain content tonight). Update by RM: as of 9 p.m. EST there was new content on Transmeta's Web site. Not much, but more than it had before. Read the HTML for the secret message.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Transmeta Details Continue to Unravel More

Transmeta Details Continue to Unravel

Comments Filter:
  • But which version is that...? What do we
    know about this one?

    You know what to do boys and girls. Be nice.
  • It's a reference from the Cronenberg movie "Videodrome". I believe it's the very *last* 2 lines:

    Long live the new flesh!
    See you in Pittsburgh.
  • Yea, but it'll be 10 times more powerfull then any fusion reactors made by Intel.

    Actualy, I'm hoping they're making wearables. But I'm not holding my breath.
  • The AC is correct.

    Mr Burns calls it Garbo.
    Everybody else calls it Gabbo.

  • The NSA dosent have any secret facilities off in never-never land.. There HQ is at Ft. Mead, Marryland, and thats where they have acers of Crays. This is by no means a secret.

    It is doubtful that they would, at any time in there past, have found a computer especialy good since they can get at its insides... with there budget they always ordered customizations on there computers, and the /bought/ there mainframes, something that nobody dose/did (every one else from banks on down leases em).

    For god sakes, there recruting EE's to desigin computers from the chip up, and they have on site fabs.

    At least have a credable story... Its clear to me that your friend was at Area-51.

  • -1, URLs that are not links
    We need another moderation category
  • This sounds to me like Linus's style of diction. What do the rest of you think?

    Vovida, OS VoIP
    Beer recipe: free! #Source
    Cold pints: $2 #Product

  • It will run gnome, no Linux/Gnome/GNU/whatever!

    Where can I preorder one ?

  • That's it, on January 19 I'm going to be installing Debian on my new Crusoe-based Dreamcast ][ while eating a Cinnabon. Pleasure overload!

    Vovida, OS VoIP
    Beer recipe: free! #Source
    Cold pints: $2 #Product

  • Thank You, Kind AC.... Looks like somebody with some moderation points has gone a little "redundant" happy.... Or perhaps, it is a Transmeta Agent, trying to put the lid back on "the truth," or even worse, a Juridian spy!
  • I agree. Isn't Linus a programmer? Not an engineer.

    Some guy at work told me for his computer science major he had to design an OS kernel. Linus didn't do anything miraculous. He was just lucky. It was everyone else who made Linux what it is today. All this Linus worship is completly uncalled for.

  • I just get a little audio blurb that says that the selected video is unavailable and to check back one half hour after the completion of the event...
    check my post time.
  • no, afiak ... it means u can program the chip to adapt itself to be as efficient as possible to the given task .. playing quake .. let it do just fp number crunching ... etc etc
  • Don't forget Bill Gates' Corbis. See, Bill does innovate. He put a cute little box around the swirly logo.

    Naw, the "box" is supposed to represent a window. He's just milking the Windows interface for all its worth...

    --

  • Sheesh guys (Score:3)

    by extrasolar ( 28341 ) on Monday November 15, 1999 @05:08PM (#1530174) Homepage Journal
    I wonder if they hired Linus for marketing.

    But geese guys! Linus is an excellent coder from what I've heard but this reminds me way too much of the celebrity worship I despise so much in the mainstream. Now my comrades do the same in our bailiwick?

    Please, say it ain't so? There isn't even anything worthwhile on the page and people already want to by one or four!

    I am very skeptical with this new chip. Especially with so many people are going to fall over each other to buy one. I certainly hope everyone will wait for this chip to prove itself before we all hop on the bandwagon.

    Also, think about this: Which one do you want to win? Linus the marketer or Linus the coder? In other words, let this chip be succesful on its own merits. Linus shouldn't be a factor.

    ***Beginning*of*Signiture***
    Linux? That's GNU/Linux [gnu.org] to you mister!
  • Transmeta seems to be a geek company. Not only do they employ our beloved Linus, they also run their Web server on Linux and have secret messages hidden in their HTML source. The Web page is also rather plain, not overstyled, and the source is clean HTML.

    Chilli

  • ...I held my breath all weekend...

    Now that is an impressive announcement.

    --

  • they're ripping of the debian logo and the gnome footprints. wowzers
  • Whats the deal with all the companies that have circles for their damned logo. The one that pisses me off most is Lucent's coffee stain logo.

    I think when I start my company I'll just randomly spill some ink on blotter papper and use that as my logo.

  • Yes Crusoe is an anagram of source.

    But, it could also be that this whiz-bang new microprocessor turns out to be the CURE to all your Operating System woes.

    It may be the CORE of some sort of Universal System.

    It may even claim to guarantee that U SCORE, but I doubt it.

    Or it could be just another RUSE by the COmpany.


  • at the expense of karma say... I would venture that your .sig is quite offensive.
  • Anybody want a peanut?

  • I Know What Transmeta Is !!!!!!!!! (Score:3)

    by mochaone ( 59034 ) on Monday November 15, 1999 @03:19PM (#1530183)
    It's people!!!! It's people!!!!!! Transmeta is people!!!!!!!
  • You gonna smoke that whole thing by yourself or are ya gonna pass it 'round?

    dave ";)"
  • You know, that Crusoe logo looks an awful lot like the Debian [debian.org] logo.
  • Did you noticed that TM's website is mapped onto 3 different IPs...

    Name: www.transmeta.com
    Addresses: 209.10.41.232, 209.10.41.233, 209.10.41.231,

    I think they were anticipating the /. effect :-)
    I understand them, they have been making us holding our breathes for years...
  • i realize GIF wasn't the important part of your message, but it may be worth noting (as others in this thread have) that the /images directory actually contained one PNG:
    http://www.transmeta.com/images/arrive2.png
    there were also GIF and JPG versions of this same image.
    strange things..
  • Ooooh, I held my breath all weekend for ....

    An Announcement of a future Announcement!!!

    what a letdown.

  • My little brother Laurent will be 19 on 19th January...

    I've told it to a friend that I found it very funny :
    The Transmeta processor coming out on a 19th January, when my brother'll be 19. This is also the last 19th January of the century of the 19xx years so everything is well tought :-)

  • Secret Message (Score:3)

    by Hanzie ( 16075 ) on Monday November 15, 1999 @03:23PM (#1530191)
    From the source:
    ---------------------
    !---Yes, there is a secret message, and this is it:
    Transmeta's policy has been to remain silent about its plans
    until it had something to demonstrate to the world.
    On January 19th, 2000, Transmeta is going to announce and demonstrate
    what Crusoe processors can do.
    Simultaneously, all of the details will go up on this Web site
    for everyone on the Internet to see.
    Crusoe will be cool hardware and software for mobile applications.
    Crusoe will be unconventional, which is why we wanted
    to let you know in advance to come look at the entire Web site
    in January, so that you can get the full story and have access to all
    of the real details as soon as they are available.---
  • An obscure Wumpscut reference for the goths out there.
  • but check this out:

    "Even though Transmeta's patents indicate that its chips are x86 compatible, it isn't a given that it will join the bloody desktop PC battle. Its most recent patent describes a type of "code-morphing" hardware and software that is, as the patent says, "an apparatus for enhancing the operation of a microprocessor, which is less expensive than conventional state of the art microprocessors, yet is compatible with and capable of running application programs and operating systems designed for other microprocessors at a faster rate than those other microprocessors.""

    the key here is "code-morphing". i'm betting that somehow the linux kernal will be able to run much closer to the hardware.

    of course this would mechnision would have to allow for new patchs, and most likely other OS's. very interesting idea if i'm right.

    i'm not right.. hey maybe i should patent it. hehe

    -Jon


    (no comments about be spelling please)
  • Could the release of the Crusoe be one of the turning points in the history of the computer industry?

    I think so.

    I believe so because I believe Transmeta is aiming to put a computer in most everyone's hand. Their processor is likely aimed to be used in a very flexible Palm platform type of implementation up to the "almost a PC" product form.

    Maybe down the road they will look towards the PC moshpit, but right now low-end computing is where the real money can be made.

    E
  • It's nice to know all of our sleuthy deductions were right on the money. Transmeta is working on a new CPU.

    And check out their hidden message. This time it exists- and it points out that on January 19th, 2000 we will see what their Crusoe processor can do. It will be on the webpage.
    Cool stuff :)

    But i wonder... what's Linus' involvement in all of this?
  • OBVIOUSLY a "tyop" is a "Ty Operation", that being a command which operates on beanie babies...

  • Significant transmeta problems. (Score:5)

    by Denor ( 89982 ) <denor@yahoo.com> on Monday November 15, 1999 @03:25PM (#1530202) Homepage
    This change is only for the worst, everyone. We all thought that the Crusoe would be our salvation, that Transmeta and Linus would invent something that would destroy Microsoft and all that is non-open source. In short, we looked to Transmeta for our salvation. But we will not find it. Why? It is as simple as it is shocking: The transmeta homepage once carried an announcement that it was y2k compliant.

    That announcement is no longer there!

    Let the mourning begin.
  • ...that Transmeta owns "CRUSOE.COM", which also points to the same place.

    I've not searched for any other domains, though.

  • Re:Sheesh guys (Score:3)

    by drix ( 4602 ) on Monday November 15, 1999 @05:23PM (#1530216) Homepage
    A little of both. Sure, they probably could have found a better coder - one w/o a family and completely willing to put in those 80 hour weeks for a year straight until shipping time, for example - but on paper it works so well - put the guy who wrote the operating system from the ground up in charge of writing code to load operating systems from the ground up. You can't find one single person who created Windows, Solaris, or OS/2, but with Linux, it all started with one guy. It's perfectly fitting for him to be doing what he is doing now.

    On the other hand, this company is all about "names" - Linus, David Ditzel, VC funding from one of the most reputable firms in the valley. Plus, it's great psychological ammunition for your competitors. Take a bunch of names that are constantly in the press, stick them at an ultrasecretive company - to my knowledge, they don't even have a PR department - and you end up with an extremely volatile mixture, so to speak. Intel is sweating a lot more bullets right now than they would be if Transmeta had announced their product years ago as is standard to drum up buzz around the net and in RL. It's a smart move.
    --
    "Some people say that I proved if you get a C average, you can end up being successful in life."
  • Systems Engineering Laboratories was founded in 1961 (which by the way manufactured one of the first 32 bit minicomputers [digiweb.com]) was purchased by Gould Incorporated in 1980 to become Gould Computer System Division. The were then purchased by Encore Computer Corporation in 1988. The name changed a bit later to become Encore Real Time Computing [encore.com] after they started working with such systems.

    You can read all about it here [encore.com].

    They don't seem to have the SEL32 anymore (looks like it was incredibly old), but they do have a neat reflective memory [encore.com] technology.

  • I think you're talking about GABBO!

    --
    Interested in XFMail? New XFMail home page [slappy.org]
  • My dad retired (several years ago) after 20-some years at NSA.

    I don't know much about what he did, but I do know that part of his job involved installing and training people with computer systems, and he made trips to quite a number of countries in order (I believe) to do that, Turkey for one.

    My casual understanding from glancing through books like The Puzzle Palace and from talking to other folks I know (pops won't tell me) is that NSA also helps other agencies with thier computers, too. So the story about the SEL 32 rings fairly true, or certainly plausible.

    timothy

  • Re:Debian and Dreamcast (Score:4)

    by jsm2 ( 89962 ) on Monday November 15, 1999 @10:32PM (#1530238)
    Well, "Crusoe Debian Dreamcast Cinnabon" is an anagram of "Concessionaire adumbrate and NBC". The "concessionaire" is cleraly Linus, "adumbrate" is a reference to the number-crunching power of the Crusoe processor, but where does NBC fit in?

    Well, let's see, NBC is owned by General Electric, which is a major competitor of Sega, who make the Dreamcast. Jack Welch, the CEO of GE is a known associate of Warren Buffet, who is thought to be a big fan of the Cinnabom [tm] breakfast roll.

    It seems to me that the logo must be part of a secret code between Welch, Buffet and Stallman (probably all members of the Illuminati), to put the wind up Sega, and remind them not to stop putting Satanic symbols in the Sonic games.

    fnord fnord fnord, etc.

    jsm
  • ... doesn't seem so odd.

    Actually, the pieces do still fit together rather nicely.

    OK this will be a little long, but I'm gonna spell out a little history for ya if you aren't already familiar with it.

    Amiga Inc., prior to Jim Collas' (CEO) departure, was making all kinds of noise about the AmigaObjects modular layer or whatever. It was supposed to be a highly flexible and scalable distribution of Linux. Ultimately it was revealed by Gateway that their plans for Amiga had little to do with a desktop machine (to the ire of many an old Amigaphile) and a lot to do with so-called pervasive computing. "Amiga" was going to be a kind of brand name for the general software technology tying together a whole host of upcoming PDA's, wristwatch computers, car computers, set-top computers, game consoles, etc. Kind of like Bluetooth but in a more abstract and comprehensive OS sense rather than just a wireless protocol.

    All the while there was this Transmeta / Amiga co-operation rumor, culminating with the Transmeta logo being featured at some big (heh) Amiga show in London. Naturally, the chiphead community (and especially the Amigans within it) being as optimistic as they are, the Transmeta chip was suspected to be a kind of smart FPGA or something, which was able to emulate the microcode of other CPU's in real time. This may still be true, but back then it seemed a little tenuous at best that a company as cutting edge as Transmeta, who could probably have their pick of partners, would choose a faded, orphaned, and probably cursed platform/brand as it's conveyance into the marketplace. When Amiga, Inc. clammed up, ejected or lost half of the celebrities in management, and summarily round-filed the Amiga desktop machine project, it looked like the naysayers were right: the rumored partnership was just that - a wishful rumor.

    Fast forward to today. Turn out Transmeta has in fact been making a microprocessor (duh) and - what's this? - it's going to power portable computing devices. Hmmm... And a revolution in portable (or "ubiquitous/pervasive") computing is also exactly what Gateway had in mind for Amiga.
    It seems, in fact, that the two companies' business plans had been on a parallel course since the beginning.

    Now Amiga *is* still in business, still has engineers, etc. on payroll, and is still planning on doing something , they are just a lot quieter about it now. Could it be that the rumors were too close to being true that they had to do something drastic (like get rid of - or make life difficult for - the too-friendly management staff)so as not to blow the cover (and likely get sued by) for partner Transmeta (and any other partners)?

    Whadda *you* think?

    - The Count

  • But then, if you turn to the processor's name, Crusoe, you'll quickly realize as I did that it's just an anagram for SOURCE.

    Actually, I'm worried now:

    TRANSMETA'S CRUSOE

    is an anagram for:

    NSA'S SOURCE MATTER

    I'm pretty sure that this explains the impenetrable cloak of secrecy around the company and it's "products". And also why they have access to so much cash...

  • Rather than "celebrity worship" as you term it, I prefer to think of it as tremendous respect. I, for one, really appreciate what Linus has done. There is also some amount of pride involved. It's a great feeling to see something (Linux) that I have been using for over two years now, go from a small kernel to something so fantastic. (I like the saying "Big trees from little acorns grow.") In line with this sentiment, it's great to see someone like Linus (who most Linux users feel is one of us, so to speak) involved with a potentially revolutionary product. It's somewhat of a geeky trait, I suppose, to be excited about and look forward to the newest, latest, greatest, technology.

    ----------------

    "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
  • The NSA dosent have any secret facilities off in never-never land.. There HQ is at Ft. Mead, Marryland, and thats where they have acers of Crays. This is by no means a secret.

    It was back then.

    Regardless - the NoneSuch Agency is just the sort of people to fly you around for a couple hours and land you ten miles from where you started, isn't it?

  • Thanks for the clarification. I remember reading docs that said otherwise. I suppose I was being optimistic. Javascript truly is as sick and twisted as they say.
    --
  • You couldn't more elegantly summarize the concept of distant, non-attached, portable computing than with the image of footprints in the sand.

    A dream for many geeks.

    So not only do they have very good programmers working for them, (Linux et al), they also have semi-decent marketing types too.

    Cool.
  • That's great work, noting that Crusoe anagrams to Source.

    My guess is that the idea is that the chip supports just-in-time compiling, that it more-or-less runs source code, rather than object code.

    Now let's see if this "No Score +1 Bonus" really works for KFM :)

    thad

  • hmmm.... the /images/ directory is already a 403 forbidden.... suppose the transmeta folks are keeping an eye on slashdot?
  • This makes sense, of course. Looking at the patents, very clearly Transmeta has prototyped (duh) a design utilizing hardware _and_ software optimizations. However, the patent(s) don't appear to have that "let's rev these babies up as high as they'll go" attitude. Transmeta appears to be focused more on quality through optimization (and perhaps stability, but that remains to be seen). And mobile computing is an arena that language-independent optimizations would kick some serious ass.
  • http://www.c-span.org/Campaign2000/gwbushspeeches. asp

    its the 4th one down.. its real audio.. and no I didn't have the time to listen to it myself but you can if you want to conferm the quote.

  • Mirror (Score:2)

    by Pyr ( 18277 )
    Since the transmeta page was already running slow when I visited even BEFORE the /. story I've provided a mirror [tofproject.org]

  • exactly (Score:4)

    by / ( 33804 ) on Monday November 15, 1999 @06:42PM (#1530318)
    If I were inventing a new chip that is supposed to revolutionize the industry, I certainly wouldn't pin my hopes on getting Microsoft to port its operating systems onto it for a bunch of reasons:

    1) Their operating systems provide subpar performance and never really made some of the easier chip-technology leaps that have already happened. They're having enough trouble porting their wares to Intel's Itanium chips, which are less revolutionary than what Transmeta is alegedly making.

    2) Try as they might otherwise, they are still joined to Intel, and if I had a new wonderful process to protect, I wouldn't wave it anywhere near Intel.

    3) Ultimately, it would be up to MS to decide whether and how well to support the new chip.

    4) It doesn't look like this chip will even be competing on the normal pc part of the spectrum, which makes sense if Allen is hoping to keep his paper billions from crashing about his ears.

    Hiring Linus makes perfect sense, because if they want a non-MS operating system to run on this chip, their best bet is Linux, and if they're therefore betting hard on Linux, it is in their best interest to make sure the maintainer of its kernel is secure in that position. They also get the bonus of getting to develop their own modified kernel in house while subtly steering the public kernel in a direction most favorable to the sudden incorporation of their modifications when the chip is finally unveiled.
  • The processor was finished six months ago, it has just taken this long for Linus to learn enough HTML to do the site :)

    --
  • In a world of hype, not hyping is the next level of hype.

    Next, of course, the PR-droids will start to hype by hyping their not-hyping. (Which is perhaps what Transmeta is trying to do.)

  • The real question is, "What do they mean by 'mobility'?" That's a loaded buzzword if ever I've seen one. It could mean anything:

    1. They're focusing on embedded applications, rather than so-called personal computers.
    2. They're emphasizing low-power consumption for the growing laptop market.
    3. Something to do with the "can emulate other processors" theory.
    4. They're focusing on the nebulous information appliance market: cell phones, PDAs, cheap net surfing boxes.

    Hmmm.
  • Yes. Now I remember.

    --
    Interested in XFMail? New XFMail home page [slappy.org]
  • Maybe I'm not getting it. I thought the transmeta patent sounded awesome...a quasi-chip which could run foreign instruction sets...really cool stuff. But a embedded/mobile chip? What gives? Progress in any field is great, but I don't need yet another chip to enable me to do /more/ useless things. I guess I'm not "getting" the embedded/mobile phenomenon. Palms seem boring to me. Hyped up address books...yay. Put a cell phone, address book, and web browser together and what do you get? Yet another useless piece of junk which will allow you to do other things which you could have done better before. Where is mobile/embedded /going/? If the answer is that in the future we will all be carrying around powerfull microcomputers to yak at each other and view dribbles of web pages I give a apathetic *yawyn*.
  • You know, the Debian logo looks an awful lot like the Dreamcast [sega.com] logo

  • A few facts... (Score:3)

    by Amphigory ( 2375 ) on Monday November 15, 1999 @03:38PM (#1530351) Homepage
    1. Their web server is running Linux.
    2. They hired Linus.
    3. Linus has been talking more and more about small computers being the future lately.
    4. One of the big thrusts in kernel development has been pda's and small environments.
    5. The Transmeta web site promises new hardware and software for mobile computing.
    6. Transmeta have been very tolerant of Linus' foibles as far as spending time on Linux at the office.
    Boys and girls... I will leave the conclusion to the student. Hint: processor's are cool... But the did say and software

    woohoo!

  • i realize GIF wasn't the important part of your message, but it may be worth noting (as others in this thread have) that the /images directory actually contained one PNG:
    http://www.transmeta.com/images/arrive2.png
    there were also GIF and JPG versions of this same image.
    strange things..

    Did it occure to anyone that maybe they have a working model of the chip and that it is running their webserver? And that the webserver may have photoshop, Gimp, RedHat, Apache, and who knows what else running on it at a whim? Maybe they are rotating the image types and things just for their own amusement to make sure that the processor runs everything equally.... >:)

    Kintanon

    Mmmmmmmmm.... Rumors...
  • I'm just happy to note that the Transmeta page is completely lynx compliant.


  • Of course one should check to see that the above is *parody* of the source!

  • reverse vaporware (Score:4)

    by mcc ( 14761 ) <amcclure@purdue.edu> on Monday November 15, 1999 @03:42PM (#1530367) Homepage
    i love it.. the concept of vaporware in reverse. By waiting until they actually have something definite to speak up, everyone tries to theorize about what you could be doing, analyses your every action, gives you as much free publicity as you could possibly need. And that way, since you aren't the one giving out the "information", the information can be incredibly innaccurate without any kind of backlash against you. Also you avoid the "vaporware backlash" inevitable if you spend _any_ amount of time actually making the product worth shipping instead of just shipping whatever you have on the date you gave earlier.

    Apple has been attempting this for years with their "we do not comment on unannounced products" policy, but never have they done it so successfully as Transmeta has here.
    although take a warning from apple's experience: This kind of thing _can_ backfire. Look, for instance, at the ibook; through apple's silence, the mac rumors sites constantly talked about the ibook even when there was nothing to report, whipped up everyone into such a frenzy over the upcoming P1/consumer portable/ibook/ebook that apple was basically forced eventually to release the ibook despite the fact that it would appear they weren't quite _ready_. In fact, apple was frequently accused by relatively respectable people and news outlets of engaging in "vaporware" with the ibook-- despite the fact they had never really admitted the ibook existed, just a vague mention in Steve Job's speech the previous year they'd like to create a "consumer portable".. (if they had had time to _get_ ready, clearly they would have chosen colors other than blue and orange.. :)

    Anyway, i am looking forward to the transmeta Crusoe chip, built using 100% Technology Stolen from Alien Spacecraft.
  • http://www.transmeta.com/images/ [transmeta.com] - their img dir including a few files not visible on their index page; for some reason I was redirected to http://www1adm.transmeta.com/images/ [transmeta.com] once

    http://www.transmeta.com/legal.html [transmeta.com] - the least interesting thing you've seen in a long time

    http://www.transmeta.com/robots.txt [transmeta.com] - why don't they have one? tsk tsk

  • Not to mention that the web page, simple as it is, already has a bug. The ALT text on the second phrase is the wrong one. I mean, come on, how hard can it be? These people cannot put together a two-page web site with two tables and a few .gif's, they want to revolutionize the microprocessor scene? I'm not holding my breath.


    Are you SURE it's a mistake? Maybe it's intentional! Quick, let's go analayze it!! Hurry before they cover it up!!

    Kintanon
  • It seems that the bums are going to be making processors!!!

    I feel so used...after all of this time, I was *SURE* that they were going to be making a better suntan lotion or maybe golf visors, and instead they come out with a microchip??? How SHOCKING!! :)


  • What a comedian! (Don't quit the day job ;-)

    ----------------

    "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein

  • I've got it! (Score:5)

    by / ( 33804 ) on Monday November 15, 1999 @03:44PM (#1530378)
    I finally figured out Linus's connection! According to the secret message, come January we will "have access to all of the real details". In other words, the information is going to become open. But then, if you turn to the processor's name, Crusoe, you'll quickly realize as I did that it's just an anagram for SOURCE. Transmeta's processor is going to be OPEN SOURCE!

    Hallelujah!
  • > Ok, here it is: It's a multiprocessor that, given any instruction set, figures out ways to parallelize the code as much as possible by performing instructions out of order.

    CPUs do that now. Hopefully they have something more original. Hate to deflate everyone's expectations, but the word "mobility" suggests to me that they just made a plain ol CPU that's probably very low-power. Heck, some CPU's today can be driven by the juice from the instruction pins alone (long as you still have electrical ground connected, of course).
  • I'm so intrigued by this, it's driving me insane. What could this thing do??!?! It can't be as simple as a super-fast CPU, or there'd be no need to target it specifically for mobile apps. (Except to avoid the iron fist of Intel.) Could it be mobile speech recognition? Mobile high-bandwidth satellite wireless? Mobile telekinesis? WHAT WHAT WHAT!

  • Contents are (Unformatted, sorry!):

    arrive.gif 15-Nov-1999 18:25 4k arrive2.gif 15-Nov-1999 16:51 4k arrive2.jpg 15-Nov-1999 16:12 11k arrive2.png 15-Nov-1999 16:19 3k crusoelogo.jpg 13-Nov-1999 12:45 14k crusoelogosm.jpg 13-Nov-1999 16:45 11k footsteps.gif 13-Nov-1999 08:06 2k footstepssm.gif 13-Nov-1999 08:06 1k leftsky.jpg 13-Nov-1999 08:06 11k legalhdr.gif 13-Nov-1999 08:06 1k rethought.gif 13-Nov-1999 08:06 2k rightsky.jpg 13-Nov-1999 08:06 7k skycntr.jpg 13-Nov-1999 08:06 39k tocreatnew.gif 15-Nov-1999 18:26 5k

    Rethought.gif = "We rethought the microprocessor to create a whole new world of mobility"

    --Donate food by clicking: www.thehungersite.com [thehungersite.com]

  • Duh!!! (Score:2)

    by Dacta ( 24628 )

    Sorry - I know they are shown on the screen. Stupid IE4 wasn't showing the filenames up in the "have been viewed" color.

    --Donate food by clicking: www.thehungersite.com [thehungersite.com]

  • I know I'm not supposed to insult anything that Our Lord and Savior Linus is involved with, especialy on slashdot, but am I the only one that finds the recent news out of Transmeta rather disapointing? I tried not to hype myself up that much in the first place, but a mobile processor? Please.

    I guess I just don't get it. If the speculation from the patents are right, and if it can translate x86 or any other architectures instructions in real time and actually emulate it faster than it can be run natively, then why mobile processing? The rumors seemed to be based on some type of small power consumption making it good for mobile processing - come on. Sure mobile this and portable that, but if there is a faster CPU out there please don't restrict it to a laptop or some similar device - all of us power users need the flexability of a Tower/Desktop computer, period.

    The only conclusion I can draw from this is that it must be revolutionary in some other way. The "secret message" says nothing about being fast or even having anything to do with normal desktop computing. I'd have to assume Transmeta is either seriously misusing some potentialy revolutionary technology, or merely changed the direction they were going in since those first patents were made. I'm hoping for the latter...

  • But i wonder... what's Linus' involvement in all of this?

    Isn't it obvious?... To grab attention.

    There is no way Transmeta would be getting this much slashdot coverage (or media coverage in general) if they hadn't hired Linus. Who would care if there wasn't this tether relating it back to Linux?

    Instead they got arguably the god of the Linux world, allied (sp?) everyone's fears by letting him keep working on the kernel, and kept their mouths shut about what they're doing. The result? More media attention and speculation than in a marketroid's wet dream. Their only concern now is that they can deliver, because if they can't, as the saying goes, "There'll be hell to pay"...

    Oh, there are some people who think Linux is working on getting the Linux kernel to work on their new CPU, but that's waaaay too predictable for my liking. :)

    The thot plickens...
  • Crusoe = castaway = Throw away your old processors?

    It's also an anagram for "source", though that might be coincidence.
    --
    "HORSE."

  • However, Transmeta does seem to be the first to take the concept to this extreme

    Which concept? The concept of doing the reconfigurability in software, rather than in hardware as is the case with an FPGA?

    The patents they have all seem to imply that the processor does have a native instruction set, that code in other instruction sets is translated to the native instruction set by software, and that at least some of the fancy hardware features are intended to let the translators make very optimistic assumptions when they translate the code, with the code faulting if the assumptions aren't valid, and the software then recovering and re-translating with less optimistic assumptions.

  • And I don't think it was Debian. For many years, I ran a network of Macs for a company that made supermarket circulars. We used a funky program from Multi-Ad Services called Multi-Ad Creator [multi-ad.com]. It's still the best thing I've used for single-page ad layouts, and the logo (dating back at least 8 years) is nearly identical in design and concept.

    The processor, OTOH, I don't have a lot to contribute about...

    - -Josh Turiel

  • out of order Source = Crusoe? (Score:4)

    by aberman ( 85869 ) on Monday November 15, 1999 @04:27PM (#1530416)
    Ok, let's take it a bit more seriously.

    We already know that they have a patent on a microprocessor which should be able to run other processor instructions.
    +
    Crusoe = out of order sourCe.

    Ok, here it is: It's a multiprocessor that, given any instruction set, figures out ways to parallelize the code as much as possible by performing instructions out of order.
  • If Crusoe really is what everyone is billing it as , a XISC-architecture (eXtended Instruction Set Code) chip, then should be expected to have serious ramifications in the embedded systems market. If this thing could hardware emulate a JavaChip, an Itanium, or, for that matter, a G4, then chip design has pretty much been standardized, in that there is a single standard capable of replicating all others.
  • Now don't forget the Java logo, it's got all sorts of swirls!!

    Hmmm.. Java.. Mobile hardware/software.. How many readers would cry themselves to sleep at night if this product involved JAVA???

    "But... But... IT'S NOT PERL!! LINUS!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

    Look quick kiddies, this post is aboot to be moderated...
  • Jan 19, 00 is a Wednesday. Since they are announcing something called Crusoe, shouldn't they announce it on a Friday?

    Why did the farmer call his rooster Robinson?
    Because it crew so.
  • Technically, they're not hyping it at all. Transmeta haven't said anything; they're just letting /. and others speculate like mad.

  • RJB Consultiing (Score:3)

    by gavinhall ( 33 ) on Monday November 15, 1999 @04:11PM (#1530431)
    check out all the domains they have registerd
    BR> GO-CRUSOES.COM
    GO-CRUSOES.ORG
    GO-CRUSOES.NET
    GOCRUSOES.NET
    RJBAKER.COM
    GOCRUSOES.ORG
    CRUSOE.COM
    CRUSOES.NET
    GOCRUSOES.COM
    CRUSOES.COM
    CRUSOES.ORG
    CYBERBORG.COM
    Y2KSANDIEGO.COM
    FROTZ.COM
    MOBILE-PROCESSOR.ORG
    MOBILE-PROCESSOR.COM
    MOBILEPROCESSOR.NET
    GO-CRUSOE.ORG
    GO-CRUSOE.COM
    MOBILE-PROCESSOR.NET
    GOCRUSOE.ORG
    GO-CRUSOE.NET
    MOBILEPROCESSOR.ORG
    GOCRUSOE.NET
    MOBILEPROCESSOR.COM
    GOCRUSOE.COM
  • Even if this is a coincidence, it's a pretty amazing one; this leads me to believe it might not be one.

    Chris
  • [doc brown voice] "...The only problem with a Slashdot effect is that you never know when one's going to strike!"[/doc brown voice]

    [marty mcfly voice] "We do now! January 19th, 2000! 12:00am! http://www.transmeta.com [transmeta.com]!" [/marty mcfly voice]

  • Anyway, i am looking forward to the transmeta Crusoe chip, built using 100% Technology Stolen from Alien Spacecraft.

    Actually it's taken from robots from the future that evolved from a DOD project called SkyNet.

  • Hmmm (Score:2)

    by Daniel ( 1678 )
    GO-CRUSOES.COM
    GO-CRUSOES.ORG
    GO-CRUSOES.NET
    GOCRUSOES.NET
    GOCRUSOES.ORG
    GOCRUSOES.COM
    GO-CRUSOE.ORG
    GO-CRUSOE.COM
    GOCRUSOE.ORG
    GO-CRUSOE.NET
    GOCRUSOE.COM


    Anyone want to guess what their marketing campaign is going to be? :-)

    Daniel

  • REAL Transmeta Secret Message (Score:3)

    by severed ( 82501 ) on Monday November 15, 1999 @04:40PM (#1530444) Homepage
    If you view the source at:
    http://www.transmeta.com/super/sekrut/message/in dex.html

    From the source:
    ---------------------
    !---Yes, there is a secret message, and this is it:
    Transmeta's policy has been to remain silent about its plans for world domination until it had something to demonstrate to the world.
    On January 19th, 2000, Transmeta is going to announce and demonstrate what Crusoe processors can do by destorying the capital city of every nation on Eatrh.
    Simultaneously, all capital cities of an alien race known as the Juridians will be reduced to component atoms as payment for this new technology that we have accquired from a friendly alien race. Of course, all of the details will go up on this Web site for everyone on the Internet to see.
    Crusoe will be cool hardware and software for military applications.
    Crusoe will be unconventional, which is why we wanted to let you know in advance to stay away from any major cities. If you do this, then you can come look at the entire Web site after the attack in January. Please avoid viewing any of the public media in the mean time, so that you can avoid the alien propaganda, and get the full story and have access to all of the real details as soon as they are available.---

  • Transmeta domain names: (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 15, 1999 @04:20PM (#1530449)
    Transmeta domain names:

    RJB Consulting (GO-CRUSOES2-DOM) GO-CRUSOES.COM
    RJB Consulting (GO-CRUSOES3-DOM) GO-CRUSOES.ORG
    RJB Consulting (GO-CRUSOES-DOM) GO-CRUSOES.NET
    RJB Consulting (GOCRUSOES2-DOM) GOCRUSOES.NET
    RJB Consulting (RJBAKER-DOM) RJBAKER.COM
    RJB Consulting (GOCRUSOES3-DOM) GOCRUSOES.ORG
    RJB Consulting (CRUSOE5-DOM) CRUSOE.COM
    RJB Consulting (CRUSOES5-DOM) CRUSOES.NET
    RJB Consulting (GOCRUSOES-DOM) GOCRUSOES.COM
    RJB Consulting (CRUSOES4-DOM) CRUSOES.COM
    RJB Consulting (CRUSOES3-DOM) CRUSOES.ORG
    RJB Consulting (CYBERBORG-DOM) CYBERBORG.COM
    RJB Consulting L.L.C. (Y2KSANDIEGO-DOM) Y2KSANDIEGO.COM
    RjB Consulting / Frotz SubVersions (FROTZ3-DOM) FROTZ.COM
    rjb consulting (MOBILE-PROCESSOR2-DOM) MOBILE-PROCESSOR.ORG
    rjb consulting (MOBILE-PROCESSOR3-DOM) MOBILE-PROCESSOR.COM
    rjb consulting (MOBILEPROCESSOR-DOM) MOBILEPROCESSOR.NET
    rjb consulting (GO-CRUSOE3-DOM) GO-CRUSOE.ORG
    rjb consulting (GO-CRUSOE2-DOM) GO-CRUSOE.COM
    rjb consulting (MOBILE-PROCESSOR-DOM) MOBILE-PROCESSOR.NET
    rjb consulting (GOCRUSOE3-DOM) GOCRUSOE.ORG
    rjb consulting (GO-CRUSOE-DOM) GO-CRUSOE.NET
    rjb consulting (MOBILEPROCESSOR3-DOM) MOBILEPROCESSOR.ORG
    rjb consulting (GOCRUSOE2-DOM) GOCRUSOE.NET
    rjb consulting (MOBILEPROCESSOR2-DOM) MOBILEPROCESSOR.COM
    rjb consulting (GOCRUSOE-DOM) GOCRUSOE.COM

  • Mobility Means?? (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 15, 1999 @04:21PM (#1530450)
    There is a body of research on mobile code and/or mobile programs. In short, code that can be run anywhere (e.g., java bytecode, Obliq, etc.).

    This fits with the rumors on a meta processor; indepence from instruction sets. Are you marooned on a instruction set you'd like to get off of??

    Then there is the mobile phone, mobile assistant, mobile computer.

    While a low wattage speedy microprocessor would be interesting. Everyone who isn't trying to do an Intel clone is in this market. There's room for another player. However, a player who is going to give the VC firms a 10x return on their investment? The margins down here tend to be small.

    So I'm not sure mobility necessarily means the latter here. Of course time will tell....

  • I'm reminded of the SEL 32 (Score:5)

    by Ungrounded Lightning ( 62228 ) on Monday November 15, 1999 @04:41PM (#1530452) Journal

    Some years ago I worked with a Systems Engineering Laboratories SEL 32. This was a very high-end minicomputer, in the form of a six-foot hunk of 19-inch rack, chock full of circuitry. Just under 1 Megabuck.

    The computer itself was made of wire-wrapped socket boards stuffed full of standard chips, then tied together by a big backplane and some ribbon cables. It had downloadable firmware. Part of the standard documentation was the complete set of diagrams for the circuitry and complete listings of the firmware. You could get the listings of the OS if you wanted them.

    So it was an totally open-source machine, at least to the customers. You could hack the OS, or use it as a base to write your own system. you could change the firmware. You could even rewire the beast itself.

    Our hardware maintainence man was ex of SEL's own customer engineering (i.e. onsite-repair) department. He had a few tales to tell.

    It seems that a bit over half their production was delivered to designated loading docks at apparently abandoned warehouses, and was gone the next day. The bills were paid. And they never had to go fix 'em. (Or almost...)

    One time he DID have to go fix one. And they flew him there in an airplane with blacked-out windows, which did quite a few manouvers during several hours of flight. Then they took him from the plane to the building in a tent tunnel.

    It seems the computer was very popular with the No Such Agency, for doing cryptography. They could fix it themselves, using generic parts. They could hack on it to add stuff they didn't want out of their sight and into the industry. And they could be sure that did exactly what they thought it did.

    Or at least they could usually fix it. Which is why my collegue ended up in spookland for an afternoon.

  • So they'll beet the y2k bug, does that mean we will relish the results?

    Is this going to seriously degrade my posting karma, or yam I chest nuts?
  • I'd almost expect that design to go - perphaps not the logo, but the rest of the site. It just seems a little amateurish - as if Linus himself created it in his spare time (he's a code monkey, not a GA). Oh well, on January 19th we'll know that, as well as if we're a finalist in the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes (15 years in a row here).
    --
    "Some people say that I proved if you get a C average, you can end up being successful in life."
  • Does this mean that if the source is "Out of Order" then the program will work anyway? Perhaps Windows will be stable on this thing.

  • The first person to find out anything about Transmeta that they didn't want everyone to know

    At least I don't feel so stupid any more.

    --Donate food by clicking: www.thehungersite.com [thehungersite.com]

  • I was looking at the source of http://www.unix.digital.com/linux/ [digital.com] and found this tasty tidbit or Javascript.

    var year = today.getYear();
    if (year < 100){
    year += 1900;
    }
    return(this_month[month]+" "+day+", "+year);
    }
    // rev03.29.1999 -- DO NOT MODIFY! -- End date display function with y2k compatibility

    Which will clearly display the year as 100 in 2000. I emailed the webmaster some months ago but they never changed it. Oh well, it won't bring any airplanes out of the sky, but it does make one wonder about the efficacy of Y2K remediation.
    --
  • Don't forget Bill Gates' Corbis [corbis.com]. See, Bill does innovate. He put a cute little box around the swirly logo.

    --

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