Preparing for the VIDEO AGE

IBM says its new optical transceiver chipset can move video and other data at speeds of 160 gigbits per second - quick enough to let users instantly download full-length movies that might take an hour or more to download today. It can take an hour or more to download a full-length feature movie from the Internet today. In the near future, it could take only a second.

IBM recently unveiled a new type of processor technology it claims can move data such as video at a superfast 160 gigabits per second.

At that rate, computers, televisions or TV set-top boxes could download highdefinition video from the Web almost instantaneously and easily move it from one device to another on a home network. Businesses could transfer mountains of data without delays.

"What we've been able to do is pack an unprecedented amount of bandwidth into a little chip-like optical transceiver," explained IBM researcher Marc Taubenblatt.

"We think this could be cheap enough where TV vendors (and other electronics makers) could very easily" incorporate them into their devices.

The new IBM chipset could be years from hitting the market. Even then, it faces plenty of hurdles, not the least of which is compatibility with more traditional equipment in use today.

IBM isn't alone in searching for solutions to solve technological problems that are just beginning to surface as the use of video explodes on the Web and in home PCs.

"I think there's going to be a whole plethora of new equipment we're probably looking at in the next couple of years to help distribute video, make it work better and make sure you're watching at the highest quality possible," said Eve Griliches, an analyst with technology research firm IDC.

Some problems, such as poor quality and slow transfer rates, already are starting to occur as the Web's broadband "pipes" get increasingly clogged with space-hogging video, Griliches said.

As the volume of video on the Web continues to increase, problems could hamper the industry's growth potential, she added.

IBM's new chipset essentially relies on the technology behind fiber optics to move video and other data quickly.

Instead of using traditional hair-thin wires to transmit data with electrons, the new semiconductors use various polymer materials to move data with pulses of light.

As a result, IBM claims its new chipsets can transfer data at speeds more than eight times faster than similar optical components today.

And since they're are made using the same low-cost, high-volume semiconductor manufacturing techniques in use today, they can be produced quickly, relatively cheaply and in large volumes, Taubenblatt said.

Ironically, the new technology, developed in IBM's labs in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., wasn't originally intended for video and everyday consumer Web applications.

The company started working on it about four years ago as part of a project for DARPA, the Defense Department's research arm, which was looking for new ways to transfer large amounts of data more quickly.

Only after the recent surge in video usage on the Web did IBM researchers begin to consider adapting the technology for commercial applications too, Taubenblatt said.

"All the sudden we started looking at this and saying, 'Hey, this is going to be cheap, easy to build and could easily be used in a home network or high-definition TV,' " he said.

There's little doubt that Web-based video is becoming increasingly popular.

According to technology research company comScore Inc., nearly 123 million U.S. residents - about 70 percent of the country's Internet users - viewed more than 7.2 billion videos online in January alone.

Most were short flicks from YouTube and other video sharing sites, averaging about 2.6 minutes each, according to comScore.

But media, technology and entertainment companies increasingly are betting that many consumers will want to get full-length movies, television shows, video games and other entertainment off the Web as the lines separating PCs and TVs continue to blur.

Recently, NBC Universal and Fox networks owner News Corp. announced they are teaming up with some of the biggest Web sites to distribute television shows, movie clips and other video online.

The new service, which also involves Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, Microsoft Corp.'s MSN, Yahoo and News Corp.'s MySpace, is scheduled to launch this summer.

Meanwhile, Apple Inc. - the current leader in movie and music downloads - recently started shipping its long-awaited Apple TV device.

The $300 gadget lets users wirelessly transfer video and music that's downloaded from the Internet and stored on computers to their television sets. n