The consumer electronics (CE) market is a bright spot for 1394, a high-speed serial bus specification, also called Firewire or i.Link, that is battling with competing technologies in several markets, reports In-Stat. 1394a has increasing penetration in digital television, set top box, and portable digital audio player markets. The CE segment is forecast to be roughly equal to the PC segment in 2005 unit shipments, and will move well past it in 2006. The prospects for the technology in the computer market will be mixed. "PCs will be driven by the notebook category," says Brian O'Rourke, In-Stat analyst. "1394 will also grow in consumer desktops, but remain nearly non-existent in commercial desktops. Overall, PC peripheral growth will be negative, as high-speed USB dominates the segment." Report highlights include: The 1394c specification is close to completion. It is an attempt to jump-start 1394 as a networking technology, where it has had trouble gaining acceptance. Devices with Wireless 1394, a specification to transmit 1394 wirelessly over Ultra Wideband, should begin to hit the market in 2006.
Artificial intelligence tools for product design have largely been sold to engineering leaders as a productivity story: faster renders, quicker iterations, fewer manual CAD operations. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, the market for artificial intelligence in product design is set to grow from $628 million in 2025 to $4.3 billion by 2035; that's a 21.3 percent compound annual growth rate. The trajectory reflects a market moving past assistive tools and into a phase where AI becomes structurally embedded in how products get engineered, simulated, and validated. For executives overseeing engineering, product development, and R&D organizations, this is no longer a tooling decision. It is a competitive positioning decision, and the window to shape it is narrower than most roadmaps assume. The Ten-Year Growth Outlook Mechanical product design and simulation is the AI beachhead within manufacturing. A full 62 percent of manufacturers are already running AI projec...