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"There's always a great feeling of urgency for new products. The buzz grows, hands are wrung, but the products have their own schedule."
- Jon Peddie Research News, 22 Jan 2002
Inside this Issue
When Autodesk announced it was developing its own ACIS-based solid modeling kernel, vp Robert Kross stated that some staff would be from Autodesk, and others were being hired, including some provided by D-Cubed's consultancy software development business unit. This group would be located in Cambridge, England. Developing a solid modeling kernel is hard, demanding great skill in mathematics and bug catching. Hence the need for skilled programmers already familiar with kernel development.
Why hire from D-Cubed? "The D-Cubed staff are the only team that have the expertise to develop kernel technology," explains an insider. An exaggeration perhaps, but Autodesk nevertheless could have a tough time maintaining the code without experienced veterans, and a hard time hiring them: "Frankly, there aren't that many around, since ACIS, ParaSolid, D-Cubed all have a lot of open reqs."
Says D-Cubed of itself, "D-Cubed has never developed, and does not intend to develop, its own end-user applications. This focus avoids any competitive conflicts-of-interest with its customers." But does this apply to former D-Cubed employees?
In some ways, it would be easier to have someone else do the coding. One rumour was that Autodesk had been interested in PTC's Granite kernel. At a Daratech conference, said an industry observer, "PTC was dropping very heavy hints that they'd caught a big fish." In the end, apparently, Autodesk felt it would find itself in the same position with PTC as with Spatial.
When word leaked of Spatial's law suit against Autodesk and D-Cubed, neither Spatial's Chad Sanderson nor Autodesk's Sheryl Seapy would provide any information.
When I attempted to get the documents from the Marin County Court House, my agent reported that "the file for the Autodesk, D-Cubed, Spatial lawsuit had been 'pulled' several days ago by the person who will monitor the case for the Civil Court. I made a point of asking the clerk if there was any other way that I could get access for the file. He said, 'No. We would have to wait until the file was returned.'"
It was up to the 'Marin Independent Journal' to open up the details of the case at http://www.marinij.com/news/stories/news7002110.shtml .
Spatial has asked for a preliminary injunction to stop Autodesk from working with D-Cubed. Spatial complained that the D-Cubed staff would "leak trade secrets -- such ACIS source code, software bug database, quality assurance testing suite, and ongoing development plans -- to Autodesk."
Spatial said D-Cubed engineers would give Autodesk "an unfair advantage in the marketplace because it would then be able to compete for Spatial's customers." The reasoning is curious because Autodesk's kernel, called ShapeManager, is used in Autodesk products only. Perhaps the fear is filial: Autodesk could add features that might steal away customers from SolidWorks. (Both SolidWorks and Spatial are owned by the same parent corporation.)
Autodesk asked the judge to deny the preliminary injunction because "Autodesk could end up laying off workers" and, borrowing a page from Microsoft's legal handbook, "slow the pace of evolving technology."
The judge denied the request for a preliminary injunction, saying the facts were insufficient. The final decision is yet to be made. You can follow the status of the case, sans details, at http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/MC/main/courtcal/caseno.CFM and searching for CIV 016250.
I told my children the reason it was snowing was because the folks from IMSI were coming to visit. It happened last year; it happened this year. TurboCAD v8 is out and, as I have complained before to IMSI, they are selling to product for too little. Here's a product with capabilities greater than AutoCAD (in many but not all areas) selling for a price less than AutoCAD LT, which recently suffered a 10% price increase.
This time, however, IMSI had an answer ready. TurboCAD v8 has the beginnings of vertical apps. Included are tools specific to architectural design (self-healing 3D wall objects, interactive 3D roof construction, etc) and mechanical design (assembly by facet, variable-radius 3D fillets, etc). IMSI plans to start selling vertical apps, such as Architectural and Mechanical, with more tools in separate packages that result in higher profits.
Financially, the firm is turning around. Its huge debt has been reduced significantly, share price is 4x the 52-week low, and the company has a new distribution deal in place. http://www.imsisoft.com
I recall when SolidWorks bravely told me during the height of the Internet mania that they were not going to embrace the Internet as their competitors were rushing to do. Each year, SolidWorks has made another step in that direction, without the heartache of shutting down over enthusiastic (and over spending) spin-offs.
First, there was emailing SolidWorks and AutoCAD drawings with an integrated 2S/3D/animated viewer. Next there was the 3D online parts library service called 3D PartStream.NET. This year's addition is called '3D Teamworks' -- like Autodesk Streamline only better, according to demo jock Robert MacDonald. The product, hosted on SolidWorks' own servers, allows real-time collaboration. The PowerPoint slides emphasized the process being as simple as 1-2-3: Upload, Invite, and Collaborate. But the actual process is somewhat more complicated, more like 1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, 3a, and 3b.
After you upload your 3D model to the SolidWorks server (from within SolidWorks software, 'natch), you email invitations to team members to discuss (praise, trash, yawn) your design ideas. The new product handles redlining, threaded discussions, history log, project calendaring, etc. Non-SolidWorks file formats supported include IGES, ACIS, STEP, Pro/E, ParaSolid. Translation is available between several formats.
Mr MacDonald emphasized his new product is not PDM, nor workflow management, neither supply chain management. 3D TeamWorks is currently in beta, and will be launched by the end of March. Pricing has not yet been decided. http://www.solidworks.com
Intergraph Mapping and GIS Solutions is offering a free 60-day eval of GeoMedia WebMap. http://www.intergraph.com/webmapping
Autodesk is surveying customers to see if they are interested in password protection of DWG files.
Bentley says it is committed to implementing the IFC v2x standard in MicroStation TriForma "as soon as possible."
AutoManager Meridian v2.14 supports Autodesk Inventor 5 and Microsoft Office XP. http://www.cyco.com
Archway Systems has an Unlimited Commercial Site License for VersaCAD for Windows and VersaCAD for Macintosh. For US$5,495, you have the right to install the software on any number of computers; reproduce software and documentation to any employee at one commercial site; and on employee's home computers for use in employer's work. Price includes first year of Premium Service; renewal is US$2995. http://www.versacad.com
PlanetCAD is now shipping the first commercially available version of SCS|Envoy. http://www.planetcad.com
Haestad Methods has copies of the proceedings from its first Water Security Summit 2001 held last December. http://www.watersecurity.org
Okino released its VRML2 import converter for its popular PolyTrans 3D data translation product and NuGraf Rendering System software. The company hopes to raise the stature of the VRML2 file format for cross application data translation, "and not just as a generic, somewhat underrated 3D WEB streaming file format." http://www.okino.com
"Autodesk Building Collaboration Services" is the new name for the old Buzzsaw.com.
The Process & Building Solutions division of Intergraph Corporation changed its name to "Intergraph Process, Power & Offshore."ise Group.
Eurogamer.net reports that the price of the XBox varies by country (US$):
Intel is working on a plastic-based memory that could prove to be 10x cheaper than current flash memory.
bom.com has closed US$5 million in Series B funding.
Hint: "It" is a person.
- Scott Taylor
Look for the answer at http://www.upfrontezine.com/trivia.htm
"I would like to unsuscribe [sic] from Upfrontezine because lately Upfront looks like a Jerry Springer show. The debating over Does CAD Degrade Drawings and the CADSUCKS material is way overblown. Nothing in CAD2001i for me to use and no tips or tricks. I don't have time to dilly-dally and squabble about useless things and could care less of others choose so to do."
- J. T.
ACAD
Technician
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23715.html
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http://www.theinquirer.net/15010201.htm