Week ahead: Intel's crystal ball
Chip conventioneers gather in Silicon Valley to gaze at Intel's new products and look into the future of processor development. Also coming: Apple strokes Jaguar and Adobe posts earnings.
The world's attention will be focused on New York next week, as the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks is observed, but there will be plenty of distractions for techies looking for a break from the somber memorials.
Chip leader Intel is set to unveil new server and workstation processors at the Intel Developer Forum in San Jose, Calif., and is also expected to reveal all sorts of juicy details on the next few years of semiconductor advances. Microsoft does its part to make computing more exciting with the first major collection of patches for the Windows XP operating system.
Meanwhile, Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs will tout the new Jaguar operating system at Apple Expo in Paris. Also, the top lights in networking and communications will gather in Atlanta for the Networld+Interop-Comdex trade show, and the publishing industry will check out the latest tech innovations at the Seybold Seminar in San Francisco.
Third-quarter results from software publisher Adobe Systems, looking for a payoff from major product updates, top a thin roster of expected earnings announcements. The information was gathered from First Call, Hoover's Online, CCBN's StreetEvents and CNET Investor.
Other events scheduled this week:
TECH EVENTS
Monday, Sept. 9
- Microsoft plans to release the first service pack, or collection of bug fixes, for Windows XP. Users will be able to download the hefty 133MB update from Microsoft's Web site. Windows XP Service Pack 1 pulls together previously released updates, including support for USB 2.0, and security fixes.
Tuesday, Sept. 10
- Le Mac takes over Paris as Apple stages Apple Expo, one of the Mac maker's biggest trade shows outside the U.S. The event runs Sept. 10-14 in Paris, with company CEO Steve Jobs speaking on the opening day.
EARNINGS
Tuesday, Sept. 10
- Verint Systems sells security software and products. It's expected to report a second-quarter profit of 8 cents per share.
Thursday, Sept. 12
- Adobe Systems sells publishing software. It's expected to report third-quarter earnings of 19 cents a share.
ECONOMIC REPORTS
Monday, Sept. 9
- Consumer Credit is the total level of debt held by U.S. consumers. The July total is expected to climb to $10 billion, from $8.4 billion the previous month.
Thursday, Sept. 12
- Initial Claims is the weekly total of new claims filed for unemployment compensation. The total is expected to fall to 400,000 for the week ended Sept. 7, from 403,000 the previous week.
Friday, Sept. 13
- Producer Price Index is a broad measure of the price of goods at the wholesale level. August growth is expected to be 0.1 percent, after a 0.2 percent drop the previous month.