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PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 21, 2006
HP today announced a year-long observation of the 40th
anniversary of HP Labs, the company's central research organization,
and outlined an ambitious, far-reaching vision for the future
of information and communications technology.
That future could include:
Worldwide, connected, continuous, secure computing
through virtually unstaffed, automated data centers; Bringing the power of digital technology to commercial
printing, and creating ubiquitous, low-power, low-cost,
lightweight displays that could convey multimedia
information in formats as small as a wrist watch or
as large as wallpaper. Advances in computing technology that could extend
Moore's Law beyond the limits of classical physics
and provide
a quantum leap in performance, reliability and
security, vastly improving information and communications
services
in business, education, medicine, government and
daily life.
With a theme of "Innovation That Counts: 40 Years
of HP Labs," the organization will hold a series
of news announcements, an analyst meeting, an event for
colleagues in the scientific-academic community and other
activities throughout the year.
"Working with our partners in HP's business units,
HP Labs has established a great tradition of technology
transfer and made significant contributions to the company's
success and the industry at large," said Dick Lampman,
HP senior vice president, research, and director, HP
Labs. "Today, more than ever, HP Labs is closely
aligned with the company's strategies to bring the best
products and services to our customers."
HP Labs also will continue to investigate entirely new
business opportunities for the company and conduct fundamental
scientific research in computing, IT services and imaging
and printing.
"Forty years ago, few imagined personal computers,
the Internet, the World Wide Web and inexpensive color
printers or cameras that operated without film," Lampman
said. "HP Labs researchers were among those who
did and who worked, in fundamental ways, to help create
the world we enjoy today."
HP Labs is working on improving future information and
communications technology in several major areas:
- Reinventing the Economics of IT: The long-range goal
is a worldwide network of massive, secure, energy-efficient
data centers that automatically allocate resources
to users, based on market demand.
"Joel Birnbaum was one of the first to articulate the
vision of utility computing - where customers use only
the resources they need and pay just for what they use
- when he was HP Labs director in the late '80s," said
John Sontag, director, data center architecture and virtualization,
HP Labs. "Today, HP is a leader in the effort to
make that vision a reality."
- The Future of Imaging and Printing: HP, the acknowledged
world leader in home and office printing, is exploring
the potential to digitize all types of publishing - from
brochures to periodicals to billboards. In addition,
HP Labs is working on continued improvements in digital
photography, video and projection; automatic publication
composition; and future display technologies.
"
We're working to revolutionize the world of commercial
printing with digital technology, just as we with personal
printing," said John Meyer, director, Digital Printing
and Imaging Lab, HP Labs. "We are also studying
paper-like electronic materials for portable information
devices. These kinds of materials also could work for
a wall display and you could change the décor
of your home as often as you liked."
- Disruptive Technologies: HP scientists are exploring
the realm of quantum computing to extend advances in
semiconductor technology into the future.
"
The researchers in our Quantum Science Research and Information
Theory organizations are making breakthroughs not only
in the underlying science, but the architecture and fabrication
technologies that will enable an entirely new generation
of computing," said Phil Kuekes, senior scientist
and computer architect, Quantum Science Research, HP. "We
expect these changes to continue the tradition of 'better,
faster, cheaper' for decades to come and to provide applications
in the future that - just like the Internet and digital
photography 40 years ago - we can only dimly imagine
today."
HP Labs - worldwide reach, global contribution
In addition to the headquarters site in Palo Alto, HP
Labs has facilities worldwide. The second largest site
is located in Bristol, U.K., where researchers explore
a wide range of fields, including utility computing,
enterprise network security, modeling and analysis for
IT services, the digital media platform and related technologies,
mobility and display technologies.
The HP Labs India facility, located in Bangalore, is
targeted at the world's emerging economies by understanding
relevant social, cultural, economic and other factors
that influence how technology can be put to better use.
HP Labs Israel, situated in Haifa on the campus of Technion,
the country's leading technology institution, conducts
research on fundamental aspects of computer science and
information theory, as well as competencies for imaging
and printing.
HP Labs Japan, based in Tokyo, collaborates with telecoms
and network service providers to advance technologies
for next-generation rich media services. Researchers
also are helping HP provide comprehensive mobile solutions
and personalization of mobile content.
HP's newest lab, HP Labs China, located in Beijing,
works with the public and private sectors to develop
future information management systems.
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