The
descriptions of the new products listed in this section are based on information supplied
to us by the manufacturers. PHYSICS TODAY can assume no responsibility for their accuracy. For
more information about a particular product, visit the website at the end of the product description.
Lawrence G. Rubin
September 2007, page 81
Interactive interface creation
Wolfram Research has announced Mathematica
6, with nearly 1000 new computational and interface features that enhance the company's original
Mathematica software. Key new capabilities include creation of sophisticated interactive interfaces
from single lines of input; language for data integration; symbolic interface construction to
create arbitrary interfaces from simple programs; unification of active graphics and controls
with flowing text and input; and load-on-demand data for math, physics, chemistry, finance, geography,
and linguistics. Version 6 introduces other enhancements such as integrated geometric computing,
new-generation numerical integration, exploratory data analysis, extended array operations,
and instant high-level debugging. Wolfram Research Inc, 100 Trade Center Drive, Champaign,
IL 61820-7237, http://www.wolfram.com
Process improvement software
Minitab has released Quality Companion
2.2, an update to the company's process improvement software designed for planning, organizing,
and executing Six Sigma projects. Version2.2 contains more than 60 enhancements across the entire
application, with a particular focus on increasing the number and functionality of the available
forms and making it easier for Sigma users to develop presentations. Features include Quick Fill,
which greatly reduces data entry time; 20 new formula types; and additional global data fields
that support financial data sharing. Version 2.2 also incorporates enhancements that allow users
to export presentations to Microsoft Word and PowerPoint with a single click, save the presentations
as webpages, and add nine standard slide types to them. Minitab Inc, Quality Plaza, 1829 Pine
Hall Road, State College, PA 16801-3008, http://www.minitab.com
Drag-and-drop reporting tool
AcquiData has introduced Testream/CS
7.0, which brings new capabilities and features to the company's ReportWriter data reporting
tool. ReportWriter uses a drag-and-drop interface so users can easily combine different data
elements—spreadsheets, control charts, Microsoft Word documents, text labels, histograms,
and pictures—into one report. Testream/CS is a suite of web-based applications that automatically
acquire, analyze, and report on quality assurance and control data. Version 7.0 allows users to
predefine readings in the interface application (IA) screen so that charts of test property versus
test property can be created. The new IA can be used to define a minimum and maximum number of readings
for acquisitions per test property and for upper or lower values for each test property to catch
errors before they need to be corrected. AcquiData Inc, 400 Garden City Plaza, Suite 445, Garden
City, NY 11530, http://www.acquidata.com
Multisheet workbook
OriginLab Corp's Origin 8 can automate
data analysis and graphing and can be programmed to capture data from third-party sources. Version
8's flexible workbooks can be used to embed images and graphs in cells and create an analysis series.
After data are imported or entered into the workbook, users can turn on a new feature called sparklines,
special embedded graphs that allow users to easily get a feel for their worksheet data. The workbooks
can be used as an organizational container or to aid image processing. When looking at the original
data, parameter values, statistics, and related graphs are just a click away. With Origin 8, users
can create attractive reports using worksheet customization such as rich text cell formatting
and cell borders. OriginLab Corporation, One Roundhouse Plaza, Suite 303, Northampton, MA
01060, http://www.originlab.com
Statistical discovery software
JMP 7 from the SAS Institute is statistical
discovery software that processes up to 2 billion variables and an unlimited number of records
to handle real- world problems. The new product will appeal to business users, who can replace static
charts with motion-enabled, interactive plots that uncover hidden trends and predict the future.
Graphical querying, an enhanced script editor, and project collaboration tools make data discovery
more accessible throughout the business organization. Bubble plots, 3D scatter plots, and other
features let both novice and experienced JMP users explore data and animate up to seven variables.
JMP 7 automatically and immediately updates graphs and reports to display query results. This
first release of JMP 7 as a desktop client to the SAS Enterprise Intelligence Platform enables users
to access and explore SAS data interactively. SAS Institute Inc, 100 SAS Campus Drive, Cary,
NC 27513-2414, http://www.sas.com
Materials and property functions
COMSOL has developed version 3.3a,
based on the Material Property Database from JAHM Software. The new product, the convenient add-on
Material Library, lets users quickly specify material data in a model. Version 3.3a brings multiphysics
modeling capabilities to users and contains information for 2500 materials and 20 000 property
functions, each described as a piecewise polynomial of some variable, typically temperature.
The 24 key material properties include thermal, elastic, and electrical; they are specified for
minerals, rocks, soil, metal alloys, oxides, steels, thermal insulators, semiconductors, and
optical materials. Version 3.3a includes new features and enhancements in the multiphysics,
CAD import, acoustics, chemical engineering, heat transfer, MEMS, RF, and structural mechanics
modules. COMSOL Inc, 1 New England Executive Park, Suite 350, Burlington, MA 01803, http://www.comsol.com
Data acquisition software
Signal Recovery has announced Acquire
3.10, dedicated data acquisition software updated to support more of the company's instruments,
including its model 4121B/4161A Boxcar Averager systems, and allow them to take data in both waveform
recovery and static gate modes. In addition, the trigger delay can be controlled while recording
the output. The program offers two main operating modes: virtual front panel and experiment recording.
In the first mode, virtually all of the functions of the connected instruments can be controlled
from the computer via a series of property pages on a remote front-panel property sheet. In the second
mode, an experiment is defined in which the instrument output(s) is recorded as a function of an
X-axis variable. Signal Recovery, AMETEK Advanced Measurement Technology Inc, 801
South Illinois Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-2011, http://www.signalrecovery.com
Spectrophotometer software
Thermo Fisher Scientific has released
version 4.1 of its VISION software, which allows the company's Evolution, Helios Alpha, and Helios
Gamma UV-visible spectrophotometers to automatically start collecting kinetics data when fast
reactions need to be studied. The software also provides remote fiber-optic probe triggering
to initiate readings for users whose target vessel is located a short distance away from the spectrophotometer.
A new built-in weight and volume correction feature saves time by eliminating postrun data calculations.
Advanced baseline functions for 0% baseline and standard reference correction, particularly
when combined with new features for online Savitzky-Golay smoothing, enable users to obtain accurate
diffuse reflection measurements. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, 81 Wyman Street, Waltham,
MA 02454, http://www.thermo.com
Optical engineering software
FRED 6.30 from Photon Engineering is
an advanced 3D CAD optical engineering software program that can simulate the propagation of light
through virtually any optical or illumination system. FRED now features a Monte Carlo ray trace
mode that offers increased efficiency when ray tracing backlight displays and illumination systems.
It also has a bulk scatter and absorption capability with a Henyey-Greenstein phase function that
can be used to model volume scatter in optical systems from medical scenarios such as human tissue
scatter (see photo) to simulating light through turbid seawater. FRED6.30 also has a deformation
surface capability, useful when large surfaces are deformed by gravity, reflectors are deformed
by sinusoidal surfaces, and molding tools are used to score or trim a base surface. Photon Engineering
LLC, 440 South Williams Boulevard, Suite 106, Tucson, AZ 85711, http://www.photonengr.com
Data acquisition suite
Measurement Computing Corp has introduced
TracerDAQ Pro, a data acquisition logger and instrument software suite that enables users to log,
analyze, and display data and generate signals without the need to write code. The new product,
an enhanced version of the company's TracerDAQ, provides applications to customize appearance,
store configurations for future use, save data to a file for export, and change settings while the
program is running. TracerDAQ Pro features a strip chart for logging and graphing data, an oscilloscope
application that displays values acquired from analog inputs, a rate generator to use with the
company's counter devices, and a function generator that can perform linear and logarithmic sweeps
and change various parameters of the waveform. Measurement Computing Corporation, 10 Commerce
Way, Norton, MA 02766, http://www.measurementcomputing.com
On the Web
Omega Optical has upgraded its Curv-o-matic
interactive database containing spectral curves of filters, filter sets, and fluorophores.
Additions include light source data for arc lamps, lasers, and LEDs and new fluorophores such as
fluorescent proteins and quantum dots. Omega Optical Inc, Delta Campus, Omega Drive, Brattleboro,
VT 05301, https://www.omegafilters.com
Bio-Rad Laboratories launched KnowItAll
U, a new spectroscopy reference database for academic research and teaching. The product represents
a combination of peer-reviewable NMR, IR, NIR, UV, visible, Raman, and mass spectra, data, tools,
and technologies. Bio-Rad Laboratories, 1000 Alfred Nobel Drive, Hercules, CA 94547, http://www.bio-rad.com
The Dickson Company's website provides
automated data logger and chart recorder selection guides with its wide variety of temperature
and humidity monitoring instrumentation. The guides include quick links to the most popular models
and one-click connections to live chats with product specialists. Dickson Company, 930 South
Westwood Avenue, Addison, IL 60101-4917, http://www.dicksondata.com
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