 |
| |
Triangle %u201CGraduates%u201D at Sweet Sixteen
The Idea (1994)
In June 1994, while on a layover in the San Francisco airport, Dr. Steve Simmons cam...
|
| |
More News
|
|
04/01/2010 - Triangle Welcomes Apple Guy
Guy Erb is a recent addition to the business mix in the Pleschner Building, aka Entrepreneurial Center II, but unlike many who move their work out of their home, Erb is an Apple Computer employee. Erb came to Spokane to work with Bernard Daines at Packet Engines, then moved on to Vivato. Now he is "happy hanging out with his family in Spokane and working for Apple." Erb says he does have to travel to the main Apple campus about once a quarter for two week stints, but mostly he "commutes by telephone."
Erb is a senior firmware engineer, and works on Apple's wireless access points 'that 802.11n these days. Erb says that he is a "software guy." As for the WiFi access points 'some have hard drives, some don't, and he works on them all. Right now, 802.11n can send and receive 20 to 30 megabits per second, but the goal is to get to 100 mgbs, according to Erb. "802.11n uses multiple pathways and improves results," says Erb, "it uses three transmitters, three receivers, and three pathways. It needs a lot of power for the throughput, but it gets better range, and is a stronger device. It is a good product. The wireless world will stick to 802-11n development for wireless for the foreseeable future."
For his work, Erb receives hardware, then he gets to create software for the new, but proven, hardware. He thinks he probably worked on the iPad in stealth mode -- without being allowed to know what the finished device was to be. Now he is working with the Apple "Time Capsule." Time Capsule is a backup device that works wirelessly with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard. It automatically backs up everything. Time Capsule is also a full-featured 802.11n WiFi base station. It operates in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands simultaneously. The device is a 7.7 inch square, 1.4 inches high, weighs 3.5 pounds and will store a minimum of 1-terabyte of data. A 2-terabyte version is also available. Time Machine comes with a load of security capability; is compatible with Windows and various other platforms, and is backwards compatible with 802.11a/b/g in addition to n.
Erb's job is to find and eliminate any bugs remaining in the system. He does have to write some code, but most of his work is with customer issues. If there is a problem, he handles it. Much of his code writing, he says, is script to manage code written by others.
According to Erb, there are a lot of exciting "apps" coming out, and the little guy can still develop and make money. The would-be developer has to learn %u2018Objective C', which is the development language for iPhones.
Billie Moreland |
|
|
|
|
–