| March 26, 1999 |
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By Amy Steinberg
March 25, 1999
SiliconValley.com
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Intel Corp. will buy 150 acres to build
a major research and development campus, a move heralded
by the governor and mayor as great news for families
dependent on high-paying jobs. ``The real beneficiaries
of this will be our children and our grandchildren and
our families,'' said Gov. Mike Leavitt at a press
conference Wednesday at Riverton City Hall.
Mayor Sandra Lloyd called it a ``red letter day for
Riverton.''
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By Kristen Kenedy
March 25, 1999
Computer Retail Week
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As Intel sharpens its low-end offering,
centering around the proprietary 370-pin socket, Cyrix
also is evaluating that design for its forthcoming
processors, industry sources said. Intel conceived the
370-pin socket, which accepts processors directly to the
motherboard rather than requiring a more costly Slot 1
module to help PC OEMs reduce system costs. Intel prices
its Plastic Pin Grid Array 370-pin format about $10 less
than the Single Edge Processor Package (Slot 1) in low
quantities, and 370-pin motherboards also are less costly
than their Slot 1 cousins.
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By Aaron Ricadela
March 25, 1999
Computer Retail Week
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PCs priced less than $600 recorded
massive gains in February, compared with
one year ago, lifting the fortunes of CPU maker Advanced
Micro Devices, according to market researcher PC Data. AMD
processors powered 51.4 percent of all desktop PCs sold
at retail in February, thefirst time AMD's share has
exceeded 50 percent, PC Data reported. Intel's unit share
was 38.3 percent.
Meanwhile, retail revenue from Windows PCs sank 16
percent, compared with a year ago, according PC Data, in
Reston, Va. The average selling price of a Windows PC
fell 17 percent, compared with the year-ago period, to
$947, while retail unit sales increased less than 1
percent, PC Data said.
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| The Register Files |
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March 25, 1999
The Register
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Florida company Intelliworxx (sic) said
today it had entered the autombile industry using Intel
technology. The FLA company has introduced a CarPC
product, but the product is likely to
receive damning praise from the UK government.
Earlier on today, John Prescott, deputy CEO of UK plc,
said that his company, sorry country, was not interested
in these kind of solutions any more.
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By Mike Magee
March 25, 1999
The Register
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A Japanese site has published new
pictures of the K7 part which take the slot apart and
reveal new details. At the same time, rumours are
growing that AMD will shortly announce 475MHz K6-III and
slash prices of existing parts just a few days after the
next Intel price cuts.
The K7 pictures are here and are accompanied by
pictures of a Kryotech K6-III 600MHz box.
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By Mike Magee
March 25, 1999
The Register
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Robert Stead, European marketing
director of AMD in Northern Europe, was keen to distance
himself from any relationship with Compaq or copper
technology, in the future. That much is on the record.
But what is off the record is far more interesting. In
the last three weeks we have shown slides demonstrating
that Alpha promises to scale up to 1.4GHz technology well
before Intel can do the same with its Merced processor.
Never mind its McKinley platform, alleged to be .13
micron technology.
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By Mike Magee
March 25, 1999
The Register
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Prices of 64Mb/PC100 memory modules are
continuing to drop daily, a memory distributor said
today. And that follows a trend over the last two or
three months where the price for a module has dropped
from £90 to £60, according to Alan Stanley, UK MD of
French memory company Dane-Elec.
He said that while there were samples of Direct Rambus
shown at last week's CeBIT, it was likely to be next year
before that type of memory arrived in volume.
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By Mike Magee
March 25, 1999
The Register
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Asian wires today are reporting that
Taiwanese company Winbond Electronics is to manufacture a
number of high end memory products for Toshiba. The
technologies include .15 and .175 micron technology for
64Mbit, 128Mbit and 256Mbit memory chips, according to
the reports.
Winbond already makes some DRAM for the Japanese
company but this is a substantially more important move
because of the high end nature of the products it will
manufacture.
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| March 25, 1999 |
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By Michael Slater
March 15, 1999
EE Times
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The recent Intel Developer Forum, at
which Intel delivered its detailed technology vision for
the next generation of PCs, vividly illustrated the
complexity of the company's role in the computer
industry. Much more than just a microprocessor supplier,
Intel is seeking to drive the evolution not only of
conventional PCs but also of servers and workstations. Three
areas emerged in which Intel's positions have caused
considerable controversy: USB vs. 1394, DRAM and server
I/O. Because of Intel's enormous influence with regard to
the direction of the platform, through its chip-set and
motherboard businesses as well as its standard-setting
efforts, the company's technology plans will affect many
semiconductor and system makers.
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| The Register Files |
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By Mike Magee
March 24, 1999
The Register
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A federal case was launched on the 18th
of March against a vast number of defendants including
the Intel Corporation. But the case is far from black
and white, although by the look of it it refers to
employment law. Nevertheless, Black and White do come
into the case.
The information comes from Company Sleuth, which
offers an update on US companies of your choice.
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By Mike Magee
March 24, 1999
The Register
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Once again, our friends at JC's pages
have struck lucky. This time, they found some
information on a Japanese site which is particularly
interesting about the Xeon/III and managed to get it
translated.
According to the information, the Pentium III/Xeon in
four way systems will eventually use a 133MHz bus. But
Intel is having problems with using four CPUs at 133MHz
at present.
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By Mike Magee
March 24, 1999
The Register
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In a bid to ensure Merced has a run for
its money before McKinley swamps its
chances, Intel is recruiting a large number of IA-64
engineers. And adverts posted earlier this month show
that it is seeking to step up its recruitment rate at
Microsoft in Seattle, too.
Intel is offering a large number of posts in areas
relating specifically to Merced. It wants software
engineers in its Santa Clara microcomputer labs to work
on future IA processors.
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By Mike Magee
March 24, 1999
The Register
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The PC Data figures on x.86 chip market
share, certainly on the face of it, show AMD in a rosy
hue. But dig a bit deeper and you'll find the truth.
And, as you all know, the truth will out.
PC Data figures show that Intel's market share of the
$1,000 to $1,500 slice of the PC market is greater than
65 per cent.
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| March 24, 1999 |
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By Kristen Kennedy
March 23, 1999
Computer Retail Week
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As Intel has discovered, the low-end PC
market is not just about price. Customers also are
influenced by CPU clock speeds. So, following an
intense CPU price war, Intel and rival Advanced Micro
Devices are accelerating their plans to increase clock
speeds.
Intel, in Santa Clara, is moving up its own release
schedule, according to retailers briefed by the company.
Intel shipped Monday a 433-MHz Celeron about one month
ahead of plans and has told retailers it will deliver a
466-MHz part in the second quarter. In addition, the
company is looking into increasing its CPU bus speeds to
stay in line with AMD.
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March 23, 1999
VNU Wire Service
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Market research company PC Data said
yesterday chip company AMD had taken more than 50 per
cent share of the US desktop retail market in February,
the second month in a row that AMD has trashed Intel's
retail share. The figures show AMD at 51.4 per cent,
Intel at 38 per cent and Cyrix at 10.4 per cent.
AMD is reportedly in negotiations with other chip
manufacturers to use their fabrication plants to step up
production.
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By John G. Spooner and Lisa DiCarlo
March 23, 1999
PC Week Online
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Gateway Inc. says it has fixed problems
with a motherboard that delayed the shipment of some of
its new Select PCs, based on Advanced Micro Devices
Inc.'s K6-2 chip. The news comes less than a month
after the direct PC seller announced it would use AMD
chips.
The delay was the result of a problem with the PCs'
motherboard that manifested itself in certain anomalies,
such as prolonged boot-up times. The anomalies were
discovered during quality-control testing on an early run
of the new PCs.
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| The Register Files |
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By Mike Magee
March 23, 1999
The Register
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Before Intel reached its infamous
settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last
week, there were rumours that further investigations into
how it priced its processors were under way. We are
still waiting for the final ratification by the board of
the FTC of the agreement, but perhaps they might care to
reflect that there are other ways and means Intel uses to
keep its market position.
PC Data's figures for market share in the desktop US
retail market in February are encouraging for AMD, but it
is facing relentless pressure from Intel on the pricing
front.
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By Mike Magee
March 23, 1999
The Register
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Designers who worked for Compaq on its
Merced programme are circulating their CVs as it becomes
apparent there is nothing for them to do. Sources from
inside Compaq told The Register: "It's not more or
less bad stuff happening to Merced; it's nothing
happening for Merced. It's like one big dress-up for a
party that never happened."
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By Mike Magee
March 23, 1999
The Register
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Market research company PC Data said
yesterday that AMD had taken over 50 per cent share of
the US desktop retail market in February. That is two
months in a row that AMD has trashed Intel's retail
share.
The figures show AMD at 51.4 per cent, Intel at 38 per
cent and Cyrix at 10.4 per cent.
Perhaps it's time that AMD started really stepping up
production by using other fabs.
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| March 23, 1999 |
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By John G. Spooner and Lisa DiCarlo
March 19 1999
PC Week Online
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Gateway Inc. has delayed the shipment of
some of its new Select PCs, based on Advanced Micro
Devices Inc.'s K6-2 chip, less than a month after
announcing a deal to use AMD's processors. The company
is instead offering customers the option of receiving an
Intel Corp. Celeron-based system for the same price,
Gateway officials said.
The delay is the result of several minor hardware
glitches, such as prolonged boot-up time, that Gateway
discovered during quality-control testing on an early run
of the new PCs, according to company officials in North
Sioux City, S.D.
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By Michael Kanellos and Stephanie Miles
March 22, 1999
C/Net
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A slew of low cost, and relatively
powerful, PCs hit retail shelves and Web sites this
weekend as Intel released yet another version of its
Celeron processor. The 433-MHz Celeron processor, which
some dealers started selling last week, is the latest
bomb in the processor price war raging between Intel and
Advanced Micro Devices. After losing market share to AMD
and National Semiconductor in the sub-$1,000 PC market
all last year, Intel this year launched a campaign to
bring out faster chips sooner, and aggressively cut
prices.
Today's 433-MHz Celeron, for instance, "is
three-ish months ahead of schedule," said Ron Peck,
director of marketing for the value PC segment at Intel.
"We are going to get pretty aggressive in terms of
silicon and pricing.
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By Linley Gwennap
February 15, 1999
Microprocessor Report
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Intel opened a can of worms recently by
announcing that, starting with the forthcoming Pentium
III, each processor it produces will include a unique
serial number. Intel hopes this number will provide a
useful tool for asset tracking and securing Internet
transactions. But its value appears limited, and it could
potentially be misused. The processor serial number
(PS#) is a 96-bit value that is electronically programmed
into the chip (as in a PROM) during the manufacturing
process. It is read using an extended version of the
current CPU_ID instruction, a "ring 3"
instruction that any application can execute. On current
Intel processors, this instruction provides 32 bits that
identify the type of processor, but on Pentium III, this
information will be concatenated with a unique 64-bit
number.
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By Stephanie Green
March 22, 1999
Computer Reseller News
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In a move to unify potentially
conflicting standards, the PCMCIA standardsorganization
is assuming administration of the SmartMedia Card and
Miniature Cardstandards from their respective current
standards bodies. The announcement, made at the giant
CeBit '99 computer trade show in Hannover, Germany, would
mitigate potential problems VARs could face as smart card
technology becomes more pervasive worldwide.
Standards for the Miniature Card previously were
managed by the Miniature Card Implementors Forum (MCIF).
Now it is being managed by the PCMCIA standards
organization. Another body, the Solid State Floppy Disk
Card (SSFDC) Forum, will co-administer SmartMedia cards
with the PCMCIA.
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| Today's
Related Stories |
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By Kristen Kennedy
March 22, 1999
Computer Retail Week
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As Intel has discovered, the low-end PC
market is not just about price. Customers also are
influenced by CPU clock speeds. So, following an
intense CPU price war, Intel and rival Advanced Micro
Devices are accelerating their plans to increase clock
speeds.
Intel, in Santa Clara, is moving up its own release
schedule, according to retailers briefed by the company.
Intel shipped Monday a 433-MHz Celeron about one month
ahead of plans and has told retailers it will deliver a
466-MHz part in the second quarter. In addition, the
company is looking into increasing its CPU bus speeds to
stay in line with AMD.
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| March 22, 1999 |
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By Mark Hachman
March 19, 1999
Electronic Buyers' News
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Imagine -- an Intel-designed initiative
that actually refutes its argument that the latest
technology requires the fastest microprocessors. In a
concession to low-cost PC systems, Intel has designed and
licensed a technology called "multi-resolution
meshing." Simply put, a 3D game would draw the
barest outline of a far-off 3D object, increasing its
complexity the closer it gets to the viewer.
Intel has licensed its MRM technology to Digimation, a
worldwide publisher and distributor of 3-D animation
software and tools, plus leading game companies including
Valve, Pandemic Studios, and DreamWorks Interactive.
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By Munir Kotadia
March 19, 1999
ZD Net UK
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Cyrix is opening up a lead in the entry
level PC market -- twice as many Cyrix-inside PCs were
sold in Q4 last year compared with Intel-blessed
machines. The latest findings from market research
firm Romtec revealed that in the last quarter of 1998,
Cyrix processors were fitted in 61 percent of all
sub-£600 PCs sold in the UK.
Intel systems took 36.3 percent of the market while
AMD accounted for less then three percent. Cyrix says its
strategy of focusing on the entry level end of the market
rather than fighting with Intel in the high end is paying
off.
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By Terho Uimonen
March 19, 1999
InfoWorld Electric
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When it comes to speed, Intel is still
the king of the processor hill. Thursday at the CeBit
trade show here, the chip giant showed off a prototype PC
system powered by a Pentium processor running at 800 MHz,
several hundred megahertz faster than anything its main
rivals had up and running at the show.
"This is the fastest system we have ever shown in
Europe," said Pat Gelsinger, vice president and
general manager of Intel's desktop products group.
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By Dan Goodin
March 19, 1999
C/Net
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The deal settling the Federal Trade
Commission's antitrust case against Intel appears
destined to sail toward final approval by early summer. Representatives
at both Intergraph and Compaq Computer, two companies
alleged to have been harmed by Intel's predatory conduct,
indicated that they will not file objections to the
consent order, which is now open for a 60-day comment
period.
"We believe the proposed consent decree between
the FTC and Intel addresses the interests of the industry
and most importantly, our customers," a Compaq
spokesman said. "Compaq therefore supports the
proposed settlement."
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March 21, 1999
SiliconValley.com
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A federal judge said he might let a jury
decide this summer whether Intel Corp. violated the
patent rights of Huntsville-based Intergraph. Intergraph
has sued computer chip maker Intel for patent
infringement and antitrust violations.
The trial date is set for Feb. 14, 2000, but U.S.
District Judge Edwin Nelson said at a pretrial hearing
Saturday he might set a separate date to try the patent
dispute question, which he said may need to be decided
before the main trial.
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By Stephanie Miles
March 19, 1999
C/Net
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Symantec today announced a patch to
disable a program designed to swipe serial numbers off
Pentium III processors less than a week after the hack
was first announced. Anti-virus software firm Symantec
is providing "detection and elimination" of the
Pentium III hack on its Web site, where users can
download it. The patch will also be available with the
regular weekly virus definitions, the company said.
Even before Intel released its Pentium III processor,
hackers were itching to prove that the processor serial
number hard-wired into each chip could be retrieved
without a user's knowledge, despite Intel's software
utility which is designed to turn the ability to read the
number off.
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| The Register Files |
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By Mike Magee
March 19, 1999
The Register
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David Lin, CEO of Rise Technology,
confirmed today that his company will produce a Socket
370 chip during the course of this year. At the same
time, he revealed that two "multi billion"
semiconductor companies were investors in the startup,
and that Rise will announce next month who will fabricate
its chips.
Lin said: "Our investor profile is very
interesting and includes bankers, semiconductor companies
and VC money. For the sub $1,000 desktop and notebook
market our edge is very good with our power consumption
and price performance."
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See Also Those
Rise pix from CeBIT 99
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By Mike Magee
March 19, 1999
The Register
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Steve Tobak, worldwide marketing manager
of the Cyrix subsidiary of National Semiconductor, said
today that the company was set to make acquisitions in
the software business. That forms part of its dual
strategy to focus on both CPU sales and sales of
information appliances, he explained.
At the same time, he said that Cyrix had dropped its
Jedi and Jalapeno codenames for future processors and
replaced them with Gobi for Jedi and Mojave for Jalapeno.
"You can't trademark a desert," he said. Intel
knows you can't trademark rivers or planets."
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See Also Mad
cow found on Cyrix stand
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By Mike Magee
March 21, 1999
The Register
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Our friends over at The Overclockers
Page have posted an Intel certificate awarded to a youth
who undertook a project in overclocking. And Intel
awarded $200 in a cash prize to the young man for the
project, the pages report.
A certificate, signed by CEO Craig Barrett and headed
Intel Excellence in Computer Science, awards Jason Au for
outstanding achievement in computer science.
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Pictures
from CeBit '99
By Mike Magee
March 21, 1999
The Register
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Those K7 pictures from CeBIT 99 Those Rise pix from CeBIT 99
Mad cow found on Cyrix stand
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