| April 2, 1999 |
|
By Kristen Kenedy
April 1, 1999
Computer Retail Week
|
The retail channel is reporting mixed
success for systems based on Intel's Pentium III CPU,
though retailers all agree the new chip has not affected
low-end volumes. Retailers that have been selling the
Pentium III systems to consumers said there is some
interest in the new features, but the majority of
shoppers are still leaving with a low-cost offering.
"People just aren't willing to pay as much for a
PC anymore," said Phil Thompson, computer department
manager at Wolfe's Camera, an independent retailer of
cameras and computers in Topeka, Kan.
|
|
|
By Eamonn Sullivan
April 1, 1999
IT Week
|
Rise Technology hopes to survive in the
increasingly vicious market for budget PCs by focusing
its energies on a low-power version of its x86-compatible
processor. David Lin, Rise's chairman and chief
executive, said a low-power version of the company's mP6
processor will let manufacturers produce cheaper PCs than
those using x86-comparable processors.
Rise microprocessors already require less power than
chips such as the mobile Pentium II, which lets equipment
manufacturers such as Acer to use cheaper cooling
subsystems and power supplies. By the third quarter, when
Rise switches to a 0.18-micron processor from a
0.25-micron one, the mP6 will need 4W of power, compared
with the 6.3W chips Intel plans to launch this month.
"To compete with Intel, you need to change the
rules," Lin said. "Packaging is about 50
percent of the cost, and for Intel it's more. For us,
packaging is much less because of our low power
consumption."
|
|
|
April 1, 1999
Semiconductor Business News
|
Toshiba Corp. plans to drastically cut
production of 64-megabit DRAMs by the end of this year,
shifting the majority of its DRAM output to 128-Mb SDRAM
and other high-performance memory. According to Toshiba
America Electronic Components Inc. (TEAC) in Irvine, the
company's latest plans call for reducing 64-Mbit DRAM
production by 90%, down to 1 million chips per month by
December. In response to market demand, Toshiba will
speed up the output of 128-Mbit, 133-MHz SDRAM, Double
Data Rate SDRAM, and 800-MHz RDRAM.
|
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| The Register Files |
|
By Mike Magee
April 1, 1999
The Register
|
Professor Boris Babaian said today that
he needed venture capital support to show the world his
superior chip architecture to Merced. At the same
time, Babaian laughed at the April Fool's Joke
slashdot.org perpetrated about Linus Torvald joining his
company because Finland and Russia were close,
geographically.
Babaian, a man with a sense of humour despite
obstacles to the Merced competitor being fabbed up, said:
"We are a team who designed [a similar technology]
to EPIC in 1991. We had already fabricated a computer in
1991.
|
|
| April 1, 1999 |
|
By Mark Hachman
March 31, 1999
Electronic Buyers' News
|
Via Technologies Inc. will provide S3
Inc. with core logic technology in S3's upcoming
integrated chipset, the second graphics supplier to
partner with Via. The agreement is an about-face of
sorts for Via, whose executives originally said that S3
had been unable to time its development schedules to
craft a chipset designed by both companies. Those
problems have been resolved, according to Dean Hays,
vice-president of marketing for Via's U.S. operations in
Fremont, Calif.
|
|
|
By Stephen Shankland
March 30, 1999
C/Net
|
New disagreements have chilled a warming
trend between two groups competing to establish the
architecture for the next generation of servers, a
breakdown that will likely irk corporate buyers who have
been asking for a resolution on the issue. The dispute,
which pits Intel against some of its major chip
customers, centers on competing proposals for connecting
devices such as disk drives or network cards inside the
next generation of servers.
On one side, Intel, Sun, Dell Computer, Siemens,
Hitachi, and NEC back a proposal called Next-Generation
Input/Output (NGIO). On the other side are the backers of
Future I/O: Hewlett-Packard, Compaq Computer, IBM,
Adaptec, and 3Com--three of the largest Intel-based
server makers and two major adapter vendors.
|
|
|
By Mark Hachman
March 31, 1999
Semiconductor Business News
|
In an accounting statement filed with
its annual report, Intel reported its 1998 revenue by
certain product segments, as required by new Securities
and Exchange Commission regulations. For 1998, Intel
reported an operating profit of $8.38 billion on revenue
of $26.8 billion. The report breaks down Intel's
revenue and profits by three categories: the Intel
Architecture Business Group, representing its desktop,
mobile, and workstation/server microprocessors; the
Computing Enhancement Group, consisting of Intel's chip
sets, embedded microprocessors and microcontrollers,
flash memory, and flash memory products; and "All
Other," an arbitrary grouping consisting of Intel's
Network Communications Group and the New Business Group.
|
|
|
By Reuters
March 31, 1999
C/Net
|
Worldwide sales of semiconductors in
1998 suffered their biggest decline since 1985, as
production overcapacity lead to steep price drops in many
product areas, fueling a revenue decline of 8.4 percent. According
to Gartner Group's Dataquest, a market research firm
based in San Jose, California, total semiconductor sales
in 1998 were $134.8 billion, a drop of 8.4 percent from
1997 total sales of $147.2 billion.
"Semiconductor vendors around the world were glad
to see the last of 1998," Dataquest wrote in its
final annual semiconductor survey. "The continued
overcapacity in DRAM [dynamic random access memory chips]
spread to other product categories and dragged most
average selling prices down."
|
|
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By Jim Davis
March 31, 1999
C/Net
|
Although it's moving slow, Intel took
another step deeper into the market for information
appliances by releasing a new version of the StrongARM
processor aimed at handhelds and PC companions. Intel
said it is incorporating new features in the StrongARM
SA-1110 and the SA-1111 companion chip that will enable
improved software-based communications, speech
recognition, and handwriting recognition in handheld and
palmtop computing devices.
Another version of the chip, the SA-1500, is due in
the second half of 1999, and will be coupled with a media
processor for better graphics, the company said.
|
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| The Register Files |
|
By Mike Magee
March 31, 1999
The Register
|
Our friends over at JC have linked to a
Japanese site which has details of VIA's Apollo Pro Plus
133 chipset. At the same time, JC has also supplied a
translation of some of the material.
According to the site, the chipset will support 133MHz
front side bus (FSB) and PC-133, something which Intel
has not, so far, implemented.
|
|
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By Mike Magee
March 31, 1999
The Register
|
Informed sources close to Intel's plan
said today that the company will introduce Celeron
processors with a 100MHz front side bus (FSB) in the
first quarter of next year. Intel always had the
technology to do that with Celerons, as reported here
early this year, but has now made the decision to go
ahead.
And at the same time, Intel will build the Streaming
SIMD Extensions (aka Katmai New Instructions) into
Celeron processors.
|
|
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By Mike Magee
March 31, 1999
The Register
|
A reader of The Register has now sent us
a copy of the email AMD is sending its customers
rubbishing Ziff-Davis benchmarks (see ZD rejigs
benchmarks after AMD complaint). The text is below, in
full.
"Ziff Davis has issued a statement revealing that
the 3D Processing Tests used in the 3D Winbench 99
benchmark are misleading and inaccurate. They
specifically point out that the tests significantly
underrate the performance of AMD K6-2 and AMD K6-III
processors.
|
See Related
Stories Ziff-Davies
rejigs benchmarks after AMD complaint
|
|
By Mike Magee
March 31, 1999
The Register
|
The signs are that Alpha Processor Inc,
a consortium backed by Samsung, is beginning to take on
Intel at its own game. The company has posted a
marketing document on its site here which outlines its
future strategy.
According to Jeff Borkowski, VP of business
development at API, the consortium will exploit the
market outside of Compaq and focus its energies on Linux,
NT server, digital content creation and MCAD.
|
|
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By Mike Magee
March 31, 1999
The Register
|
This, we promise, is not an April's Fool
joke because it's only just April Fool's day in the
Aleutian Islands. However, our source for this story
is not our normal Intel architect but another, so take it
as you will.
According to the source, Intel's 64-bit emulator is
performing so badly that Microsoft is requesting, nay
demanding, that any code it receives is compiled on an
Alpha.
|
|
| March 31, 1999 |
|
By Rick Boyd-Merritt
March 30, 1999
EE Times
|
Representatives from Intel Corp. and IBM
Corp. have broken off talks aimed at ending a dispute
over interconnect technology for future PC servers. As a
result, the Next-Generation I/O Forum, which is backed by
Intel, and the Future I/O group, which is supported by
IBM, Compaq Computer Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., are
moving ahead with incompatible approaches to linking
high-end systems and peripherals. "At the moment
the discussions are off," said Gary Abbott, a
founding member of the NGIO Forum, from Dell Computer
Corp. (Round Rock, Texas). "In the end a single
standard probably does need to exist, but we may have to
let the marketplace battle that out for awhile."
|
See
Today's Related Stories |
|
By Mark Hachman
March 30, 1999
Semiconductor Business News
|
In an accounting statement filed with
its annual report, Intel Corp. here reported its 1998
revenues by certain product segments, as required by new
SEC regulations. For 1998, Intel reported an operating
profit of $8.38 billion on revenues of $26.8 billion. The
report breaks down Intel's revenue and profits by three
categories: the Intel Architecture Business Group,
representing its desktop, mobile, and workstation/server
microprocessors; the Computing Enhancement Group,
consisting of Intel's chip sets, embedded microprocessors
and microcontrollers, flash memory, and flash memory
products; and "All Other," an arbitrary
grouping consisting of Intel's Network Communications
Group and the New Business Group.
|
|
|
By Brooke Crothers
March 30, 1999
C/Net
|
Matsushita will end production of DRAM
memory chips according to a report in a Japanese
newspaper. Matsushita Electric Industrial will stop
producing DRAM memory next month, according to the Nihon
Keizai Shimbun; a major Japanese business daily, citing
company sources.
A long, relentless decline in memory chip prices over
the past several years--though this has seemingly been
halted for the time being--has taken its toll on many
DRAM memory chipmakers.
|
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| The Register Files |
|
By Mike Magee
March 30, 1999
The Register
|
The complex pieces of the jigsaw that
makes up the AMD and Compaq relationship are now
beginning to slot into place. Bob Palmer joins the AMD
board, even though he's still a member of the Compaq
board.
Jerry Sanders III, CEO of AMD, delivers the company's
results in a few days. The results will be bad.
Intel's reputation has sunk to the lowest ever, even
amongst its loyal OEMs.
|
|
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By Mike Magee
March 30, 1999
The Register
|
Distributors and customers of AMD have
received a bulletin from the company pointing out that
Ziff-Davies' 3DWinmark benchmarks using the null driver
are inaccurate and misleading. AMD's bone of
contention is that processors, such as AMD's K6-III and
Pentium III are not compared fairly.
Ziff-Davies has now posted a warning on its Winbench
Web site.
|
|
|
By Mike Magee
March 30, 1999
The Register
|
Sources close to IDT said today that it
will create a version of its Winchip2 using the 370 pin
socket first developed by Intel. That adds IDT to
Cyrix and Rise, who have already said they will create
their chips in the pin factor.
The source said that Cyrix and IDT will produce a
"pin for pin" version of the chip, making
things simpler for motherboard manufacturers.
|
|
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By Mike Magee
March 30, 1999
The Register
|
Terry Shannon, editor of newsletter
Shannon knows Compaq is delivering a presentation today
at a user group meeting which reveals the future of the
Alpha roadmap. Shannon is an analyst and journalist
who has tracked Digital and latterly Compaq for years.
He has kindly sent us a copy of the presentation he
will make to DECUS today, and interesting reading it
makes.
|
|
|
By Mike Magee
March 30, 1999
The Register
|
You have got to watch Intel all the
time. Over the weekend it registered ten online sites
and now we discover it has a new one called Art Museum
It is a joint venture, says Intel, it sells
merchandise and has a Van Gogh picture on the front and
the first 10,000 memberships are free.
So we joined, being cultural folks.
|
|
| Today's
Related Stories |
|
By Lisa DiCarlo
March 30, 1999
PC Week Online
|
After months of negotiations, the two
factions developing the next generation of server I/O
technologies have reached an impasse. Next Generation
I/O, backed by Intel Corp., and Future I/O, backed by
server heavyweights Compaq Computer Corp., IBM and
Hewlett-Packard Co., have been trying to resolve their
disagreements over a myriad of issues. And while many of
those have been resolved, one major issue remains,
according to a source at one of the companies backing
FIO.
"On one level, [Intel] is expressing willingness
to work together, but they are unwilling to free
themselves from the schedule [to which] they've
committed,'' said the source.
|
|
|
By Ed Scannell
March 30, 1999
InfoWorld Electric
|
After months of haggling over a variety
of technical and political issues to determine the
specifications over the next-generation bus for PC
servers, talks between Intel and the triumvirate of IBM,
Compaq, and Hewlett-Packard have stalled, according to
sources close to the negotiations. Consequently, the
two camps -- Intel with its Next Generation I/O (NGIO)
specification and IBM-Compaq-HP with its Future I/O
specification -- are ready to move along parallel
development lines with two incompatible designs, forcing
corporate users to make buying decisions between the two.
|
|
| March 30, 1999 |
|
By Michael Kanellos
March 29, 1999
C/Net
|
Advanced Micro Devices took the lead in
notebook speed over Intel today with new chips that run
as fast as 380 MHz and that are allowing AMD to enter the
business market. AMD released the 350-MHz and 380-MHz
K6-2 P processors today, two low-powered K6-2 chips for
notebooks. And, although Intel has said it will top this
with 400-Mhz and 433-MHz notebook Pentium IIs toward the
middle of the year, the chips give AMD a temporary
advantage over its rival. Intel's fastest
notebook-specific chip is a 366-MHz Pentium II.
But more importantly, the chips mark the entry of AMD
processors into business machines. Compaq said today that
it has incorporated the processors into its new Prosignia
150 notebooks for medium-sized businesses.
|
|
|
By Michael Kanellos
March 29, 1999
C/Net
|
Robert Palmer, the former chief
executive of Digital Equipment who oversaw the sale of
the company to Compaq, will likely join the board of
Advanced Micro Devices in a move that may spark
shareholder grumbling. Palmer has been put forward as
a candidate for a new, ninth seat on the board by the
company, according to the proxy statement filed by AMD
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. No other
candidates for the new seat appear on the ballot.
While Palmer is a well-known figure in the industry,
his past association with AMD may draw complaints that he
is a personal friend and past business ally with members
of current management. The election will take place on
April 29 in New York.
|
|
|
By Michael Kanellos and Brooke Crothers
March 29, 1999
C/Net
|
Compaq unveiled a new look for its small
business computer line today amid concerns that kinks in
its direct sales still have to be worked out. The PC
maker is also putting AMD processors into business
notebook PCs for the first time. Compaq Computer chief
executive Eckhard Pfeiffer presided over a press
conference in which he described a new, and relatively
ornate, strategy for reaching small- and medium-sized
businesses through a combination of direct sales,
co-manufacturing, and better dealer incentives.
The computing giant introduced new notebooks and
servers for small business and discussed changes to its
sales strategy for the Prosignia line, which is mostly
sold directly by Compaq over the Web.
|
|
Intel
Dodges Bullet
FTC Consent Decree Avoids Broader
Issues
By Linley Gwennap
March 29, 1999
Microprocessor Report
|
In settling its case against Intel just
two days before the trial was scheduled to start, the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) convinced Intel to
accept a punishment as severe as the government was
likely to gain, even if it had won the trial. This
agreement appears to be a coup for the FTC, but it fails
to address any of the broader issues that would have
resulted from a completed trial. Intel is happy to
receive a slap on the wrist, and the rules governing
dominant technology vendors are as muddled as ever. To
settle the case, Intel has agreed to a consent decree
(which has been approved by the FTC but is not officially
binding until the public-comment period ends on May 16).
The decree
(www.ftc.gov/os/1999/9903/d09288intelagreement.htm)
prevents Intel from taking retaliatory action, such as
refusing to provide products or advance product
specifications, against a customer due to an
intellectual-property (IP) dispute. Essentially, the
decree prevents Intel from doing what it did to Compaq,
Digital, and Intergraph in various disputes over the past
few years (see MPR 6/22/98, p. 8).
|
|
|
By Crista Souza
March 29, 1999
Electronic Buyers' News
|
LSI Logic Corp. has begun shipping
ASIC-core samples that support the Direct Rambus
interface,addressing high-speed systems that require fast
signal propagation between chips. Characterized for
LSI's 0.25-micron G11 process technology, the Direct
Rambus ASIC Cell (D-RAC) cores play well into the
company's target markets of consumer electronics,
networking switches, and desktop computers, where rich
graphics and communications protocols demand both fast
internal-memory access and low cost.
The chip maker said it is also working to port the
D-RAC to its upcoming 0.18- micron G12 ASIC process,
which is set to sample in the third quarter.
|
|
| The Register Files |
|
By Mike Magee
March 29, 1999
The Register
|
Changes in the way US corporations have
to disclose their financial information have led Intel to
release segment information about its business. Similar
changes forced IBM last week to show that it had lost $1
billion on PCs last year.
According to Intel form 10-K filed with the US
Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday, sales to
Compaq and Dell accounted for nearly a quarter of all MPU
sales in 1998, with 13 per cent and 11 per cent
respectively.
|
|
|
By Mike Magee
March 29, 1999
The Register
|
As revealed here some months ago, no-one
should show surprise at the connectors on K7 processors. The
AMD K7 processor shares the Alpha 21264 bus with its
young cousin.
The chipset handles SMP stuff, and two way copper
connectors just denote a two way system -- a typical PC
configuration these days -- unless you have a Celeron of
course.
An architect points out to us that two way connectors
do not exist on the Alpha EV6 connectors, but that's
because they're aimed at high end systems up to 128 Alpha
processors, as already revealed here.
|
|
| March 29, 1999 |
|
By Matt Loney
March 26, 1999
PC Week Online
|
Intel's launch of its Profusion
symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) technology, designed to
push its processors into the mid-range server market, was
dismissed this week by high-end server manufacturers. Both
Unisys and Sequent indicated at this month's Pentium III
Xeon launch that customers looking for servers with more
than eight processors will remain locked into proprietary
architectures for another year. The Profusion chipset
uses technology gained through the acquisition of
Corollary in 1997.
The Profusion architecture links five 100MHz buses in
a switch that allows direct point-to-point simultaneous
connections between processors, memory and I/O. The
chipset supports up to 32GB of RAM with multiple 64bit,
66MHz hot-swap PCI slots, and is due to ship in volume
next quarter. Eight-way Profusion-based servers are
expected to be available from the July-September quarter,
with larger SMP configurations promised for the future.
|
|
|
By John G. Spooner
March 26, 1999
PC Week Online
|
Intel Corp. is preparing two new mobile
processors that could help push mininotebooks into the
mainstream. The Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker plans
to launch next month two low-power mobile 266MHz chips,
along with a 333MHz mobile Celeron chip, sources said.
Each of the low-power chips -- a 266MHz Pentium II and
Celeron -- consumes about 6.3 watts of power, sources
said. That's nearly 3 watts less than other mobile
Pentium II and Celeron chips.
|
|
|
By Jack Robertson
March 26, 1999
Electronic Buyers' News
|
Intel Corp.'s 815 chipset will connect
the company's value-line Celeron processors to a
projected 100-MHz front-side bus, according to industry
sources briefed by the Santa Clara, Calif.-based
microprocessor firm. Intel declines to discuss upcoming
products before they are officially unveiled, but the
company is expected this year to upgrade the Celeron bus
from the current 66 MHz to 100 MHz. The Intel 815 chipset
would then enable Celeron to upgrade to PC100 SDRAM. |
|
|
By Kristen Kenedy and Aaron Ricadela
March 26, 1999
Computer Retail Week
|
Advanced Micro Devices is savoring its
first taste of victory in the low-cost PC market, but
industry observers said the company's planned foray into
corporate accounts will be even harder to win. The
chip maker surprised the industry when it captured a
preponderance of consumer CPU sales at retail -- and held
onto it. AMD processors powered 51.4 percent of all
desktop PCs sold at retail in February, the first time
AMD's share has exceeded 50 percent, market-researcher PC
Data, in Reston, Va., reported this week.
Intel's unit share was 38.3 percent. In January, AMD
overtook Intel's retail-desktop share for the first time,
capturing 43.9 percent of unit sales.
|
|
|
By Mark Hachman
March 26, 1999
Semiconductor Business News
|
National Semiconductor Corp.'s Cyrix
division is the latest to yield to the the sorcerer-like
powers wielded by film director George Lucas. The power
is not the Force, but trademark law. A spokesman for
National said the company has changed the name of its
forthcoming "Jedi" microprocessor to
"Gobi" in order to avoid violating trademarks
possibly owned by Lucasfilm Ltd., which reportedly is
cracking down on trademark violations in anticipation of
The Phantom Menace, the forthcoming Star Wars
"prequel." Jedi--now Gobi--will be based on
Cyrix's forthcoming "Cayenne" MXi core.
Similarly, a chip based on the company's
"Jalapeno" core will be known as
"Mojave."
|
|
|
By Stephanie Miles
March 26, 1999
C/Net
|
Do the serial numbers on Intel's
computer chips really present a major threat to consumer
privacy? Technology experts say recent reports of
software programs capable of "grabbing" PC
users' Pentium III serial numbers without their knowledge
or consent shouldn't alarm PC users. On the other hand,
those on all sides of the debate agree that no one should
be overly confident about the level of security these
microprocessors can ensure.
Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at Insight 64, reflects
that conflict. "I'm not a good person at
anticipating all the evil things people can do. But in my
view, the whole role of the PSN [processor serial number]
has been somewhat overstated," he said.
|
|
|
By Jim Davis
March 26, 1999
C/Net
|
Intel today launched a new site to help
customers get the most bang out of their Pentium bucks. Initially,
WebOutfitter will offer software tools and tutorials on
what can be accomplished with PCs based around Intel's
Pentium III processor and will eventually include
"next generation" content, technologies, and
services, the company said.
The site is part of an overall push by Intel to give
consumers strong reasons to upgrade to its more expensive
chips--and as a way to ensure that they won't be
disappointed if they do.
|
|
| The Register Files |
|
By Mike Magee
March 26, 1999
The Register
|
In some ways we're glad we wrote our
words earlier on today showing the number of jobs
available to outsiders. And in some ways we are not
happy.
Now a senior Intel Merced engineer, who refuses to be
named under any circumstances, but who is thoroughly
reliable, has given us the inside track on what's
happening in the corporation.
|
|
|
By Mike Magee
March 26, 1999
The Register
|
A Register reader who calls himself the
Sixth Vulture has painstakingly compiled job adverts
Intel has placed since the beginning of the month. And
the list is long, suggesting either Intel is short of
staff or is ramping up its Merced project.
On 1 March, Intel advertised a total of 20 Merced
vacancies, including jobs for software engineers, system
hardware design engineers, product engineers, logic
engineers, architecture validation enginners and project
managers.
|
|
|
By Mike Magee
March 26, 1999
The Register
|
Jonathan Hou, over at Fullon3D, has
kindly sent us some pictures of the IDT/Centaur
WinChip2/300. He says he has some samples and will
shortly post a review and some benchmarks, so check his
site out.
In the meantime, here's a pic of the package.
|
|
|
By Mike Magee
March 26, 1999
The Register
|
Over at JC's hardware pages there's a
heap of speculation about how the MD K7 will work. That
follows pictures of the K7 posted on a Japanese site
yesterday (see AMD K7 ripped asunder on Japanese site).
There's enough information to conclude that the
processor is designed in such a way that two CPUs can
easily be connected together in an SMP configuration
giving a fast throughput rate.
|
|
|
By Mike Magee
March 26, 1999
The Register
|
Last week we saw several class action
cases placed against AMD and its CEO Jerry Sanders III. And
this week, the blizzard is continuing.
The latest actions have been placed by lawyers Marc S
Henzel, John Thompson (on behalf of herself?) and another
plaintiff called Schwarz.
|
|
|
By Mike Magee
March 26, 1999
The Register
|
The Intel Corporation has registered a
total of 10 new domain names, all connected with online
solutions and services. The registrations show the
level of investment Intel believes the Internet is worth,
but as far as we can tell, none of the sites is yet
active.
The sites are called INTELONLINESOLUTIONS.COM,
INTELONLINE.ORG, INTELONLINE.NET, INTELONLINE.COM,
INTELONLINESERVICE.COM, INTELONLINESERVICE.COM,
INTELONLINESERVICE.NET,
INTELONLINE.SOLUTIONS.ORG,INTELONLINE.SERVICES.NET,
INTELONLINESERVICE.ORG, INTELONLINESERVICES.ORG, and
INTELONLINESOLUTIONS.NET.
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|
