ATI teams with Turkey's Vestel to develop Internet TV products
semibiznews.com
Semiconductor Business News
(02/23/00, 01:27:52 PM EDT)
TORONTO--Graphics chip supplier ATI Technologies Inc. here today announced a
strategic partnership with Europe's second largest producer of televisions and
computer monitors to develop a range of interactive TV products for the Internet.
Under the partnership, Vestel Electronics in Turkey plans to use ATI's
Set-top-Wonder technology and components to build Internet TVs and other
systems for consumers worldwide. ATI will work with Silicon Valley-based Vestel
USA--the two-year-old Internet appliance arm of Vestel--to create these products.
The pact represents ATI's first design win for a television.
The partnership combines Vestel strengths in manufacturing with ATI's expertise
in semiconductors and set-top box platforms. The agreement sets the stage for "a
variety of consumer electronics devices, including cable, satellite, and terrestrial
set-top boxes, digital VCRs, and other devices requiring a high level of
interactivity, graphics and video performance," said Cevat Kumbasar, chief
technology officer at Vestel, which is based in Manisa, near the Aegean port of
Izmir.
The Vestel Internet TV will initially be available in Europe, and future versions will
be distributed to other market worldwide, according to
"ATI and Vestel share a common vision -- enabling everyone, everywhere to have
affordable access to interactive TV," said Daniel Eiref, director of set-top
marketing at ATI.
ATI said its Set-top-Wonder platform enables consumer electronics manufacturers
to develop analog and digital cable products as well as satellite and terrestrial
set-top boxes. ATI said the customizable platform will be used to make a variety
of products, including the Vestel Internet televisions and stand alone set-top
boxes with DVD and advanced 3-D graphics. |
