Dear Paul and all: Havent seen this pr posted. Seems very interesting to me, should I be excited about it? JDN
Intel Plans to Make, Market Internet Devices Under Own Name
Santa Clara, California, Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Intel Corp., the world's biggest semiconductor maker, this year plans to ship devices for getting on the Internet that combine features of a telephone and a personal computer.
Some of the machines will be about the size of a small TV with a phone in a cradle on top. They will carry the Intel brand name and will cost $300 to $700 to make. The purchase price will vary because many of the machines will be sold as a package with Internet service.
The products are part of Intel's push into communications equipment. Most of the company's revenue comes from making microprocessors for personal computers. Once the only way to get online, PCs are becoming just one of many, along with mobile phones, organizers and other Internet ''appliances.''
''This is a very different direction for Intel,'' said Rick Doherty, director of research at technology testing and market- research firm Envisioneering Group in Seaford, New York.
Doherty said he expects the Intel Internet phones to sell well because consumers trust the Intel name. That's in large part because of the successful ''Intel Inside'' ad campaign for PCs that use the company's processors, he said.
Intel plans to sell the machines to telecommunications companies that will market them to their customers.
The new products will be based on Intel's Celeron processor, a low-priced chip used in inexpensive PCs. They will run on the Linux operating system, not Microsoft Corp.'s Windows. That's a blow to Microsoft, a long-time Intel ally that's also trying to expand beyond PCs and into other devices.
Santa Clara, California-based Intel plans to ship software that manages networks of the devices.
Different Versions
Intel plans to unveil two or three of the new products by the middle of this year. One type will allow all-in-one messaging, letting users get e-mail and voice mail together. It will be less expensive than a PC.
Another model will be aimed at electronic commerce. Intel expects that one to sell particularly well in France, where consumers have long purchased train tickets and other goods on the country's Minitel system, an electronic directory run by France Telecom SA that serves about 35 million people.
A risk for Intel is that buyers forgo PCs to buy the new devices. Claude Leglise, general manager of Intel's Home Products Group, said he's not worried about that because people will still buy PCs to do word processing and other tasks.
''We look at this as growth above and beyond the PC,'' said Leglise, a 18-year veteran of Intel.
Intel has a mixed record selling branded products. Its ProShare video conferencing equipment hasn't been a big hit with consumers, but it's new QX3 Computer Microscope aimed at children is selling well, according to analysts.
Intel is working with Lucent Technologies Inc. on messaging technology for the new devices. It is licensing content from Internet directory InfoSpace.com Inc. to make sure telecommunications companies and Internet service providers have information and services to put on the new machines.
NEC Corp.'s Biglobe Internet service in Japan and US West Inc. have agreed to offer the devices to their customers. Laser- Galeries Lafayette Group of France has agreed to provide e-commerce services over the new machines.
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