Roger - Re: "Does the Williamette need Rambus to work? I am very long INTC. I'm not Einstein but I'm not Homer either. "
For Desktop and Workstation applications, Intel is developing a chip set called Tehama with a 400 MHz Data Rate, employing TWO RAMBUS channels.
Intel is also going to provide - possibly with ServerWorks (an independent Chip Set supplier) - a DDR SDRAM-based chip set for Server applications. FOster will be the "variant" of Willamette and will use this chip set.
The jeopardy of higher costs associated with RAMBUS memory is real. However, you should remember - those that are going to buy 1.4 or 1.5 GHz Willamette systems will do so because of their PERFORMANCE first, and COST, second.
Re: "If this is true the bill went up and athwyps{sic} get a possible foot hold? "
The AthWiper already has a foothold, and Intel is developing a "pincer" strategy, to squeeze it at the bottom with Coppermine and at the top with Willamette.
Re: "Also, isn't INTC reshaping itself as a wireless and internet and designer chip company of the future? "
Yes indeed - please check out this article from today's Infoworld:
{============================}
infoworld.com
Intel, Symbol ready wireless LAN products for 2001
ÿ
ÿ
By Terho Uimonen
ÿ
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN -- The first wireless LAN products jointly developed by Intel and Symbol Technologies are scheduled to hit the market by the first half of 2001, according to a Symbol executive.
ÿ
Engineers from the two companies are already hard at work in San Diego, at a new Intel facility dedicated to developing new wireless LAN chips, Chuck Hudson, Symbol's vice president of product marketing for wireless LAN systems, said in an interview here last week.
ÿ
"Intel is likely to introduce its first wireless chips sooner, probably before the end of this year, but the first jointly developed products will come in next year's first half," Hudson said.
ÿ
The products will be based on the IEEE 802.11 specification for wireless networking, he said, declining to offer any further details. The latest iteration of the specification, 802.11b, allows for data rates of up to 11Mbps.
ÿ
Intel and Symbol last month inked an agreement to jointly develop technologies for high-speed wireless LAN products, ranging from chips to adapters and access point devices for use in wireless environments. As part of the alliance, Intel also agreed to invest $100 million in Symbol.
ÿ
Some 200 engineers from Intel and Symbol are cooperating closely to develop new high-speed wireless LAN technologies. The staff includes Intel personnel from the company's former wireless unit, known as Area 51, which was named after a top-secret U.S. Air Force facility in the Nevada desert outside Las Vegas, Hudson said.
ÿ
In addition to its alliance with Intel, Symbol is hoping to sign similar partnership agreements with other major networking vendors, Hudson said.
ÿ
Cisco is one prospective partner, Hudson said. Symbol already has several joint projects with the networking giant, including one in which Cisco will use Symbol's IP telephone handsets, he added. No such broader agreement is in the works right now, however, Hudson said.
ÿ
"Nobody can do this alone. Intel, for example, has a wealth of chip development experience, while we have more experience in wireless, so partnerships are key," Hudson said.
ÿ
3Com's recently introduced AirConnect wireless LAN offerings, for example, are based on Symbol's products, Hudson said in a presentation.
ÿ
"Once the big players come into the market prices will come down," Hudson said.
ÿ
In related news, Symbol officials here last week said the new 802.11b specification, together with improvements in security technologies, have rekindled interest in wireless LAN technologies among service providers and corporate IT managers.
ÿ
Symbol Technologies Inc., in Holtsville, N.Y., can be reached at www.symbol.com. Intel Corp., in Santa Clara, Calif., is at www.intel.com.
ÿ
Related Stories
ÿ
000314enSymbol.xml
ÿ
Terho Uimonen is a Scandinavian correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. |
