3Com has some competition in the home appliance market.
Reuters, 05/30/2000 01:14
Gateway, AOL to use Transmeta chip in product-NYT
NEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters) - Gateway Inc. (NYSE:GTW) and America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL) plan to announce on Tuesday they will use a processor from an upstart Silicon Valley chip maker and a Linux operating system version in an Internet home appliance due to go on sale later this year, according to the New York Times.
The two companies are breaking ranks with the powerful "Wintel duopoly" comprising Intel Corp's (NASDAQ:INTC) hardware and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) software, the newspaper said.
The decision was a coup for Transmeta Corp, a chip design company based in Santa Clara, California which has developed a microprocessor intended to be a low-power and inexpensive alternative to Intel's microprocessors, the New York Times said.
Gateway executives said on Friday they decided to break with Intel and Microsoft because the new devices were not personal computers, according to the paper.
"We're not building a personal computer, we're building an appliance," the paper quoted Peter Ashkin, Gateway's senior vice president and chief technology officer, as saying. "Hence, there was no strong requirement for Windows."
Ashkin said the choice of the Transmeta chip was appropriate for the new devices that were intended to sit on the kitchen counter or the desk in the den and eventually be carried around the home as wireless Webpads always connected to the Internet.
Gateway will sell the machines through its network of 260 retail stores, while America Online will market them directly to subscribers, the New York Times said.
Neither company is certain about the final price of the product, which is aimed at below $500, the article said.
Copyright 2000, Reuters News Service |
