Reuters
Transmeta claims five-year
technology lead over Intel and AMD
TOKYO--Transmeta Corp., the U.S. microprocessor startup, believes its
technology is at least five years ahead of industry leaders Intel and Advanced
Micro Devices, its chief executive said here today.
The once-highly secretive Transmeta burst into the limelight in January when it
unveiled its Crusoe chip, which uses software to perform many functions
previously done by hardware, enabling lighter PC notebooks with much longer
battery life.
"For [Intel and AMD] to catch up, they would also need a software based
approach. That means they would have to start from scratch and from my 20
years of experience, it would take at least five years to get a new microprocessor
out the door," David Ditzel said in an interview with Reuters.
Transmeta, which filed in mid-August for an initial public offering, seems to be
gaining in stature within the industry and on Wall Street as more and more firms
unveil Crusoe-driven PC notebooks.
Fujitsu Ltd. is the latest notebook maker to switch to the Transmeta MPU. The
Japanese PC maker will use the Crusoe chip in two new notebooks due out in
early November. They will be equipped with mobile Internet capabilities and have
battery life of up to eight hours, double the standard length for most notebooks,
according to Fujitsu.
Transmeta is talking to practically all makers of PC notebooks, Ditzel said, and
industry sources predict that other Japanese firms are set to follow suit.
Hitachi Ltd. is expected to unveil four Crusoe-based products on
Wednesday--three notebooks and a Web pad that is like a very large Palm Pilot
but with a virtual keyboard. NEC Corp. has also developed a laptop prototype with
a Crusoe processor.
Transmeta's strategy, Ditzel said, was to go after the "two very big niche markets"
with its Crusoe chip: notebooks and Internet mobile devices. "We are aiming to
expand the market," he said.
Kyodo News Service |
