Intel a "Best of Breed" Zenith partner? The full WSJ article:
The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition -- December 5, 1997 Intel Supports Broadcasters Over Microsoft, Compaq
By DEAN TAKAHASHI Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Intel Corp. has decided to align with the nation's television broadcasters on digital-TV technology, breaking ranks with longtime personal-computer partners Microsoft Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp.
The semiconductor giant said it will adopt the broadcast industry's approach to displaying digital-TV broadcasts on PCs and TV set-top devices. Intel's move is an about-face from the position it had proposed along with Microsoft and Compaq, which jointly announced last April that they would only support digital-TV formats that could be displayed inexpensively on a PC. Their proposal ran into stiff opposition from TV makers and broadcasters.
Intel executives said the company now is willing to build technology for PCs and set-top devices so that they can receive any digital-TV format, not just the formats favored by Microsoft and Compaq. The hardware will translate the broadcast signals so they can be displayed on a PC monitor or TV.
"Our earlier proposal was a smashing failure," said Ronald Whittier, senior vice president of the content group at Intel, during a briefing for reporters Thursday. "It was viewed as attacking the TV industry. We recognized the business reality and decided to let the broadcasters decide what formats to broadcast."
Microsoft and Compaq have argued that it is most cost-effective to receive broadcasts only in a format known as progressive scan, which is better for PC-style tasks such as displaying type fonts. The broadcast industry's favored format, known as interlaced, is better at handling moving images such as video of sports events. Intel's Mr. Whittier said computing power is advancing so rapidly that TVs and PCs will be able to handle both formats by the time digital-TV broadcasts begin in late 1998.
"This is a friendly disagreement" with Intel and Compaq, Mr. Whittier said. Executives at Microsoft and Compaq didn't return calls seeking comment.
Intel, the dominant maker of microprocessors, is still closely allied with Microsoft in setting PC standards. But the two companies have been hedging their bets as they move into new fields, from handheld computers to designs for simpler alternatives to desktop PCs. Intel has already aligned itself with Microsoft rival Oracle Corp. in standards for set-top boxes that connect to the Internet, which are bringing some benefits of computing to consumer living rooms before the conversion of TV broadcasts to a digital format.
Intel disclosed that it plans to invest as much as $100 million in digital-TV efforts in alliances with a host of companies, ranging from the Public Broadcasting System and Nickelodeon to the National Football League. Those alliances would develop content to be broadcast over digital TV. The alliances also will include companies in the satellite and cable-TV business, as well as traditional PC hardware and software companies.
Intel also said it has proposed that other companies join a standard-setting effort, dubbed the "open broadcast initiative," to ensure that interactive programs will be able to run on any delivery platform, such as satellite TV, cable TV or digital broadcast.
The company's announcements, made before next week's cable-TV trade show in Los Angeles, reflect a sharp shift in strategy. In April, Intel was emphasizing PCs as the most-promising platforms for receiving digital-TV programming.
But Michael Aymar, Intel's vice president of consumer products, said the company now also plans to design set-top boxes with Intel chips that can receive digital programs. These boxes, resembling the system now sold by Microsoft's WebTV Networks Inc. unit, will hook up to the TV set and cost much less than a standard computer, he said. |
