Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Alliance Semiconductor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DJBEINO who wrote (5822)	8/14/1999 1:19:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 9582

UMC pairs with Computer Associates to build GPS devices By Sandy Chen Electronic Buyers' News (08/13/99, 12:13:31 PM EDT) Taiwan's UMC Group and software giant Computer Associates International Inc. have embarked on a joint venture to develop next-generation platforms and devices for Global Positioning System (GPS) applications. The companies formed a new GPS venture company known as OmniTrack Inc., which will be based in New York City. OmniTrack's total capitalization is $2 million. The new company will provide consultant services to enable vendors to design GPS devices. It will also sell its technology to companies to build future applications, according to Charles B. Wang, Computer Associates' chairman and chief executive. "Not only have we gained the ability to discover the location of any GPS-enabled object anywhere in the world, but we can also have that object report on any historical and real-time attributes we desire," Wang said. "The market is simply waiting for someone to package all these capabilities in a flexible, well-integrated platform. That is OmniTrack's mission." UMC Group, Taiwan's second largest wafer foundry, is no stranger to GPS. It owns a 4% stake in Santa Clara, Calif., GPS-chip design house SiRF Technology Inc. According to Jackson Hu, SiRF's president and chief executive, the company will work with OmniTrack to provide GPS platform solutions. "The market opportunities for next-generation location-aware applications are virtually limitless, especially as we are able to reduce the size and power consumption of GPS-enabled chipsets provided by the other technology partners of OmniTrack," said Robert Tsao, chairman of UMC Group. "OmniTrack is uniquely positioned to deliver the complete package of hardware, information, and 3-D graphics design necessary to drive this market to its full potential." Chris Hsieh, an analyst with Nomura Securities, said Taiwan's biggest challenge in the coming decade will be to overcome its lack of marketing strength. To this end, Hsieh said he expects to see more of the island's manufacturers riding into the global marketplace by striking deals with multinational high-tech corporations. "To leverage their strong manufacturing and financial strengths, in the next 10 year you will see more and more Taiwanese manufacturers teaming up with the world's big players, which have international marketing capabilities to develop future products," he said "UMC's teaming up with [Computer Associates] is one of these cases." ebnews.com