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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: L. Adam Latham who wrote (89884)	10/12/1999 4:03:00 PM
From: L. Adam Latham	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

All: I don't think this has been posted yet: techweb.com Via Defies Intel's P6 Bus License Ban (10/12/99, 12:58 p.m. ET) By Mark Hachman, Electronic Buyers' News Via Technologies' simmering legal contest with Intel went up a notch in intensity this week when the company began shipping its Apollo Pro 133A chip set, in what Intel said is a clear case of patent infringement. The new P6-class chip set includes a 133-MHz front-side bus and an AGP 4X graphics connection, as well as an interface to PC133 SDRAM. The former two features include technology developed by Intel. Last summer, the Santa Clara, Calif., chip giant challenged Via's use of its front-side bus architecture and has sincerevoked all P6-related licenses. Intel also opened a suit against Via in a San Jose, Calif., federal court, alleging patent infringement and breach of contract, in addition to other charges. To defeat the restriction, Via, Taipei, Taiwan, has "subcontracted" with National Semiconductor to produce the chip set on a three-layer, 0.35-micron process. Via said its manufacturing relationship with Santa Clara-based National, which has a broad cross-licensing arrangement with Intel, offers it the security to design and sell chips that incorporate Intel technology. A spokesman for Intel declined to comment on the launch. As Intel plays out its legal card, the last-minute delay of its Camino/Direct Rambus DRAM platform late last month has robbed the market of a core logic chip set and high-speed main memory tandem that was expected to fuel fourth-quarter sales for many desktop PC makers. Via appears perfectly positioned to exploit that blunder, according to observers, who say its Apollo Pro 133 family and support from PC133 SDRAM memory may yet emerge as the saving grace of the holiday season. Via said the chip set, which is priced at $34 in OEM quantities, is in mass production. In addition, the chip set interfaces to NEC Electronics' Virtual Channel Memory DRAM core and can support up to four USB connectors, two more than existing Intel chip sets. The device also supports ATA-33 and ATA-66 storage interfaces. The chip set consists of the VT82C694X 510-pin BGA north bridge and the VT82C596B 324-pin BGA south bridge.