Here is a sub-$1000 Internet Appliance from Intel. I just hope it doesn't resemble too much of a PC. (I stole this article from Meng Chang of the COMS thread.)
Also, is anyone going to the CES Show? If you are, can you update us with cool gadgets you see and how much inroads Linux is making in our space. Thank you. -Khan
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"Intel to enter Web appliance market"
By Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
January 4, 2000, 8:00 p.m. PT
Intel will further expand its horizons beyond the
microprocessor tomorrow when it details plans for selling
Linux-powered Internet appliances that make phone calls,
surf the Web and send and receive email.
The new appliances, which will come out toward the middle of the
year, will essentially combine a phone with a limited but
upgradeable Internet PC. Prices will range from $300 to $700 with
monthly service starting at $25 to $30, said Claude Leglise,
general manager of the home products group at Intel.
"In our minds, the target group are
homes that don't have computers,"
Leglise said. "It could replace the
family phone."
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based giant
will announce its intentions at the
Computer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas.
Some analysts are viewing the plan
positively, because it appears to
work out some of the kinks that
have held back Internet appliances
in the past. The box will have a
bigger monitor than Web phones, for instance, but won't have to
rely on the TV, a lower-resolution and sometimes inconvenient
screen.
Designs will vary, but generally the appliances will contain
keyboards, standard or flat-panel monitors and a phone handset or
other device for conducting calls, according to sources familiar
with the company's plans.
Many of the devices will be DSL-ready or contain technology that
will allow users to surf the Web on standard phone lines without
completely disconnecting from the phone, according to Richard
Doherty, principal at The Envisioneering Group.
All of them will feature the Intel brand name, an Intel processor and
a slew of non-Microsoft software. The standard box will contain the
Linux operating system, a Mozilla browser and generally a portal
interface from InfoSpace. Telephony and messaging capabilities
will come from Telcordia and Lucent.
US West will market the devices in the United States, while NEC's
BiGlobe and Laser Galeries Lafayette Group in France will sell
them to customers in Japan and Europe, respectively, Leglise
said.
Intel is also developing back-end software so that communications
carriers can upgrade software inside home units, said Leglise.
Hypothetically, the ability to play MP3 files could be added, which
isn't universally possible on Internet devices.
A typical Web phone "is obsolete the day it comes out," Leglise
said. "We want to offer appliances that can keep up."
The Web appliances deliberately aren't stripped-down PC
systems. "We're getting pretty saturated with low-cost PCs," said
Dean McCarron, principal analyst with Mercury Research. "The
idea is a Web phone or a Web companion but not a PC box."
Nonetheless, the strategy appears to contain the potential to
strain longstanding relationships with Intel's computer customers.
Compaq Computer, IBM and others plan to bring out similar
devices, some of which will also be based around Intel chips. The
devices also entirely depend upon non-Microsoft software.
Analysts tended to doubt that a direct conflict between the chip
giant and PC makers will come to pass, however. Most likely, Intel
is mostly trying to drive interest in these devices, they said. If and
when demand exists, there is a good chance the company will
step out of the box business and revert to making money by
selling processors.
"Intel has in the past taken the initiative in establishing new
markets or market segments. If it becomes big, they do a
handoff," said Nathan Brookwood, principal consultant with Insight
64. Still, conflict could appear depending on Intel's future actions,
McCarron hypothesized.
Leglise noted that NEC is a major Intel customer. "Obviously, they
don't have a problem with it," he said.
Initially, Intel will not participate in the revenue or profit from
providing services, Leglise said. The company will merely
sell the devices to telephone companies or ISPs, which will
then figure out how to price and sell them for mass
consumption. Intel also does not make the box but instead
has enlisted an Asian contract manufacturer.
Most companies, including Microsoft and Compaq, are or
plan to subsidize the price of the hardware through the
service contracts. Many analysts have said that little
money will be made off of the devices themselves.
The decision to go with Linux, meanwhile, came out of
customer concerns.
"Customers have asked for Linux as the OS," Leglise said.
Selecting Linux will likely reduce the overall system costs,
as the software can be licensed freely. Browsers from
Mozilla, which spun out of Netscape, can also be obtained
for free.
The appliances may also further proliferation of broadband
technologies, said Envisioneering's Doherty. The market
can be seeded with the first generation of devices and lead
to momentum for DSL, he said. |
