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

To: Paul Engel who wrote (98536)	2/8/2000 3:24:00 PM
From: Burt Masnick	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 186894

Intel, Mattel Breed New Climate Filed at 3:05 p.m. EST By The Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Up on the second floor of an old warehouse building on a quiet corner in the trendiest part of town, Intel engineers build toys while Mattel designers play with computers. The world's largest toy company and the world's largest computer chip maker hope that a marriage of their two distinct corporate cultures at a secretive development lab will breed a new generation of high-tech toys. ''So we took the plunge and decided the best way to try this was to put Intel and Mattel people in one place,'' said Jeff Abbate, director of the joint Smart Toy Lab. ''I think we're doing a really good job of stealing with pride from both companies what we think are the best things,'' he said. The lab was opened after some casual, high-level talk between former Mattel Chief Executive Jill Barad and Intel Chairman Andy Grove, who decided to pool their corporate expertise in hopes of reaching the always fickle market of children stretching from kindergarten to early teens. With kids today becoming computer-literate at a very early age, they are eager to play with toys that are more challenging and innovative. In fact, many children stop playing with traditional toys such as dolls and board games by the age of 6 in favor of techno-toys. ''The real focus is to create a whole new generation of high-tech playthings that appeals to this generation of kids,'' said Mattel spokeswoman Dana Henry. ''They're embracing technology at a very quick pace. As technology becomes a bigger part of their lives, it just makes sense that the traditional toy and computer are starting to merge.'' So far, the collaboration has produced a new brand label, Intel Play, and four successful products. The first to hit the market last year was the QX3 computer microscope. The durable plastic-encased microscope can be used just about anywhere, allowing children to roam wherever their curiosity takes them, and feed the images back to a computer, where they can examine them or manipulate them in any fashion they like. And some think the $100 price tag is worth it. ''It's not really pricey any more in the toy business,'' said industry analyst Jim Silver, editor of The Toy Book, a New York-based trade publication. ''Now it's price effective.'' This year, Intel Play plans to offer three more products. The lineup includes the Me2Cam computer video camera ($70) that can project a child's image onto the computer screen, the Sound Morpher ($50), which lets kids record sounds and then combine them on the computer, and the Digital Movie Creator ($100), a video camera for capturing and editing video. All will be shown at the American International Toy Fair, the annual trade expo where toymakers feature their products for the coming year. It begins Sunday in New York. Analysts say both Intel and Mattel benefit from their partnership. The Mattel computer software division lost $183 million in the fourth quarter, dragging down overall Mattel earnings and leading to Barad's resignation in early February. The Intel label on Mattel products should help provide assurances for parents looking for a quality electronic toy. ''It's almost like the Good Housekeeping seal of approval that it will work,'' Silver said. Chris Byrne, a toy industry consultant in New York, said Intel will benefit from the retailing experience at Mattel and its advertising expertise at the consumer level -- rather than the manufacturing level where Intel has been focused. Related Information From Hoover's Inc. Intel Corp Mattel Inc

To: Paul Engel who wrote (98536)	2/8/2000 4:15:00 PM
From: wily	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Intel getting back into the memory biz. Could this be what the new fab is for? biz.yahoo.com Ovonyx Receives Investment from Intel Companies To Work Together on Memory Technology TROY, Mich., Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Ovonyx, Inc., a semiconductor memory technology developer, announced today that Intel Capital has invested in the company. Ovonyx is a joint venture with Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (``ECD') (Nasdaq: ENER - news). Financial terms were not disclosed. Ovonyx is developing phase-change semiconductor memory devices, termed Ovonic Unified Memory (OUM). OUM memory technology promises to enable significantly faster write and erase speeds and higher cycling endurance than conventional memory types. It has been used in rewritable CD and DVD discs and may have potential as a replacement for such memory types as Flash, SRAM and DRAM. Ovonyx also announced it has licensed its OUM memory technology to Intel and that the two companies will work together to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of high-density, non-volatile memory based on the technology. ``The investment will be used to further the strategic goals of Ovonyx, principally by supporting ongoing development activities,' said Tyler Lowrey, CEO of Ovonyx. ``These goals include product development to exploit the phase- change technology in the nonvolatile memory and embedded memory/logic marketplace and continuing to expand our patent position.' ``Intel continuously develops and fosters technology that has the potential to improve the computing experience. We believe that innovations in materials will enable us to take silicon devices beyond perceived scaling limits for the continued rapid advancement of the digital world,' said Dr. Sunlin Chou, Vice President and General Manager, Technology and Manufacturing Group, Intel Corporation. ``I am very pleased that Intel and Ovonyx have established this relationship,' said Stanford R. Ovshinsky, President and CEO of Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. and original inventor of the phase-change memory process. ``This is a great opportunity for the phase-change memory technology to be widely commercialized in semiconductor applications.' About Ovonyx Ovonyx is a joint venture between Tyler Lowrey, former Chief Technical Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Micron Technology, and ECD. It was formed to commercialize semiconductor memory applications of the proprietary phase-change technology originally developed by ECD (www.ovonic.com ). Ovonyx nonvolatile memory technology can offer significantly faster write and erase speeds and higher cycling endurance than conventional Flash memory. It also has the advantage of a simple fabrication process that allows the design of semiconductor chips with embedded nonvolatile memory using only a few additional mask steps. Additional information about Ovonyx and its memory technology is available at www.ovonyx.com SOURCE: Ovonyx, Inc.