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To: John Rieman who wrote (28089)	1/14/1998 4:23:00 PM
From: DiViT	Respond to of 50808

Set - top box reverse for Sky launch CHRIS BARRIE 01/13/98 The Guardian Page 018 (Copyright 1998) SKY Television's digital set - top box suppliers have warned that they will not be able to begin volume production until after the satellite broadcaster's planned launch date for its new services. Shares in troubled Pace Micro Technology fell 13 per cent yesterday after the electronics company, a supplier to BSkyB, warned it could not begin volume supply of the boxes which will translate digital signals for TV sets until next June, later than Sky's spring launch date. The prediction was accompanied by a warning - the electronics firm's fourth in less than a year - that it may be hit by a dispute over technology ownership. Pace's remarks, made at its half-year results, saw the shares fall as low as 35p, recovering to close at 39.5p. The company was floated in June 1996 at 172p, and the shares subsequently soared to 241.5p but plummeted after earlier warnings were issued. Pace took a pounds 10 million provision, most of it to cover the cost of the dispute which centres on the digital transmission of moving pictures, forcing it into a half-year operating loss of pounds 11.8 million compared with a pounds 10.6 million profit for the same period a year earlier. Chief executive Malcolm Miller said Pace was taking "a very prudent view" by taking the provision. The need to make payments for the technology would be contested, he said. The delay in manufacturing satellite TV set - top boxes was due to development work, not cost, he added. Pace is one of four manufacturers contracted to supply BSkyB with set - top boxes when the satellite broadcaster launches its digital TV services this spring. Although Pace appears not to be a serious contender to win the contract to make boxes for the biggest cable group, Cable and Wireless, it is in talks with British Digital Broadcasting, the terrestrial TV company. Sky Television sought to quash speculation that digital television services could be delayed by insisting that technical development was on track and satellite capacity adequate. The satellite broadcaster has also sought to reassure investors about the prospects for its interactive services by claiming support from UK regulators and the Government. But British Interactive Broadcasting, in which BSkyB is a large shareholder, is still awaiting approval from the European Commission and its chief executive Peter van Gelder recently quit. The company said it was confident there would be "significant volumes" for sale in the run-up to next Christmas.

To: John Rieman who wrote (28089)	1/14/1998 4:26:00 PM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Speed and power benefits of embedded DRAM.............. techweb.cmp.com A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story posted at 2:15 p.m. EST/11:15 a.m. PST, 1/14/98 UMC makes embedded-DRAM IC using new 0.35-micron technology SAN JOSE--Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) said it has successfully produced a low-power LCD multimedia controller designed by Silicon Motion Inc., using a 0.35-micron process technology for embedded DRAM. Separately, UMC said it has begun production shipments of a 2-Mbit flash memory for Catalyst Semiconductor Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., using a new 0.5-micron process technology. UMC said it will provide Catalyst with "significant" foundry capacity using the half-micron technology.' Meanwhile, UMC said its 0.35-micron embedded-DRAM technology packed 2-Mbytes of memory on Silicon Motion's LynxE LCD multimedia controller. "These efforts have allowed Silicon Motion a unique position in the market well ahead of competitors," said Don Brooks, chief executive officer of ,b>UMC Group International Operations, based in San Jose. "We have successfully established production of an embedded-DRAM process that can be utilized for ultra-low power consumption while preserving the high performance of a logic process." UMC said it developed a 4-poly, 3-metal embedded-DRAM process based on a 0.35-micron logic process for Silicon Motion's requirements. In addition, UMC's design support team partnered with Silicon Motion in the development of an embedded design core incorporating independent memory-bank access control, which resulted in very low power dissipation, according to the silicon foundry, which is based in Hsinchu, Taiwan. "The LynxE is single chip and features rich multimedia, high-bandwidth and high-performance, yet consumes less than one-half watt," said Wallace Kou, president and CEO of Silicon Motion in San Jose. The chip operating at 70 MHz and features a 192-bit memory bus providing peak bandwidth of 1.6 GB/second. The company is offering samples of the IC with volume production set to begin later in the first quarter.