x86 Headline NewsFor the week of July 13, 1998 |
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x86 Weekly News Collected By Robert R. Collins |
Week of July 13, 1998 |
Older News |
July 17, 1998 | ||
SiS Offers 100 MHz Socket 7 Chipset With 3DBy Amber Howle July 16, 1998 |
Resellers building their own systems to
meet falling PC price points should watch to see if
low-end motherboard prices drop a little more before the
end of the year. Taipei, Taiwan-based core logic supplier Silicon Integrated Systems Corp. (SiS) Wednesday unveiled what it claimed to be the industry's first 100 MHz socket 7 chipset with integrated 3D VGA. Using the SiS530, motherboard makers may be able to pass savings otherwise spent on graphics cards to OEMs and Build-Your-Own resellers. |
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Graphics chipsets now a trendBy Jim Davis July 16, 1998 |
Taipei, Taiwan-based Silicon Integrated
Systems (SiS) introduced a Pentium chipset that
integrates 3D graphics chips, a precursor to more such
products from Intel and others. The move demonstrates manufacturers' response to PC vendors trying to wring cost from system components, in order to meet demand for low-cost PCs while making money on these systems. |
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Intel Revises Chip-Set Road MapBy Mark Hachman and Sandy Chen July 16, 1998 |
Intel has begun advising its customers
of a minor revision in its chip-set road map, inserting
the 440ZX chip set as an option for low-cost PCs. The 440ZX -- a temporary name, according to customers -- is designed to be a low-cost version of the 440BX core architecture. The chip set will succeed the 440EX chip set currently used with Intel's Celeron processors in PCs costing less than $1,200. |
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Intel to slash price of 300MHz Celeron, announce workstation specBy Lisa DiCarlo July 16, 1998 |
Now that industry bellwether Intel Corp.
has got its second quarter out of the way, it is trying
to spark demand for the second half of the year and
beyond. Next month, Intel will cut the list price of a 300MHz Celeron chip from about $160 to less than $100, according to sources. As recently as last month, Intel's plan was to cut the price by only $20, to $140, the sources said. |
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Intel Expects Sales To Be Flat Next QuarterBy Eric Hausman July 14, 1998 |
After just missing earnings estimates
for its second quarter, Intel Corp. said it expects third
quarter revenue to be flat or only slightly up. The company's revenue of $5.9 billion for the just-completed quarter was essentially flat compared to the first quarter. That flat growth was in-line with guidance Intel had given Wall Street analysts. However, earnings of 66 cents per share for the second quarter were 2 cents lower than the First Call Corp. consensus estimates. |
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AMD and
Motorola pool efforts on copper
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AMD and Motorola are to announce a
cross-licensing agreement to accelerate their development
of copper-based chip manufacturing. Motorola has already
said its development of copper technology is
well-advanced, and while AMD has so far been quieter, it
said it had struck a deal on the subject with wafer fab
equipment company Applied Materials last week. The current generation of chips using aluminium interconnects, but copper promises to make it possible to make chips that are smaller, run faster and generate less heat. IBM was the first out of the traps with a copper announcement last year, and is probably still ahead, but any lead it has is likely to be narrow, and it seems inevitable that the industry will stampede towards copper. |
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Got Celeron Blues? Intel's Got the CureMay 11, 1998 |
Intel plans to battle the wave of
negative publicity surrounding its low-end Celeron
microprocessors by accelerating the launch of a
second-generation 300MHz chip incorporating level-2
cache, sources said. Early lackluster support for the 266MHz Celeron without L-2 cache appears to be the major culprit. Explained one Circuit City sales associate: "I have talked customers out of it. Intel didn't sell me, so I ain't selling." |
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July 16, 1998 | ||
Intel plans even faster chips -- but who needs them?By James Niccolai July 15, 1998 |
Intel over the next 18 months will beef
up the performance of its desktop and notebook
microprocessors with new and enhanced products. But
unless everyday software applications used at work and at
home place increased demands on processors, the chip
giant may have trouble finding customers willing to pay
the higher prices for its new offerings, an industry
analyst said last week. Late next year Intel is expected to introduce a chip code-named Coppermine, which will take advantage of an advanced manufacturing process to boost the speed of the company's forthcoming Katmai processor to as much as 700 MHz in desktop PCs, said Linley Gwennap, publisher and editorial director of Microprocessor Report and a noted industry analyst. |
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Behind the Merced mystiqueby Kim S. Nash July 15, 1998 |
Pluck a hair from your head. Imagine
slicing it lengthwise into 555 strands. Each would be
0.18 microns thick, the same thickness as a wire destined
for Intel Corp.'s new Merced chip. In fact, they aren't even called wires - traces is the term, and you need an electron beam to arrange them in the specific, and so far secret, layout that will become a Merced microprocessor. Merced is the code name for the first chip to be built from a new 64-bit microprocessor design, dubbed IA-64, created by Intel and Hewlett-Packard Co. |
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Intel Helps Boost NasdaqBy Gabrielle Jonas July 15, 1998 |
Intel helped to lift the Nasdaq
Wednesday, even though its second quarter earnings fell
short of analyst expectations after market close Tuesday.
The chip company reported profits of $1.2 billion, or 66 cents per share, for the quarter ended June 27. The First Call consensus was 68 cents per share. Intel [INTC] climbed 2 to 82 11/16 in early trading. Near noon, the Nasdaq Composite was up 12.14 to 1980.55, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 7.47 to 9253.01. |
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Intel to preview workstation, 3D graphicsBy Michael Kanellos July 15, 1998 |
At a major computer conference next
week, Intel will make a big play to ensconce its hardware
firmly in the workstation market by previewing a new
version of its 3D graphics technology as well as
providing details for a standard workstation blueprint. The new workstation design and 3D graphics technology will debut at Siggraph, a computer graphics forum held in Orlando, Florida. |
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July 15, 1998 | ||
Intel earnings off 29%By Jim Davis July 15, 1998 |
Intel reported a 29 percent reduction in
earnings and sequentially flat revenues, but said that
cost-cutting measures and new products should give the
company a boost by next quarter. The chipmaker late yesterday announced second-quarter revenues of $5.9 billion, compared to $6 billion a year ago as well as in the first quarter of 1998. |
See Today's Related Stories |
THE DAY AHEAD: Intel profits drop, but things looking upBy Larry Dignan July 15, 1998 |
Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) fell short of
Wall Street estimates in the second quarter, but with a
few accounting gymnastics you can argue the chip maker
came out on top. Either way, it really doesn't matter. Intel remains tops in the chip sector and the company indicated that its slide could be over. |
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Intel Sidesteps 3Q Outlook InquiriesBy Mark Hachman July 15, 1998 |
Bellwether Intel Corp. disappointed Wall
Street twice yesterday, first falling short of consensus
earnings estimates, and then failing to satisfy analysts
who hoped for more concrete information for their own
forecasts. As it enters the second half of 1998, Intel faces a barrage of difficult questions, including the general demand for PCs, servers, and workstations; whether its OEM customers have truly reduced inventories; the effects of the recently introduced low-cost Celeron and high-margin Xeon processors; the financial difficulties of Japan and Asia; competition from Advanced Micro Devices and others; and finally, the unknown effects of government scrutiny. |
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Intel quickens the pace of manufacturing technology transitionsBy Andy Santoni July 14, 1998 |
Intel has all but completed its shift to
a 0.25-micron production process, and by this time next
year the company will begin producing even smaller,
cheaper, faster, and more capable chips using a
0.18-micron process. Almost all of Intel's processor production has moved to a 0.25-micron process, said Paul Otellini, Intel's executive vice president and general manager of the Intel Architecture business group. The older 0.35-micron technology is still being used only on some Pentium MMX (P5) CPUs and on some of the earliest Pentium II (P6) processors, he said. |
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Integration
and Segmentation Intertwined
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The debut of Mendocino this fall will
mark the beginning of the end of off-chip cache memory in
the PC market. This transition began with the
introduction of Pentium Pro, which brought the L2 cache
into the processor module. Now the L2 cache is well on
its way to becoming an integral part of the processor
chip. The rate at which this design approach moves
throughout Intel's product line will be limited not so
much by its technical merit as by its implications for
fab capacity and its effects on Intel's market
segmentation strategy. With Mendocino, Intel is integrating a wimpy 128K L2 cache--one-fourth the size of the cache in a Pentium II module. The relatively small size is dictated in part by cost and volume concerns: a larger on-chip cache would, of course, result in a larger die, reducing total manufacturing capacity and raising manufacturing cost. As part of the Celeron line, Mendocino is a cost-focused chip, and it therefore made sense to use the smallest reasonable cache size. |
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Intel
Accused Again
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As if Intel weren't in enough trouble
already for its actions in the CPU and core-logic
businesses, the company is coming under fire for alleged
anticompetitive practices in the graphics market. The
claim is that Intel is selling its 740 graphics chips
below cost to Asian graphics-card vendors to increase its
market share at the expense of its competitors; some have
suggested the FTC should add this complaint to its case
against Intel. Intel has responded with unusual candor to these claims. The company says it has two sales channels in the Asian market: direct sales, for high-volume buyers, and distributors, to handle the smaller customers that represent the bulk of the market there. |
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FIC Announces Non-Intel Slot 1 MainboardsJuly 14, 1998 |
With everyone dancing to the tune of
Intel's 440BX core-logic AGPset, First International
Computer (FIC) has decided to change the music beat by
releasing three VIA Apollo Pro-based motherboard
models--the KA-6013, KA-6010, and KA-6100--all of which
are based on the first alternative Slot1 chipset
solution. The mainboards are available in three form factors--microATX, ATX, and Baby AT. The KA Series is expected to make Pentium II-based systems attractive to all market segments. The motherboards are targeted at system integrators and OEMs (KA-6130, microATX), power users and high-end business users (KA-6010, ATX), and entry-level Pentium II system integrators/DIY users (KA-6010, Baby AT). |
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Today's Related Stories | ||
Intel's Q2 results slip, as processor, chip-set sales falterJuly 14, 1998 |
Intel Corp. here today reported lower
profits, revenues, and earnings for its second quarter,
but predicted second-half revenues would exceed those in
the first half. The company reported net income of $1.2 billion on sales of $5.9 billion. Revenues were down slightly from both the second quarter of 1997 and the first quarter of 1998, when Intel reported revenues in both periods of $6.0 billion. Net income was off 29% from the second quarter of 1997, but down only 8% from the first quarter of 1998. Earnings per share declined 28% from the same period in 1997, falling to $0.66. |
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Intel
profits down 29 per cent
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Mighty Intel made a profit of $1.17
billion on turnover of $5.92 billion for its second
quarter, those figures revealing a drop in profitability
of 29 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Then, Intel made a profit of $1.65 billion on turnover of
$5.96 billion. The company forecast that its third quarter turnover is expected to be flat, but that the PC market was showing signs of recovery. That will cause other high technology financial officers to breathe a sigh of relief. Gross profit margin in the quarter fell to 49 per cent, down from 54 per cent in its previous quarter. |
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Intel falls short in the 2QBy Larry Dignan July 14, 1998 |
Intel Corp. disappointed Wall Street
Tuesday with second quarter earnings of $1.2 billion, or
66 cents a share, on sales of $5.9 billion. First Call
Corp. consensus was 68 cents a share. Earnings for the quarter declined 29 percent from a year ago and was off 8 percent from first quarter earnings of $1.3 billion. In the second quarter a year ago, Intel reported earnings of 92 cents a share. |
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Intel Misses Analyst 2Q EstimatesBy Sergio G. Non July 14, 1998 |
Intel's second quarter earnings fell
short of analyst expectations, the company said Tuesday. In results released after market close, the chip company reported profits of $1.2 billion, or 66 cents per share, for the quarter ended June 27. The First Call consensus was 68 cents per share, with some analysts expecting as much as 70 cents a share. |
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Intel Earnings Fall ShortBy Eric Hausman July 14, 1998 |
Intel Corp.'s second quarter earnings
fell short of analyst expectations. For the period ended June 27, the Intel, Santa Clara, Calif., earned 66 cents per share, 2 cents lower than First Call Corp. estimates. Revenue of $5.9 billion was essentially flat compared to the same quarter last year. Net income of $1.2 billion, was 29 percent lower than the $1.6 billion earned in the second quarter a year ago. Earnings per share in last year's second quarter were 92 cents per share. |
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Intel Misses EstimatesBy Mark Hachman July 15, 1998 |
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel Corp.
reported a net income of $1.2 billion on revenues of $5.9
billion. Revenues were down slightly from both the second
quarter 1997 and the first quarter 1998, when Intel
reported revenues in both periods of $6.0 billion. Net income declined 29% from the second quarter 1997, but was only down 8% from the first quarter 1998. Earnings per share, meanwhile, declined 28 percent from the same period in 1997, falling to $0.66. Gross margins fell to 49%, but are expected to average out to about 52% for 1998 overall, executives said. |
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Intel reports quarterly resultsBy Andy Santoni July 14, 1998 |
Intel on Tuesday reported second-quarter
revenue of $5.9 billion, essentially the same as
second-quarter 1997 and first-quarter 1998 revenue, each
$6.0 billion. Earnings were $1.2 billion, or 66 cents per
share. Revenues in the second quarter in the Americas and Japan were higher; Asia-Pacific had relatively flat revenue and revenue in Europe was lower. Net income in the second quarter was $1.2 billion, down 29 percent from second-quarter 1997 net income of $1.6 billion, and down 8 percent from first-quarter 1998 net income of $1.3 billion. Net income in the first quarter of 1998 included a nondeductible charge of approximately $165 million, or nine cents per share, for in-process research and development associated with the acquisition of Chips and Technologies. |
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July 14, 1998 | ||
Intel earnings looking upBy Michael Kanellos July 14, 1998 |
Despite weeks of doom and gloom in the
hardware sector, a better-than-expected second quarter
from Intel today could prove the first step in a
turnaround. The Santa Clara, Caliornia, chipmaker, which will report its second-quarter results after the market closes, is expected to announce earnings per share of 65 cents or more, excluding charges, on revenues of approximately $5.9 billion. |
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Intel
details case against FTC case
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Chip giant Intel has filed details of
its case against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with
a full trial expected to begin in early January next
year. Intel admitted that it had deprived customers, including Compaq, Digital and Intergraph, of both information and samples of processors after it entered into arguments over patents. But the company claimed it had the right to refuse to give its intellectual property to its customers or to license such technologies, because Intel does not have a monopoly in the chip business. The companies concerned are not competition but customers, Intel said. |
See Today's Related Stories |
Intel-FTC trial date pushed back to Jan. 12By James Niccolai July 13, 1998 |
The trial date for the U.S. Federal
Trade Commission's antitrust suit against Intel has been
pushed back a week, to Jan. 12, 1999, an FTC
representative said on Monday. The FTC refused to comment on the reason for the postponement. "It has been delayed, and that is all the information being made public," an FTC representative said. |
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Microsoft, Intel Take Tech Sector HigherBy Sergio G. Non July 13, 1998 |
Microsoft, Intel, and e-commerce stocks
helped carry the technology sector upward during morning
trading. Around noon, the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 17.99 to 1961.03. The S&P Technology Index rose 16.42 to 964.98, the PSE Tech Index gained 2.11 to 357.05, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 5.66 to 9111.40. |
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Today's Related Stories | ||
Intel defends actions to FTCBy Michael Kanellos July 13, 1998 |
Intel defended its right to cancel
agreements with three computer vendors in its answer to
the antitrust complaint filed by the Federal Trade
Commission, claiming, among other grounds, that the
information constituted proprietary information that the
chipmaker could retrieve at any time. The Santa Clara, California, microprocessor maker also requested that the case be dismissed. Intel's answer, filed with the FTC today, outlined in broad strokes the chip giant's defense when the trial begins early next year. The FTC has pushed back the start date of the trial to January 12, from January 5. |
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Intel offers point-by-point rebuttal of FTC chargesBy Lisa DiCarlo July 13, 1998 |
Intel Corp. today formally answered the
Federal Trade Commission's antitrust complaint,
maintaining it did not monopolize or attempt to
monopolize any market, nor did it use any unfair methods
of competition. In a 12-page reply, Intel attorneys offer a point-for-point rebuttal of every charge levied against the company by the FTC in early June. The FTC has charged that Intel violated federal antitrust law by denying three customers --- Intergraph Corp., Digital Equipment Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp. --- access to technical information after the companies separately sought to enforce patents against Intel. |
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Intel Denies Monopoly ChargesBy Reuters July 14, 1998 |
Semiconductor giant Intel Monday denied
many of the charges leveled against it by the Federal
Trade Commission last month, saying it has not
monopolized any market, used unfair methods of
competition, or violated any antitrust laws. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company also said the current lawsuit filed against it is not an appropriate matter for action by the FTC. Intel's response was its formal answer to the complaint filed in early June by the FTC. |
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Intel responds to FTC suit, denies monopoly powerBy James Niccolai July 13, 1998 |
Intel on Monday filed its response to
the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's antitrust lawsuit,
denying it has monopolized the market for microprocessors
and saying its actions did not harm competition "in
any relevant market." "Intel has not monopolized any market, attempted to monopolize any market, or used any unfair methods of competition," the company said in its response. In a point-by-point rebuttal of the FTC's claims, Intel also restated its position that it acted within the law when it denied confidential future product information to companies with which it was in legal disputes, and said the FTC has no cause to investigate its actions. |
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July 13, 1998 | ||
PC vendors form watchdog group to loosen Wintel's gripBy Ephraim Schwartz July 12, 1998 |
Major hardware vendors, led by Compaq
and 3Com, are in the early stages of forming an alliance
designed to rein in the scattershot research and
development practices of both Microsoft and Intel. Tired of having new operating systems and technology foisted on them and their corporate customers, major vendors are privately forming an organization called the Mobile Advisory Council. The Council will attempt to increase pressure on Microsoft and Intel to consult with systems vendors and component manufacturers before initiatives are launched. |
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AMD Moving Forward With Copper DevelopmentBy Craig Menefee July 10, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices confirms it has
settled on Applied Materials ion metal plasma (IMP)
technology for copper-based interconnects in its
next-generation microprocessors. For its part, AMAT says
it will work closely with AMD to accelerate copper
development. The implication that a new generation of AMD chips may have gone into full development comes on the heels of a disappointing second-quarter report that resulted in a one-day AMD stock price drop of around 15 percent earlier this week (Newsbytes, July 9, 1998). An AMD spokesperson declined to confirm or deny whether the announced technology selection and implied collaboration with AMAT will affect AMD's processor development roadmap, as revealed last November at the giant Comdex trade show in Las Vegas (Newsbytes, November 21, 1997). |
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Intel, FTC spar over trial dateBy Lisa DiCarlo July 10, 1998 |
Intel Corp. and the Federal Trade
Commission today wrangled over a start date for their
upcoming antitrust trial. At a scheduling hearing in Washington, Intel pushed for a February trial start, while the FTC asked for a date in early December. An administrative law judge will choose a trial date relatively soon, Intel officials said. |
See Today's Related Stories |
Intel antitrust trial date setBy Michael Kanellos July 10, 1998 |
January 5 will be the start date for the
Federal Trade Commission's high-profile antitrust case
against Intel, an administrative law judge ruled today. Judge James Timony, administrative law judge for the FTC, ruled that the trial would begin on the first Tuesday in the new year, a starting time that nearly splits the starting date requests of the FTC and Intel. Earlier in the day, FTC prosecutors made a motion to have the trial start in December while Intel argued for a mid-February start date. |
See Today's Related Stories |
Comdex - Intel's Maloney Emphasizes SimplicityBy Grant Buckler July 9, 1998 |
Making computers easier to use and
taking up less of people's time with administrative
headaches such as virus checking and security may finally
allow technology to deliver the kind of benefits its
proponents have been promising for years, said Sean
Maloney, vice-president and co-director of Intel Corp.'s
sales and marketing group, in a keynote address at
Comdex/Canada today. The World Wide Web, with its widely used and easy to understand interface, will help in this. And whether businesses are making money on the Web or not, Maloney said in a question period with reporters after his speech, it is here to stay. "This thing is just moving into people's lives in the same way that television did," he said. |
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Intel chip prices to dipBy Lisa DiCarlo and John G. Spooner July 10, 1998 |
Notebook prices, which have remained
relatively stable compared with the plummeting prices of
desktop PCs, should begin to drop more quickly beginning
this fall. Intel Corp. plans to cut prices on its mobile Pentium II processors in September, the first step in a broader plan to lower the cost of notebooks. |
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Chromatic Stuns Industry, Discontinues Mpact LineBy Andrew MacLellan July 10, 1998 |
In a sign that the overcrowded graphics
industry may finally be undergoing a period of
consolidation, multimedia house Chromatic Research Corp.
will discontinue its highly touted Mpact media processor
line and lay off a substantial percentage of its
workforce. Saying it was disappointed with the long-term viability of the Mpact, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said there will be no follow-on to the architecture, although existing devices, including the Mpact 2 3DVD and the Mpact 2 3DVA with integrated 2D/3D graphics and PC audio, will continue to be supported. |
See These Related Stories |
Chromatic to drop Mpact, redefine product effortsBy Will Wade July 10, 1998 |
In a drastic cost-cutting move,
Chromatic Research Inc. here today said it plans to lay
off up to half of its employees, as the graphics chip
company attempts to redefine its product line and
business model. Although the company will continue to support its existing base of Mpact media processor design-ins, it is abandoning new applications of the architecture in favor of a new product that is scheduled to debut next year. |
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Today's Related Stories | ||
Intel And FTC Battle Over Trial Date, ScopeBy Darryl K. Taft July 11, 1998 |
At Friday's scheduling conference in the
Federal Trade Commission's case against Intel, both sides
proposed trial start dates and argued what key points the
case should contain. Intel (company profile) requested the trial begin in February, while the FTC requested a Dec. 7 start. FTC attorney John Horsley said the federal agency should wrap up its case three weeks after the start date. |
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Intel-FTC court date fixed
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A preliminary court meeting between the
US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Intel lawyers has
led to a date for a trial being agreed between the two
parties. The FTC had asked for the trial to start on the 7 December but a US judge has given Intel a few extra weeks to prepare its case. The trial will now start on the 5 January 1999, which represents a compromise between Intel and the FTC. |
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Intel-FTC hearing date set for Jan. 5By Lisa DiCarlo and Rob O'Regan July 10, 1998 |
It's set: An administrative law judge
has picked Jan. 5, 1999, as the hearing date for the
Federal Trade Commission's antitrust lawsuit against
Intel Corp. The ruling represents a compromise to the dates requested by Intel and the FTC earlier Friday. Intel had asked for a date in February, while the FTC had requested a date in early December. |
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Intel Antitrust Trial Set For JanuaryBy Reuters July 11, 1998 |
The Federal Trade Commission antitrust
suit alleging that Intel used monopoly power to pry trade
secrets from competitors will go to trial Jan. 5, 1999,
an FTC official announced Friday. FTC Administrative Law Judge James Timony conducted a hearing Friday morning, at which FTC attorneys asked for a Dec. 7, 1998 start and Intel asked for Feb. 18, 1999. FTC Secretary Donald Clark announced later that Timony had decided to start the trial Jan. 5. |
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Judge sets Jan. 5 for FTC-Intel trial dateBy James Niccolai July 10, 1998 |
U.S. Administrative Law Judge James P.
Timony on Friday set a trial date of Jan. 5 for the
Federal Trade Commission to begin its antitrust suit
against Intel, representatives for the FTC and Intel said
Friday. At a scheduling hearing Friday morning in Washington, the FTC asked the judge to grant a trial date of Dec. 7., while Intel had requested the trial to begin in February, giving the chip maker more time to prepare its defense. Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said the company will "adjust its schedule accordingly." |