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Microprocessor
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| Top Stories for August 18, 2000 (details below) | |
| C/Net | Chip newcomer Transmeta files for IPO |
| ZDII | Transmeta files for IPO |
| C/Net | Transmeta starts shipping its chip of choice |
| The Register Files | |
| The Register | AMD confuses world+dog with prices |
| Microprocessor
Headline News Collected By Robert R. Collins |
Week of August 13, 2000 |
Older News |
| August 18, 2000 | ||
Chip newcomer Transmeta files for IPOBy Michael Kanellos August 17, 2000 |
Transmeta, the processor start-up that hopes to take on Intel in the lucrative market for notebook chips, filed today to raise $200 million through an initial public offering.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip company filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell an undisclosed number of shares to the public. No date was set for the IPO. The company will trade under the symbol "TMTA." |
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Transmeta files for IPOBy Sergio G. Non August 17, 2000 |
Much ballyhooed chipmaker Transmeta (Proposed ticker: TMTA) has filed to go public.
Transmeta on Thursday registered a form S-1 for a $200 million initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. IPO dollar amounts in early filings are typically included solely for the purpose of calculating a registration fee, and usually change as a company near the actual offering date. |
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Transmeta starts shipping its chip of choiceBy Michael Kanellos August 17, 2000 |
Transmeta has begun shipping its latest notebook chip to computer manufacturers, a crucial, tangible step in the start-up's plan to become a force in microprocessors.
Dave Ditzel, CEO of the obsessively secretive Santa Clara, Calif.-based processor maker, told an audience at this week's Hot Chips conference at Stanford University that the company has begun shipping its Crusoe 5600 processor to computer makers, according to a report in Semiconductor Business News. |
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| August 17, 2000 | ||
Intel's Itanium shows it still has a way to goBy Mark Hachman August 16, 2000 |
While the chips weren't quite up to snuff, Intel Corp. and itspartners demonstrated functional Itanium silicon at this week's LinuxWorld conference in San Jose.
At least three companies showed off Itanium systems on the show floor: Intel, with help from VA Linux Systems Inc. and Mission Critical Linux, Silicon Graphics Inc., and NEC Corp. In fact, NEC demonstrated a 16-way Itanium way server using its custom-designed Azusa chip set. |
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Transmeta launches new processor for PC notebooksBy Mark LaPedus August 16, 2000 |
Looking to grab the spotlight at this week's Hot Chips 12 conference, Transmeta Corp. formally announced its next-generation notebook PC microprocessor, which is compatible with personal computer MPUs from Intel Corp. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based startup also said it has begun shipping the new TM5600 series of its Crusoe processors to customers.
The TM5600 Crusoe chips are geared for low-power but high-performance portable computers, said David Ditzel, chief executive of Transmeta. "High-performance processors consume too much power, which makes battery life unacceptably short," said Ditzel in a presentation at the Hot Chips conference on Tuesday. "The TM5600 helps reduce the power consumption in a system." |
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| August 16, 2000 | ||
Processor 'dead zone' looms for Intel
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Intel is leaving itself vulnerable to a serious attack from AMD microprocessors over the next 12 months, according to an industry analyst.
The dominant microchip manufacturer, whose chips run the majority of PCs, is not planning a high-end chip for PC systems costing under $2,000 (about £1,335) until mid-2001, leaving this crucial segment of the market open to products from smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), according to a new report by analyst Bert McComas of InQuest Market Research. |
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Intel’s Roadmap Reveals Possible Rambus Contractual ConflictsBy Tom Murphy August 15, 2000 |
Intel’s high-stakes alliance with Rambus Inc. to gain more control over of the DRAM industry is not panning out, according to one industry watcher. That is why the House that X86 Built is now backing off its steadfast support for direct Rambus DRAM (RDRAM) as the only memory type for its mainstream desktop computing platforms.
Last Friday, Electronic News revealed an internal roadmap used by Intel in presentations to other industry OEMs, showing that the company will use synchronous DRAM chips in its mainstream PC platforms through 2002, with RDRAM trickling slowly into use on high-end servers and workstations. |
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National bundles Geode platforms with Merinta software for information appliancesAugust 15, 2000 |
National Semiconductor Corp. today announced a partnership with Merinta Inc. in Austin to bundle hardware platform and software solutions in development kits for so-called information appliances and home gateway Internet devices. Under a new agreement, National will combine its Geode processor-based WebPAD development kits with Merinta's iBrow end-to-end software suite. | |
Intel set adrift as Sony brings Crusoe onboardAugust 15, 2000 |
Sony has ditched Intel and switched to more power-efficient chips from Transmeta
for its eagerly awaited notebook range.
Sony's Vaio CI series of computers, which will feature a built-in digital camera installed on top of its screen, will be the first products to feature the Crusoe processor. |
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The Register Files |
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AMD confuses world+dog with pricesBy Mike Magee August 15, 2000 |
Late yesterday evening, UK time, The Reg received a little e-missive from AMD talking about their faster Athlon and also confirming price cuts they made yesterday on their microprocessors.
Look - as our PM Tony Blair might say - we pointed out that you've got to be very, very careful when you buy microprocessors. The prices in AMD's official press release bear little or no relation to street prices. This morning we had confirmed from a representative in AMD Europe that the 1000 pricing in its press release was "official pricing" and that it did sell its microprocessors at other prices to its customers. |
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| August 15, 2000 | ||
Rambus sues Infineon in royalty disputeBy Michael Kanellos August 14, 2000 |
Rambus has sued Infineon to collect royalty payments on memory produced by the Siemens spinoff, although the two sides are in negotiation to resolve the matter.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Virginia, is similar to legal action taken by Rambus in recent months against Toshiba, Hitachi and other companies. In all these matters, Rambus alleges that patents it filed in the early '80s give it a legitimate claim to royalty payments over SDRAM, the standard form of memory found in computers today, and DDR DRAM, a high-speed form of memory that competes against memory based around designs from Rambus. |
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Infineon vows to fight Rambus suit over synchronous DRAM patentsAugust 14, 2000 |
Infineon Technologies AG here today promised to vigorously fight a patent infringement lawsuit filed last week by Rambus Inc., which is accusing the German chip company of violating its high-speed synchronous DRAM technologies.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Count in Richmond, Va, is part of Rambus' efforts to collect royalties from DRAM makers for fast SDRAMs, double data rate (DDR) memories, and controllers interfacing those chips. The suit was filed after negotiations for a licensing agreement broke down between the two companies. |
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Intel roadmap still shows Rambus support, but leaves DRAM choice to PC makersBy Jack Robertson August 14, 2000 |
As expected, Intel Corp. now appears to be taking a neutral stance on whether mainstream PC manufacturers use Rambus memories or synchronous DRAMs with the upcoming "Northwood" Pentium 4 processor. Intel's position is reflected in a leaked memory roadmap that has been published on a Web site operated by InQuest Market Research of Gilbert, Ariz.
The research firm obtained the roadmap from personal computer OEMs, according to analyst Bert McComas, principal at InQuest. He said the memory roadmap still shows the Pentium 4 being supported Intel's "Tehama" chip set for Rambus DRAMs, but it also will be served by the "Brookdale" SDRAM chip set. The roadmap, available on InQuest's Web site, shows the Direct Rambus version using a new upgraded Tehama-E chip set with an upgraded ICH-3 Southbridge I/O controller hub, McComas said. |
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Sony to make Transmeta-powered notebookBy Hiroshi Suzuki August 14, 2000 |
Sony Corp., the world's second- largest maker of home-use electronic appliances, said it plans to introduce a notebook computer by the end of this year powered by a Transmeta Corp. chip.
Sony plans to use Santa Clara, California-based Transmeta's Crusoe central processing unit in a new model of its Vaio CI series of notebook computers instead of the Intel Corp. chips installed in previous models because the new processor is less power hungry and allows use of a smaller battery. "Crusoe's nature to use less power fits the needs of a notebook-size PC,'' said Tetsuo Kanno, a Sony spokesman. |
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The Register Files |
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Sony signs TransmetaBy Tony Smith August 14, 2000 |
Sony could be Transmeta's next high-profile customer, if a company source are to be believed.
According to said deep throat, Sony is lining up Transmeta's notebook-oriented Crusoe CPU for a new Viao C1 sub-notebook aimed initially at the Japanese market - it'll ship this autumn, apparently - but possibly making it to the US and Europe later on. |
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AMD fans fans' flamesBy Mike Magee August 14, 2000 |
The lack of thermals - no, not Damart thermals* - in AMD boxed Athlon processors has drawn a flurry of emails from our beloved readers eager to put us right, put us wrong, or just put us down.
And meanwhile AMD has confirmed price cuts are on Socket A, and not Slot A parts, which will vanish completely during the rest of this year. |
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| August 14, 2000 | ||
Sony to Roll Out Transmeta Crusoe-Powered PCBy Shinichi Jimbo August 11, 2000 |
Sony Corp. said its Vaio C1 subnote slated for shipment next autumn will have a Crusoe microprocessor, making it the first company to officially announce a PC powered by the energy-saving CPU, BizTech learned today.
Sony, which has a stake in Crusoe's developer, Transmeta Corp. of the US, in early August decided to use the x86-compatible in its Vaio subnote PC, said a Sony product marketing manager, who asked for anonymity. The company official declined to be specific about the shipment date. |
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New Sony notebooks to feature Transmeta, AMD chipsBy Ken Popovich August 11, 2000 |
Could Intel Corp. be losing its grip on PC vendors as well as the mobile market?
Sources say Sony Corp., which has previously relied solely on Intel chips to power its PC platforms, will feature processors from Intel rivals for two new versions of its popular Vaio notebooks later this year. One model will be powered by Transmeta Corp.'s Crusoe processor while another will come with a chip from Advance Micro Devices Inc., according to sources. |
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Intel’s Roadmap: RDRAM Not in Mainstream PCs Until 2002By Paul Kallender August 11, 2000 |
For two years, controversy has raged about the prospects of Rambus Inc.’s RDRAM memory achieving a mass market. Until recently, Intel’s public position held the line that RDRAM remained the company’s preferred high-bandwidth memory support for Intel’s future generations of processors.
Many analysts, with InQuest’s Bert McComas among the vanguard, have remained skeptical. Critics who said that RDRAM will continue to prove difficult to produce and therefore too expensive for cheap household PCs felt vindicated when Intel recently revealed that it would allow non RDRAM memory in its new Pentium 4 (P4) processor. |
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Rambus sues Infineon over SDRAM patents; battle could test licensing effortsBy Jack Robertson August 11, 2000 |
Rambus Inc. has filed a patent infringement suit against Infineon Technologies AG in the U.S. District Count in Richmond, Va., as part of its ongoing campaign to get memory companies to license its synchronous DRAM technology.
The suit, filed this week, is expected to set of a major fight with Munich-based Infineon reportedly considering its own lawsuit against Rambus to enforce its patent rights in synchronous memory technology. Industry observers said Rambus' move to strike first will set in motion a test case for the validity of the company's claims in synchronous memory patents, which have been used to reach new licensing and royalty agreements with Oki Electric, Toshiba, and Hitachi. |
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VIA to Introduce 1GHz MPUBy Jayant Mathew August 10, 2000 |
Via Technologies, the Taiwanese chipmaker, today confirmed reports that it will introduce Samuel 2, a 1GHz chip, in the first half of next year. Richard Brown, a Via spokesman, said via e-mail that the chip will be marketed under the VIA Cyrix III brand name.
The 1GHz chip marks the first time that VIA is directly challenging Intel and AMD’s turf. The chip is expected to be manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) using a 0.15 micron process technology. |
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Intel's Secret Chipset: BrookdaleBy Mark Hachman August 11, 2000 |
The name of the secret chipset for Intel's Pentium 4 is
Brookdale, Intel Corp. documents and an analyst have revealed.
Bert McComas, an analyst at InQuest Market Research in Gilbert, Ariz., this week disclosed several highlights of Intel's forthcoming microprocessor and chipset roadmap through late next year. In addition to posting an analysis on his own web site at http://www.inqst.com, he also provided the roadmap to TechWeb News. |
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Intel preparing Northwood, Timna chips for 2001By Michael Kanellos August 10, 2000 |
The Pentium 4 is coming soon, but it is only the first of a number of products coming from Intel in the next 16 months.
The company is preparing to launch its Pentium 4 early in the fourth quarter and will follow the release with a number of processors for different product segments, according to sources. The chip will run at 1.4 GHz, Intel has said. |
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AMD releases specs of 64-bit MPU, hoping to upstage IntelBy Jack Robertson August 10, 2000 |
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. here today fired the opening salvo in the looming 64-bit microprocessor battle with Intel Corp. AMD released the full programmer development specs for its "Sledgehammer" 64-bit
MPU, which is slated to go up against Intel's 64-bit Itanium chip in 2001 when both processors hit the market.
AMD drew the battle lines early by detailing how Sledgehammer will run legacy 32-bit x86 programs concurrently with new 64-bit software that will be developed. The processor senses whether the 32-bit or 64-bit mode is needed, according to the Sunnyvale company. |
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AMD, Intel draw 64-bit battle linesBy Jack Robertson August 11, 2000 |
Forget the combative hype from arch-rivals Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Intel Corp. over their upcoming 64-bit processors. The real battle begins next year when AMD's Sledgehammer enters production against Intel's Itanium, and the market weighs in.
AMD this week released detailed Sledgehammer specs for software developers, two weeks before Intel is slated to unload its own technical data at the Intel Developer Forum in San Jose. AMD again touted its “bottom-up” strategy of expanding its 32-bit Athlon core by adding 64-bit capability. |
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AMD's x86-64 Technology UncoveredAugust 11, 2000 |
You may have heard quite a bit recently about a new processor from AMD that is coming out code named SledgeHammer. The SledgeHammer is AMD's step into the high-end server market that will compete with the likes of processors like Alpha and the Intel Itanium. The main difference, SledgeHammer (AKA "Hammer") will support 64-bit processing and 64-bit applications. We'll go more into this within the article, but let me continue explaining some background information. | |
AMD Sledgehammer + 64bit ProcessingBy Ga'ash Soffer August 13th, 2000 |
The problem of deciding whether a certain operation requires a drastic change in technique or honing of an existing method is a delicate one.
In the CPU industry, the question is how to implement 64bit processing. Intel's answer was the former, a radical change in the entire CPU architecture. With AMD releasing a detailed overview of their approach to 64bit processing, we see Intel's number one competitor taking the latter approach, extending the x86 architecture to support 64bit processing. |
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The Register Files |
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Pentium 4 Willamette may be delayedBy Mike Magee August 10, 2000 |
Rumours that the Pentium 4 (Willamette) will be delayed appear to have the ring of truth about them, according to sources close to the action.
Willamette, which back in June was slated for an early-to-mid September release date in its 423-pin recension, at clock speeds estimated to vary between 1.2GHz and 1.5GHz, is Intel's next generation 32-bit microprocessor. |
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Intel thrown into confusion by AMD cutsBy Mike Magee August 12, 2000 |
Chip giant Intel is confused about how it will react to price cuts AMD is making this weekend, we can reveal.
On the 7th of August last, the firm sent its authorised dealer and distribution channel the usual notification of a price change, which read: "This is a notice to inform you of an upcoming price move on Intel's boxed processors. On August 27, 2000, Intel will be reducing prices on select boxed Pentium III processors, select boxed Celeron processors, select boxed Pentium III Xeon processors, and select boxed mobile Pentium III and Celeron processors sold through authorized distributors. With this price move, Intel is delivering higher performance and better value across multiple market segments. |
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Sun helps AMD to Hammer IntelBy Mike Magee August 10, 2000 |
AMD has released a manual in PDF format to allow software developers to migrate their code to its 64-bit Hammer microprocessor platform.
And, in one of twists and turns that makes the computer industry endlessly fascinating, it has enlisted the support of Sun Microsystems, which has endorsed the x86-64 architecture for its Solaris operating system. |
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AMD fans currently a nightmareBy Mike Magee August 11, 2000 |
Here at The Register, we know AMD fans are a nightmare. If any story appears on our site which in any tiny way whatever suggests anything negative about the Great Satan of Taperecorders, our email box rapidly fills up with injured emissives telling us what a great company it is.
But this time we're not talking about AMD fans, but about AMD fans. |
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