| May 21, 1999 |
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By Jack Robertson
May 20, 1999
Semiconductor Business News
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The quixotic Intel Corp. breach of contract suit against VIA Technologies Inc. --
filed and withdrawn on the same day last month -- charged the Taiwanese firm with trying to sell
an unlicensed logic chip set, according to court documents filed here.
Intel has consistently refused to talk about its surprising legal flip-flop, except to say the suit
against VIA was filed by mistake by the firm's outside counsel (see May 3 story). However, a
copy of the lawsuit revealed that Intel had wanted a restraining order against VIA selling chip sets
using Intel technology that had allegedly not been licensed.
Dean Hays, vice president of marketing for VIA, interviewed Wednesday at VIA's U.S.
subsidiary in Fremont, Calif., claimed all of the company's current and upcoming chip sets to
connect Intel Celeron and Pentium processors are covered by the license agreement.
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By Jack Robertson and Mark Hachman
May 20, 1999
Electronic Buyers' News
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Two weeks after Intel withdrew its lawsuit against chip set maker Via Technologies,
executives at Via are still bitter about the action taken by the chip maker.
"I believe Intel is really worried, and the lawsuit was meant to intimidate us and perhaps OEM customers,"
said Dean Hays, vice president of marketing for VIA, at the company's U.S. subsidiary in Fremont, Calif. "It
was totally off base, because our Intel license definitely covers any VIA chip set that might be of concern to
Intel."
Intel had filed a breach-of-contract suit against VIA, chargingthe Taiwanese company with trying to sell an
unlicensed logic chip set, according to court documents filed in San Jose, Calif.
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By William McCall
May 20, 1999
SiliconValley.com
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You may not be able to take a moon shuttle or spend a night in space like characters in the movie ``2001: A Space Odyssey,'' but the kind of
thin computer pad they carried could be on shelves by the real 2001.
Intel Corp., the world's largest chip maker, is testing a device about the size of an
Etch-a-Sketch that taps into the Internet without a wire and can be passed around the
house from husband to wife to kid to check the latest headlines, e-mail, stock quotes
and even the school lunch menu.
``They'll have to come out here and pry it out of my hands,'' said Katherine Cowan, whose suburban Portland family recently
tested a prototype that designers based loosely on the ``newspad'' in the classic 1968 movie.
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| The
Register Files
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By Mike Magee
May 20, 1999
The Register
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Last weekend we reported that an "unnamed processor" benchmarked against Pentium IIIs
on the AnandTech web site was likely to be a K7.
The link to the benchmark is in our original story.
Now Anand himself has stepped into the fray and has claimed that the benchmarks do,
indeed, relate to an engineering sample of the K7.
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By Andrei Fatkullin
May 20, 1999
The Register
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Elbrus, the Russian microprocessor company which
secured funding from the Moscow government and others, is likely to
produce its 64-bit running at 600MHz early next year.
The processors will be produced at a small fabrication plant which
will use .35 micron process technology on Applied Materials kit, as
reported here earlier.
The company is run by Professor Boris Babaian, and the team
includes designers which claim the first breakthrough on VLIW
(very long instruction words) years before HP took up the idea.
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By Tony Smith
May 20, 1999
The Register
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Hitachi has developed a new type of memory chip that promises to offer the characteristics
of both regular DRAM and Flash memory.
Scientists as Hitachi's Cambridge Research Lab call the new memory Phase-State Low
Electron Drive Memory (PLEDM). That mouthful essentially means the new chips use the
state of electrons held in stacks of transistors to store data.
Hitachi claims PLEDM allows bits to be written in ten nanoseconds, faster than DRAM. The
company also believes the new device is far more scalable than current memory
technology -- unlike DRAM, as the device's transistors get smaller, performance does not
degrade.
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| May 20, 1999 |
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By Reuters
May 19, 1999
C/Net
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Arthur Rock, one of Silicon Valley's original venture capitalists, stepped down from Intel's board of
directors today, a position he has held since the world's largest chipmaker was founded in 1968.
Rock, 72, a principal of Arthur Rock & Company, a venture capital firm in San Francisco, will remain a director emeritus of Intel,
but he will not be able to vote. Intel's corporate by-laws require that all outside directors retire at 72.
Andrew Grove, Intel's chairman, presented Rock with a certificate of appreciation and a humorous drawing at the company's
annual meeting in Santa Clara, California, as he joked that he spent most of Intel's board meetings answering Rock's questions.
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By Ron Wilson
May 19, 1999
EE Times
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A team of researchers from Hitachi Ltd.'s Cambridge Research Lab and from
Cambridge University have reported the development of a new type of memory cell that could potentially
replace both DRAM and flash. The device, called a Phase-state Low Electron(hole)-number Drive Memory
(PLEDM), offers the ideal combination of lower power than DRAM, faster read and write cycle times than
DRAM, scalability to well beyond the levels where DRAM cells become problematic, fabrication with existing
tools and techniques and — researchers have projected by not demonstrated — the ability to operate as a
non-volatile memory. Hitachi believes the cell will be ready for production by the memory generation just beyond
the 1-Gbit DRAM.
In the PLEDM, each bit of data is stored in a unique stacked structure, in which a small, uniquely designed
transistor is fabricated over the gate of a larger, conventional MOS transistor. The PLEDM cell operates by
sensing the state of about 1,000 electrons trapped between unique insulating barriers in the channel region of the
upper transistor. These electrons are controlled by a side gate on the transistor, and their state in turn controls
the gate of the larger transistor below, providing signal gain within the memory cell.
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| The
Register Files
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By Peter Sherriff
May 19, 1999
The Register
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Those zany Germans are building high speed notebook PCs running faster than Intel would
like -– and they’re not overclocking mobile Pentium IIs or
Celerons.
No, to satisfy Hans' need for speed, those Teutonic tearaways are using desktop Celeron
parts in order to offer genuine 400MHz mobile performance when the fastest Intel notebook
CPU currently runs at a meagre 366MHz.
Sounds good, huh?
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By Peter Sherriff
May 19, 1999
The Register
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Intel plans to move from rented accommodation in Salt Lake City to whizzo new offices on
a 150 acre greenfield site in picturesque downtown Riverton, Utah, thanks to a whopping $5
million cash handout from the local authorities.
The chip giant currently employs around 350 folks from the Systems Management Division
and Network Communications Group in Salt Lake City and will develop the new site over
the next 20 years, eventually housing some 8000 staff there.
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By John Lettice
May 19, 1999
The Register
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Hitachi's Cambridge R&D centre has claimed a memory technology breakthrough that will
allow all the images and sound from a complete movie to be stored on a single chip. The
system, PLEDM, is being proposed as a next-generation memory technology that could
conceivably replace hard disks.
The lab, a Hitachi-backed facility of Cambridge University, is engaged in nanotechnology
research, and PLED (Phase-state Low Electron(hole)-number Drive Memory, looks like
becoming its first major commercial product, in around five years time. PLED moves on
from standard DRAM technology, which have one transistor and one capacitor cell, by
using two transistors to make a "gain cell" in a smaller area. The PLEDTR (PLED
TRansistor) is stacked onto the gate in a conventional transistor. The PLED cell itself is as
small as a conventional transistor, with a read/write time of less than 10nsec and a large
signal even at low voltage.
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| May 19, 1999 |
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By Brett Glass
May 17, 1999
PC Week Online
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Intel has revealed that each Pentium III chip will carry a unique serial number that can be read by the computer's software. Intel claims that
the serial number will facilitate e-commerce, promote "digital content protection," prevent counterfeiting of Intel processors, and help to track
stolen ones. We know users have questions about this controversial feature, so we assembled this FAQ.
Q: Why are privacy experts concerned?
A: Privacy experts are concerned because the CPU's electronic serial number could be used for purposes that may not be in users' best
interests.
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By Marc Ambasna-Jones
May 18, 1999
PC Week Online
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AMD is walking an investment tightrope and faces falling down the abyss if it doesn't manage to broaden its product line and succeed with
the K6-3 and K7 processors.
In its attempts to keep up with Intel's latest product realignment, AMD has made swinging cuts to maintain its policy of undercutting Intel's
pricing by around 25 per cent.
The key realignment is the 450MHz product. Intel has positioned its Pentium III 450MHz chip as its next major volume product and AMD
has had to match it with its K6-3.
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By Mark Hachman
May 18, 1999
Electronic Buyers' News
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Intel will cut the prices of its Celeron microprocessors again in June, according
to analysts and an original equipment manufacturer.
The scope of the cuts was not immediately available. However, industry sources said Intel will cut prices on
its desktop Celeron microprocessors on June 6. A reduction in the price of the 400-MHz Pentium II may
also take place, an OEM source said.
Analysts say this next wave of unscheduled cuts areIntel's response to the increasing price competition in
the low-end microprocessor market. The current market conditions are a result of a combination of Intel's
aggressive shift to 0.18-micron manufacturing technology, the improved yields of Advanced Micro
Devices' own microprocessors, and the possibility that National Semiconductor may heavily discount its MII
microprocessors.
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| The
Register Files
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By Mike Magee
May 17, 1999
The Register
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We have been predicting the demise of the Pentium II for some time now, as Intel
shifts its customer base to the Pentium III and introduces Coppermine technology.
But now it is official. Intel has confirmed that the Pentium II will die in six months time,
according to wire Asia Pulse.
The news service quotes Intel India director Atul Vijaykar, who said that Pentium II
shipments will cease by the end of the year.
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| May 18, 1999 |
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By Mark Hachman
May 17, 1999
Electronic Buyer's News
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Advanced Micro Devices followed Intel's lead in lowering the prices of its microprocessors,
while confirming analyst reports that its manufacturing yields have vastly improved.
AMD confirmed that, like Intel, it had reduced prices across its entire microprocessor lineup. Prices of the
K6-III fell as much as 45 percent, as the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based chip maker cut the 450-MHz and
400-MHz K6-III to $220 and $185, respectively.
AMD also reduced prices on its mainstream K6-2 processorline, although the cuts ranged from a more
moderate 12 percent to 29 percent. High-end 475-MHz, 450-MHz, and 400-MHz K6-2's were
reduced to $$152, $112, and $82, respectively. AMD will sell the mid-range 380-MHz and 366-MHz K6-2's
for $71 and $61, while OEMs designing low-end PCs may purchase the 350-MHz and 333-MHz K6-2
for $56 and $51, respectively. As previously reported, an AMD spokeswoman confirmed that a 500-MHz
K6-2 is sampling to OEMs.
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By Andy Patrizio
May 17, 1999
Windows Magazine
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Intel introduced Monday a 550-MHz version of its
Pentium III processor and a 366-MHz MobileCeleron chip. It also set the stage for
even faster chips next month, as well as subsequent price cuts of slower chips.
The new high-end chips use Katmai New Instructions, which, combined with the speed boost and optimized
applications, can offer big performance gains in floating point applications, such as graphics. Intel said when
using KNI-optimized applications, image processing improves by 90 percent, while video encoding is 39
percent faster compared with a 450-MHz Pentium II.
The 366-MHz Mobile Celeron will be followed by a 400-MHz chip and a new chip set, the 440ZX, on June
14. The 440ZX will replace the 440DX chip set, which introduced a 100-MHz bus to mobile systems, but
didn't have the AGP bus for high-performance video. With 440ZX, laptop computers will be able to support
AGP video, which is four times as fast as PCI video.
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By John G. Spooner
May 17, 1999
PC Week Online
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Intel Corp. today released a new mobile Celeron chip along with a set of components aimed at helping PC makers build thinner, lighter and less-expensive
notebooks.
Fueled in part by demand from OEMs seeking to reduce costs and create thinner designs, the Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker has begun shipping two new low-cost
mobile chip sets and a new, thinner processor package, called Micro PGA (Pin Grid Array). Its new mobile
Celeron, a 366MHz chip, is available now as well.
(Intel on Monday also released its new 550MHz Pentium III processor for desktop PCs.)
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By J. Robert Lineback
May 17, 1999
Semiconductor Business News
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Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, has stepped up its support
of double-data-rate DRAMs by introducing a family of nine new low-voltage logic ICs. The new chips include a pair of
dedicated 2.5-V address-register functions for DDR memory modules, a new series of variable-reference
translation voltage clamps, and a backplane transceiver that TI says is twice as fast as existing comparable
devices.
The new devices are part of TI's strategy to tightly match low-voltage standard logic functions and features with
specific applications so that system designers can finish product development in less time. The low-voltage
products are also aimed at the fastest growing segment in the relatively stable $2.5 billion standard logic business.
Low-voltage logic (operating below 3.3 volts) accounted for about $200 million in worldwide revenues last year,
according to market analysts.
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| The
Register Files
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By Mike Magee
May 17, 1999
The Register
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A reliable source close to AMD's plans who attended the E3 show last week has confirmed
that information we posted about the K7 chipsets is correct.
At the same time he said that AMD was bang on the button for a June release and would
come out with 500MHz, 550MHz and 600MHz versions at launch date.
System vendors, however, will be the first to get their hands on the parts, as AMD
continues to ramp up its production during the rest of the year.
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By Mike Magee
May 17, 1999
The Register
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An internal Intel report on the size and value of the server market has demonstrated that the
chip giant is still hell-bent on capturing market share from anyone -- even from its PC
customers.
Last week we reported on the extent of Intel's greed in attempting to sell more of its high
end multiprocessors. (Story: Intel aims to be No. 2 server provider by the end of 99)
Eckhard Pfeiffer, the ex-CEO of Compaq, complained bitterly when Intel introduced its
Inside scheme, but now the chip giant is likely to be subjected to even closer scrutiny.
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By Mike Magee
May 17, 1999
The Register
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Intel has now released us from the spurious embargo we were not under last week when
we met up with that nice Mr Otellini in the gruesome Landmark Hotel. (Story: Intel's Otellini
outlines chip strategy)
We (and other journalists there) couldn't be under that embargo because we'd already
written about the 550MHz Pentium III yonks ago.
Today Intel formally releases its 550MHz Pentium III at a cost of $744, while prices of its
other chips fall, in inexorable fashion. (Story: Don't buy an Intel Inside PC)
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| May 17, 1999 |
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By Brooke Crothers
May 14, 1999
C/Net
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A small, struggling processor start-up is aiming to release the first clone of a Pentium II-class chip in the
second half of the year, amid a ravaging price war.
Rise Technology, which makes a line of PC processors similar to the Pentium MMX, hopes to bring out a chip that will utilize the
same packaging as Intel's low-cost Celeron chip, which comes from the Pentium II generation. The company is also expanding its
workforce and seeking additional financing, according to Rise CEO David Lin.
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By Rik Fairlie
May 14, 1999
PC Week Online
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Like many system shoppers in recent months, Bridger Ogden was troubled by "the threes." First, Intel Corp.
blitzed the market with its Pentium III launch, then AMD issued its K6-III processor with less fanfare.
AMD's new chip is designed to go head to head with the Pentium III--right down to the Roman numeral III. Ogden,
a high-school senior who needs horsepower for 3-D shooters as well as graphic design and photo editing,
simply couldn't tell which CPU camp to throw in with.
Performance wasn't his only concern. Like most of us, Ogden was looking for a deal. So much so that he initially considered sinking about $1,000 into upgrading his
existing PC.
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By Stephanie Miles
May 14, 1999
C/Net
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Intel will turn up the heat yet again on Monday when it releases faster Pentium III processors, sparking a parade of
new computers and price cuts on existing systems.
Giant Intel will roll out a 550-MHz Pentium III chip at the start of next week. In turn, most major PC makers will introduce new
desktop computers ranging in price from $1,800 to $2,300, as well as new workstations and servers.
Along with the new chips, Intel will cut prices on existing Pentium III and Pentium II processors on Sunday, setting a wave of PC
price cuts in motion. Rival AMD will match the price drops with cuts of its own.
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By Michael Kanellos
May 14, 1999
C/Net
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Like clockwork, AMD will slash its processor prices by 18 to 45 percent during the weekend, according to sources,
matching similar price cuts by Intel on its Celeron and Pentium III lines.
The steep discounts on all of AMD's K6-III and K6-2 chips come during a year of drastic price reductions on PC processors,
which in turn has lead to fabulous deals for consumers, especially in the sub-$1,000 PC market. This weekend's cuts follow a
round of discounts imposed a month ago and will no doubt be followed by further cuts in July and September as Intel is expected
to cut its prices again in those months.
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By Alexander Wolfe
May 15, 1999
EE Times
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As architects begin to field devices — DSPs, multimedia chips and, soon, general-purpose
microprocessors such as Intel's Merced — built around very-long-instruction-word
(VLIW) architectures, one
big question looms: How will these chips perform when battle-tested under real-world conditions?
That's no theoretical question, because it is software that will decompose applications programs into the streams
of parallel instructions required to feed the numerous on-chip execution units in a VLIW device. But if that
software is inefficient, the hardware will not beat out today's superscalar architectures, experts agree.
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Register Files
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By Peter Sherriff
May 14, 1999
The Register
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The Register Advisory Group (RAG) would like to remind readers not to buy a new Intel PC
until after the weekend.
As listed here, Chipzilla is chopping prices on Monday to make room at the top for the hot
(literally) new P3 550 which will debut at $744.
Other parts take a dive at the same time – the P3 500MHz drops from $637 to $482, the
450MHz is slashed from $411 to $268 as does the humble P2 of the same speed. The P2
400 drops to $193 from $234.
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By Mike Magee
May 14, 1999
The Register
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There were conflicting reports on US wires yesterday evening that Taiwanese foundry
TSMC was considering buying the Cyrix fab.
One wire quoted a TSMC executive as saying it was interested in buying the fab while
another wire quoted a TSMC executive as saying wasn't interested in buying the
fab.
But, in the process, a National executive confirmed that it was talking to several companies,
as we reported earlier this week. (Story: AMD could buy Cyrix business)
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By Mike Magee
May 14, 1999
The Register
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Once more, Intel has maintained that it will not use PC-133 or PC-266 memory, despite
increasing signs that Direct Rambus DRAM's horizon is receding.
As reported here earlier, Intel will adopt a half-way house strategy to the slight delay in
DRDRAM by introducing a PC-100 version of the i820 chipset.
But sources close to the chip giant are telling The Register there is a plan to implement
PC-133 memory if DRDRAM shows more signs of adopting a belly-up position.
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By Mike Magee
May 16, 1999
The Register
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After we got thoroughly beaten around the head by all kinds of AMD enthusiasts about
putative K7 benchmarks we published a while back, we’ve been a bit chary about
mentioning the subject again.
So we'll wait until Drew Prairie and our friends at AMD release official benchmarks before
we have a pop at that subject again.
But meantime, our friends on the hardware sites continue unabashed.
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By Mike Magee
May 16, 1999
The Register
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A report on Taiwanese newswire Digitimes Friday last claimed that third party chipset
report for the K7 is unlikely to be available until year end.
According to the report, which we have been unable to confirm with AMD, the first batch of
K7s will arrive next month worldwide, but product will not be widely available until Q4.
Motherboard manufacturers in Taiwan are creating K7 mobos with 200MHz
FSB, which will
arrive in Q3 and use six layer design, with Irongate chipset report.
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By Mike Magee
May 16, 1999
The Register
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Unlike its big brother, Intel, Advanced Micro Devices is not in the habit of registering dozens
of new domain names while you speak.
So the existence of this one is an event. The site is called ALEREON.COM and we've no idea
what this means because they haven't got it up and running yet.
The domain, according to our information, was registered towards the end of last week, by
Mark Threefoot at AMD. (Check Internic for the bare details.)
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By Mike Magee
May 16, 1999
The Register
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We regularly keep our eyes open for new URLs that Intel registers because, for example in
the case of the IA64 fund, the site appeared before the press release was vetted by the
thought police.
So we were intrigued yesterday to find a site we'd never seen before called Andy Grove
Home which has a fun little Java applet.
When it's loaded, you can do a 360 degree scan of Andy's office in Satan Clara, California.
If you zoom in enough, you can even see the notices he posts on the walls of his eight by
nine cubicle.
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