***Transmeta Unveils Chips
(January 20)
According to the Associated Press, after five years of research
and about $100 million in funding, Transmeta its Crusoe chips.
The chips by Transmeta are designed to allow people to connect to
the Internet for longer periods of time from laptop or tablet-
style computers than is currently possible. Behind the project
are 200 employees in Santa Clara, Calif., as well as in Taiwan
and Japan, including designers like Linux creator Linus Torvalds.
Investors consist of industry barons like Microsoft Corp. co-
founder Paul Allen and billionaire financier George Soros.
Features of the Crusoe chips - named after the literary Robinson
Crusoe to connote images of travel and adventure - include the
ability to make batteries last about twice as long as their Intel
counterparts. They are also software-based making it possible for
the processor to ``learn'' about an application while it runs and
use that experience to extend battery life.
The postage stamp-sized processors sell for between $65 for a
333-megahertz model to $329 for a 700-megahertz model. Those
prices mean the processors can be used in small computers that
will eventually cost consumers between $500 and $2,500. Transmeta
said their low-end processors are available now.
One of the devices that will use the Transmeta chip is a Web pad
made by S3, which is slated to be announced soon. The pad, about
the size of a book, is a Linux-based Internet appliance that
users can carry with them to surf the Web, download music or
stream live video. There is a slot in the pad for a modem so that
users don't have to be plugged into a wall to use the system.
S3's chief technology officer Andrew Wolfe said the pads should
sell for less than $1000 and should be available before the end
of the year. Wolfe would not reveal the product name.
Intel has introduced its own model - the SpeedStep - that
performs at its highest speeds when it is plugged into the wall.
The chip powers down from 650 megahertz to 500 megahertz while on
battery power to reduce the energy drain.
Wave Issue 2004 1/25/00 Article 4-01