AMD Provides Chip for PC/TV Device

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March 24, 1998 (12:00 AM EST)

Intel isn't the only chip in town for information appliances. Rival Advanced Micro Devices is supplying the processor for a PC/TV planned for release this summer in the United States.

Genoa System, in Fremont, Calif., showed a combination PC, television, and DVD-ROM player powered by an embedded AMD Elan 400 processor at the CeBit '98 trade show last week in Hannover, Germany. Alex Klocksin, Genoa associate director of international sales and marketing, said the processor, which has no bus, is an embedded version of the K6 chip AMD uses in the PC market. It runs at the equivalent speed of a Pentium 166-MHz processor, he said.

Cyrix also conducted a "technology demonstration" of an information appliance here, but the AMD device is a product prototype.

Genoa, a 16-year-old manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, entered the information-appliance business this year after deciding the PC market was too crowded, Klocksin said. The company plans to ship its product to U.S. retailers in June or July.

The "Genoa Info Appliance," as the company called the device, also features a 56-Kbps modem; 2-D sound and video cards; PCMCIA slot; infrared, serial and parallel port connections; 24x CD-ROM drive; 1.5 GB hard drive; and a floppy disk drive. The device also has keyboard and mouse inputs. It will retail for about $399, Klocksin said. Genoa won't include a monitor or a keyboard, he said.

A manager from AMD was unavailable for comment at press time.