Intel Outlines Plans For Set-Top Boxes

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March 27, 1998 (12:00 AM EST)

By Gregory Quick,

An Intel executive discussed the chip maker's set-top box efforts during his keynote address at the Windows Hardware Engineering (WinHec) Conference in Orlando, Fla., this week.

Mike Aymar, Intel's vice president and general manager of its consumer products group, said Intel [profile] is developing three products for set-top users who also want some computing capabilities. Intel sees the family room as a PC growth area and a place where a great deal of experimentation will occur before any design becomes a standard, Aymar said.

Each of the proposed set-top boxes is based on Intel's recently announced Celeron processor.

The basic box will feature Web access, program guide software, and limited computing capabilities, with a $399 expected street price. The intermediate product will include DVD for movies and more advanced computing capabilities -- including the ability to run interactive games -- with a $599 ESP. The top-of-the-line set-top will provide full PC and television capabilities, with a $999 ESP. Aymar did not offer a timeframe for the systems' release.

Aymar used his keynote speech to stress a need to develop products specifically for each market segment. The day of moving products down to new segments as they aged is past, he said. The five segments Intel sees are servers, workstations, performance PCs, basic PCs (those priced less than $1,200), and mobile solutions.

He said the introduction of the Pentium II for mobile devices next week will be followed by 233-MHz, 266-MHz, and 300-MHz Pentium II notebooks from OEMs later this year.

Richard Doherty, publisher of The Envisioneering Group, in Seaford, N.Y., said many set-top issues remain. "One issue to be decided is what type of pipeline they will use from the computer to the television, and another is what channel they will sell it through," he said.