AT&T;, Intel Plan Moves in Hand-Held Computers
Seeking to carve out leadership roles in what many analysts expect to be the hottest computer market of the 1990s, Intel Corp. and American Telephone & Telegraph on Wednesday disclosed strategies for attacking the hand-held computer business.
AT&T; group executive Robert Kavner told the Associated Press that within a year, the telephone giant will be marketing a variety of portable devices that combine wireless communications with the power of a personal computer.
In addition, AT&T; is expected to announce on Monday that Go Corp., a pioneer in pen-operated computer technology, has agreed to make its software work with the special computer chip that AT&T; will use to power its new hand-held machines.
Separately, Intel said it will work with VLSI Technology to develop versions of the popular 386 personal computer chip specifically designed for hand-held computers. As part of the agreement, Intel will invest $50 million in VLSI, a mid-size Santa Clara chip maker that specializes in custom chips.
Both AT&T; and Intel aim to play a major role in the emerging market for the lightweight, portable machines known as palm-top computers, “personal digital assistants” or “personal information appliances.”
These devices will generally be operated with a pen or with voice commands rather than a keyboard, and will serve as personal computers, electronic organizers and communications devices that can send and receive messages over wireless data links.
Apple Computer was the first to reveal its ambitions in this market with the announcement of the Newton, a pen-operated, videocassette-sized device that it will build in conjunction with Sharp Corp.
Although analysts were impressed with the Newton technology, the product will not hit the market until next year, and companies including Hewlett-Packard say they are as far along as Apple in developing such machines.
A key element in the battle over this new business is the microprocessor, the computer-on-a-chip that serves as the brain inside a computer. While Intel has established a virtual monopoly in PC microprocessors with the “x86” chips--including the now-standard 386 and 486--it faces a tough battle in extending that dominance to hand-held machines, where speed and low-power consumption may prove more important than compatibility with existing PCs.
In its Newton products, Apple will be using a new microprocessor, known as the ARM, that was developed by a British joint venture of Apple, Acorn Computer and VLSI Technology.
AT&T; has its own high-speed, low-power chip called the Hobbit--originally developed, ironically, for Apple. Kavner said the Hobbit is “very fast, faster than anything out in the market and is a miser in using the battery.”
Besides incorporating the Hobbit into its hand-held products, AT&T; is expected to try to sell it to other computer vendors. That effort should get a boost from Go Corp.’s expected announcement that it will make its pen-computing software work with the Hobbit.
Intel, for its part, hopes that widespread familiarity with the 386 design will overcome any disadvantages the chip has in terms of power consumption. VLSI will incorporate the 386 “core” into a series of special-purpose chips that will provide computer manufacturers with everything they need to build a hand-held 386 computer.
