“Intel Corp. last week joined the Internet appliance parade,
announcing plans to market hardware and software by midyear under
the Intel brand name. Initial products will be based on the
Celeron processor and will run the Linux operating
system.“
“The Intel Web appliances will not be sold directly to
consumers, but rather to telephone operating companies, Internet
service providers and e-commerce retailers, according to Craig
Miller, product marketing manager for the Home Products Group.
Intel has begun shipping prototypes to several customers, including
US West, NEC Corp. and an e-commerce division of Galeries Lafayette
in France. They will add features of their own….”
“I think Intel is right to be putting an oar in the water and
seeing what happens,” said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with
Insight 64 (Saratoga, Calif.). “If the Internet appliance is the
next big thing, they need to be in there and understand it.” He
doubted if Intel was interested in becoming a big supplier of Web
appliances, however. “I think they’re doing this more to develop a
semiconductor market than to be a box supplier. Nobody makes a lot
of money selling boxes.”