“In a shot at both its traditional customers, PC makers and
software giant Microsoft, Intel today unveiled plans to market its
own brand of Internet access appliances that use the Linux
operating system, the open-source competitor to Microsoft’s
proprietary Windows. The world’s biggest producer of
microprocessors says the devices will take many forms, including
screen telephones and computer-like boxes. All the new products
will use the company’s Celeron chip, which powers many low-cost
computers.”
“Santa Clara (Calif.)-based Intel plans to sell the devices to
Internet service providers and telcos that will in turn market them
to consumers. Among the partners Intel has already signed up are
NEC’s BiGlobe in Japan, telephone company USWest, and France’s
LASER-Galeries Lafayette Group. The cost of the hardware to service
providers will vary, ranging probably from about $300 to $700,
while the cost of the devices to end users will depend on how the
resellers structure their pricing. “Some of them will be street
priced at zero,” notes Intel product marketing manager Craig
Miller.”