Intel stalls intro of Wi-Fi chip

According to this story:

http://www.silicon.com/news/500018/1/5962.html

Intel is delaying the introduction of a Wi-Fi chip inside its Centrino
chipset.

I thought Intel already had a Wi-Fi chip in the Centrino?

Yousuf Khan

"A representative from Intel said the COMBINATION 802.11a/802.11b"

Note the emphasis.

In article rs.com,
Yousuf Khan wrote:
According to this story:

http://www.silicon.com/news/500018/1/5962.html

Intel is delaying the introduction of a Wi-Fi chip inside its Centrino
chipset.

I thought Intel already had a Wi-Fi chip in the Centrino?

Yousuf Khan

In article L6l8b.3661$DZ.2648
@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com,
am says...
According to this story:

http://www.silicon.com/news/500018/1/5962.html

Intel is delaying the introduction of a Wi-Fi chip inside its Centrino
chipset.

I thought Intel already had a Wi-Fi chip in the Centrino?

I thought the whole point of the "Centrinao" marketing campaign
was that it was a separate chip. If you bought the (known
turkey) you got to call it a "Centrino". If not, you were
relegated to using the Pentium-M moniker. The integration was
supposed to happen at some point down the line. No?

--
Keith

"Keith R. Williams" wrote in message

am says...

Intel is delaying the introduction of a Wi-Fi chip inside its
Centrino
chipset.

I thought Intel already had a Wi-Fi chip in the Centrino?

I thought the whole point of the "Centrinao" marketing campaign
was that it was a separate chip. If you bought the (known
turkey) you got to call it a "Centrino". If not, you were
relegated to using the Pentium-M moniker. The integration was
supposed to happen at some point down the line. No?

Um. I get to pick on both of you. First, as you both are undoubtedly
aware, Centrino is not really a technical thing, it is a marketing
thing. Using some other (non-Intel) chip that has the same
functionality does not permit one to use the trademarked (and heavily
promoted) name "Centrino".

The original Wi-Fi chip used in Centrino - and still the _only_ Wi-Fi
chip used in Centrino - has 802.11b compatibility. Intel was developing
a chip with both a and b compatibility - a is faster - and it is this
chip that has been delayed. Meantime the market has moved on to
802.11a/b/g, which means the delayed Intel chip is mostly irrelevant.
See this article:

Intel's Wi-Fi chip delays may not matter
By Patrick Mannion, EE Times
Silicon Strategies
09/11/2003, 6:55 PM ET

MANHASSET, N.Y. -- Despite a flurry of late-summer chip announcements
from almost every player in the Wi-Fi chip arena, Intel Corp. has yet
again delayed its release of an 802.11a/b chip set that was due out at
the end of September. With the emphasis having shifted to 802.11g and
dual-band a/g, however, the delay may not matter.

Who cares? "Not too many," said Ed Rerisi, director of research at
Allied Business Intelligence (Oyster Bay, N.Y.). "Yes, a/b is better
than just b alone," he said, "but a/b/g is what the enterprise wants and
it's the way to go." As for 802.11g-only solutions, Rerisi sees it as
the main contender for home networks.

Also, the much-touted Centrino platform that Intel heavily promoted
earlier this year is also on its way out. "Laptop OEMs are moving on
from Centrino 802.11b only as they see a/b/g as the next step and are
starting to incorporate those chipsets more and more," Rerisi said.

"Felger Carbon" wrote in message
ink.net...
The original Wi-Fi chip used in Centrino - and still the _only_ Wi-Fi
chip used in Centrino - has 802.11b compatibility. Intel was developing
a chip with both a and b compatibility - a is faster - and it is this
chip that has been delayed. Meantime the market has moved on to
802.11a/b/g, which means the delayed Intel chip is mostly irrelevant.

Yeah, the G-spec is downwardly compatible with the B-spec, whereas the
A-spec is incompatible with both. The market seems to be moving onto the
G-spec as the true successor to the B-spec, and just as fast as the A-spec.
Also the G-spec would seem to be easier to send over longer distances than
the A-spec. So it does seem a little wierd that Intel is trying to introduce
an A-spec chip with no G-spec capabilities.

And really, the Centrino notebooks I've seen out there, are extremely
expensive compared to P4 or Athlon notebooks. If the idea of Centrino is to
reduce costs due to high integration of functionality into a smaller number
of chips, then Centrino has failed in its mission. Until they integrate
everything into a single chip, Centrino won't achieve cost savings.

Yousuf Khan

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 12:52:20 GMT, "Yousuf Khan"
wrote:

"Felger Carbon" wrote in message
link.net...
The original Wi-Fi chip used in Centrino - and still the _only_ Wi-Fi
chip used in Centrino - has 802.11b compatibility. Intel was developing
a chip with both a and b compatibility - a is faster - and it is this
chip that has been delayed. Meantime the market has moved on to
802.11a/b/g, which means the delayed Intel chip is mostly irrelevant.

Yeah, the G-spec is downwardly compatible with the B-spec, whereas the
A-spec is incompatible with both. The market seems to be moving onto the
G-spec as the true successor to the B-spec, and just as fast as the A-spec.
Also the G-spec would seem to be easier to send over longer distances than
the A-spec. So it does seem a little wierd that Intel is trying to introduce
an A-spec chip with no G-spec capabilities.

And really, the Centrino notebooks I've seen out there, are extremely
expensive compared to P4 or Athlon notebooks. If the idea of Centrino is to
reduce costs due to high integration of functionality into a smaller number
of chips, then Centrino has failed in its mission. Until they integrate
everything into a single chip, Centrino won't achieve cost savings.

I don't believe "cost saving" is the point of the Centrino campaign. I believe
an alleged extended battery life as the result of allegedly more complete
functional unit integration are the points that support the marketing piece...

/daytripper

In article ,
says...
On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 12:52:20 GMT, "Yousuf Khan"
wrote:

"Felger Carbon" wrote in message
link.net...
The original Wi-Fi chip used in Centrino - and still the _only_ Wi-Fi
chip used in Centrino - has 802.11b compatibility. Intel was developing
a chip with both a and b compatibility - a is faster - and it is this
chip that has been delayed. Meantime the market has moved on to
802.11a/b/g, which means the delayed Intel chip is mostly irrelevant.

Yeah, the G-spec is downwardly compatible with the B-spec, whereas the
A-spec is incompatible with both. The market seems to be moving onto the
G-spec as the true successor to the B-spec, and just as fast as the A-spec.
Also the G-spec would seem to be easier to send over longer distances than
the A-spec. So it does seem a little wierd that Intel is trying to introduce
an A-spec chip with no G-spec capabilities.

And really, the Centrino notebooks I've seen out there, are extremely
expensive compared to P4 or Athlon notebooks. If the idea of Centrino is to
reduce costs due to high integration of functionality into a smaller number
of chips, then Centrino has failed in its mission. Until they integrate
everything into a single chip, Centrino won't achieve cost savings.

I don't believe "cost saving" is the point of the Centrino campaign. I believe
an alleged extended battery life as the result of allegedly more complete
functional unit integration are the points that support the marketing piece...

Of course not. It's marketware. Intel's marketing department
has to justify their costs somehow. Remeber the "NetBurst
Architecture"?

It all sounds yummy! It amounts to...

--
Keith

In article gers.com,
Yousuf Khan wrote:
| "Felger Carbon" wrote in message
| ink.net...
| The original Wi-Fi chip used in Centrino - and still the _only_ Wi-Fi
| chip used in Centrino - has 802.11b compatibility. Intel was developing
| a chip with both a and b compatibility - a is faster - and it is this
| chip that has been delayed. Meantime the market has moved on to
| 802.11a/b/g, which means the delayed Intel chip is mostly irrelevant.
|
| Yeah, the G-spec is downwardly compatible with the B-spec, whereas the
| A-spec is incompatible with both. The market seems to be moving onto the
| G-spec as the true successor to the B-spec, and just as fast as the A-spec.
| Also the G-spec would seem to be easier to send over longer distances than
| the A-spec. So it does seem a little wierd that Intel is trying to introduce
| an A-spec chip with no G-spec capabilities.
|
| And really, the Centrino notebooks I've seen out there, are extremely
| expensive compared to P4 or Athlon notebooks. If the idea of Centrino is to
| reduce costs due to high integration of functionality into a smaller number
| of chips, then Centrino has failed in its mission. Until they integrate
| everything into a single chip, Centrino won't achieve cost savings.

I don't think that reduce cost and reduce price are related... But to
the point, the real reason I want Centrino (as soon as I can find one
which runs the new Linux kernel) is battery life. From what I see the
Centrino systems seem to beat the plain Pentium-M by up to an hour. Five
hours means I don't carry a spare battery or look for a charge in some
cases. The WiFi is a non-issue with me, if I have a demand I can add a
card and get what I need, if the built-in doesn't suit.

--
Bill Davidsen CTO, TMR Associates
As we enjoy great advantages from inventions of others, we should be
glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and
this we should do freely and generously.
-Benjamin Franklin (who would have liked open source)

In article ,
daytripper wrote:

| I don't believe "cost saving" is the point of the Centrino campaign. I believe
| an alleged extended battery life as the result of allegedly more complete
| functional unit integration are the points that support the marketing piece...

Unless you disbelieve all the tests, web sites and magazines, the
affordable laptops with five hour battery life are Centrino. I am
willing to be shown otherwise, but it really does look as if the
technology works. Value to the buyer depends on how much you need it.

--
Bill Davidsen CTO, TMR Associates
As we enjoy great advantages from inventions of others, we should be
glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and
this we should do freely and generously.
-Benjamin Franklin (who would have liked open source)

In article ,
says...
In article ,
daytripper wrote:

| I don't believe "cost saving" is the point of the Centrino campaign. I believe
| an alleged extended battery life as the result of allegedly more complete
| functional unit integration are the points that support the marketing piece...

Unless you disbelieve all the tests, web sites and magazines, the
affordable laptops with five hour battery life are Centrino. I am
willing to be shown otherwise, but it really does look as if the
technology works. Value to the buyer depends on how much you need it.

How does Intel's WiFi chip change the battery life significantly.
The PIII/M can only be called a Centrino if it has Intel's WiFi.
It is *not* built in (yet). Perhaps you've been reading to many
marketing blurbs?

By all reports Intels WiFi sucks bulge slime anyway. I repeat:
Centrino is marketeering at it's worst.

--

Keith