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News > Technology
Philips touts new displays
January 5, 2001: 8:00 a.m. ET

New products combine display with underlying electronic components
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Philips Components on Friday plans to unveil a new kind of flat-panel display for information appliances such as Web pads and information kiosks.

The company, a division of Amsterdam, Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics, will roll out the new products, called Net Display Modules, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

What makes them different from other flat-panel displays is that they combine a microprocessor and other electronics with a touch-screen LCD display, creating a module that is 80 percent complete as a consumer-ready product, the company said.

Companies that buy the modules create the industrial design surrounding them and provide whatever operating system and applications software is needed to meet their particular needs.

Information appliances, a term used to describe computing devices designed specifically for interactive information access functions, have been growing in popularity and the market for such products is expected to explode over the next several years.

graphicTechnology research firm International Data Corp. recently forecast that shipments of information appliances will outnumber those of consumer PCs by 2002.

Philips is betting that its development of a product that integrates the display, which is a very important part of the overall device, with the bulk of the underlying electronics will give the company a head start in that fast-growing market.

"Being the first to integrate system-board electronics onto an LCD display propels Philips Components to the forefront of the emerging display-centric Internet appliances market," said Amir Shademan, director of marketing for Philips Components' Web Display Group. "With our Net Display Modules, we are making the display-centric Internet appliance market a reality."

Philips also has partnered with two companies that also have been aggressively moving into the market for information appliances.

The new display modules, expected to begin shipping in volume in the second half of the year, are available with processors made either by Transmeta or National Semiconductor.

Transmeta's (TMTA: Research, Estimates) Crusoe TM3400 processor will power the Philips Net Module S10LP-TC. Meanwhile, National's (NSM: Research, Estimates) Geode SC3200 will be the brains behind the Net Display S10LP-NG.

Both chip makers have emerged as rivals in the information appliance market.

Transmeta's Crusoe chips, first introduced last January, are low-power microprocessors that use software to translate the instructions typically handled directly by the transistors on other chips. That allows them to adjust the clock speed at which they operate depending on the specific task and use less power and run cooler than competing processors.

So far, they have been deployed in several ultralight notebook computers from Japanese manufacturers, as well as in information appliances, including the Web terminals developed by Gateway and America Online.

Executives at Transmeta are hoping their partnership with Philips will enable them to extend their reach into that market.

"Providing the Crusoe-enabled LCD module to other manufacturers will help proliferate Transmeta's technology in new and interesting devices and applications," said Jim Chapman, the company's senior vice president of sales and marketing.

The latest version of National's Geode chips, which it rolled out last September, integrate the functions previously handled by several chips onto a single piece of silicon. The company has been aggressively marketing the Geode chips, which have been designed into products built by several manufacturers including Compaq, IBM, Samsung, 3Com and Honeywell.

Transmeta shares fell $2.03 to $19.25 in Nasdaq trade Thursday. National rose $2.56 to $25.31. graphic





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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.