Intel Eyes Internet Appliances

Electronic News, June 26, 2000 by Jerry Ascierto

Intel Corp. last week entered the burgeoning market for Internet appliances, announcing its Dot.Station web appliance.

In doing so, Intel is joining a market crowded with companies announcing similar plans. Microsoft, already steeped in its WebTV, also has plans to produce a Web companion. America Online recently rolled out its AOLTV, while working with Gateway on a number of Internet devices.

Dot.Station, for its part, integrates e-mail, the Internet, telephony and home organization applications into a single platform that most likely is based on Intel's Celeron microprocessors. Intel said it is currently in discussions with service providers to deliver the final product, meaning the company won't sell Dot.Station directly to the end consumer.

"The Intel Dot.Station is the result of extensive research and cooperation with our customers," said Claude Leglise, vice president of Intel's Architecture Group and general manager of the Home Products Group. "We've designed a product that not only meets the needs of service providers, but also appeals to consumers who don't own a PC, and want access to the Internet."

Intel's Dot.Station will come with the Santa Clara, Calif.-based firm's System Management Suite, which allows service providers to remotely manage and upgrade new applications as the Internet evolves. The Dot.Station appliance also will support Internet plug-ins, Intel said.

The time is certainly ripe for such a venture. Market research firm Cahners In-Stat Group predicts that worldwide line-powered Internet appliance shipments will increase by a factor of 15 from 1999 to 2004. The market's overall growth will be led by web phones with an estimated annual growth rate of 202 percent over five years.