As expected, the company on Thursday said its Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG part is ready to be shipped in volume quantities to manufacturers. The company began shipping samples to manufacturers late last year. The part allows devices that use the chip to connect to 802.11b and 802.11g-based networks.
Intel has placed big bets on Wi-Fi wireless networking and its Centrino package as it continues to look for ways to differentiate itself and add capabilities to its chips. The 802.11g-based component gives Intel and its PC manufacturing partners access to the most popular segment of the Wi-Fi market, something that the company did not have previously.
"We're seeing Wi-Fi have influence all over in products, from notebooks to handhelds, and Centrino provides the only way to have a truly integrated solution," Intel vice president Jim Johnson said.
Since the approval of the 802.11g standard last year, products using it have picked up on the momentum generated by the 802.11b standard and its devices, leading to more than twofold growth in the market.
Centrino is a collection of chips that includes a Pentium M processor, the Intel 855 chipset and the Intel Pro/Wireless network parts.
Among the first to use the 802.11g part with Intel's Centrino technology will be Fujitsu, Matsushita Electric, NEC, Sony and Toshiba. Others are expected to follow throughout this quarter, according to Intel.
The new two-chip component, which consists of communications and radio chips, is selling for $25 (£13.72) per part in 10,000-unit quantities.
The company is on schedule with its combination 802.11a/b/g part, which should be available in the first half of this year, according to Johnson.
A part that is not on schedule is the next-generation Pentium M notebook processor. The chip, code-named Dothan, has been pushed back to make changes to its circuitry, Intel president Paul Otellini said during a conference call on Wednesday to discuss Intel's fourth-quarter earnings.
The chip had been expected to make its debut in mid-February, but is now scheduled to ship in the second quarter of 2004.
Talkback
It is all well and good to advertise the fact that Intel have offered the updated wireless cards to manufacturers, unfortunatenly the product support in the UK is at present is sadly lacking.
EG: current Centrino utilising the 2100b card, the majority of companies are offering v.1.2.1~ (of the drivers) yet the current quoted version on Intel's site is v1.6.50. What does this mean? As consumers/prosumers Intel have made it very difficult for current Centrino users to upgrade their machines either using hardware or software solutions. Definitely not a good marketing strategy. Come on Intel follow the trend you set with the 82852/82855 graphics card.