Intel simplifies entertainment PCs with new brand

Intel, happy with its success launching the Centrino brand for laptops, on Wednesday introduced a new brand called VIIV for entertainment PCs.

Intel wants to use VIIV -- it rhymes with 'strive' -- to reassure consumers that their PCs can easily handle digital audio and video, share digital content over networks and control the PC easily, programme manager Merlin Kister said in a speech at the Intel Developer Forum here. "We're focusing on ease of use, performance and connectivity in the context of delivering a great entertainment experience for users."

Most agree Intel has done well establishing Centrino, which includes the Pentium M processor, a supporting chipset and a wireless networking chip. VIIV includes a dual-core processor, a chipset and a network controller, said Don MacDonald, general manager of Intel's Digital Home Group, and will require Microsoft's Windows Media Center Edition.

VIIV will launch in the first quarter of 2006, MacDonald said.

As with Centrino, Intel is trying to calm fears of average users who might be nervous about complicated new technology. "When you, the consumer, look for a brand, you want it to simplify your purchase and come from someone you trust," MacDonald said.

One feature of VIIV will be automatic transcoding -- ensuring that audio or video encoded in one format can be translated into one the user's computer can handle without user intervention. Another feature will be instant shutdown and start-up that will work as fast as it does in consumer electronic devices such as DVD players. (PCs today have suspend-and-resume features that bypass sluggish start-up and shutdown processes, but still aren't as fast as a typical television.)

Intel this year regrouped product development and sales teams around 'platforms' that combine processors with other components. The Centrino platform exemplifies this new approach, though it predates the reorganisation. There's little doubt Intel hopes for a sequel to Centrino with VIIV.

"I think Centrino has been a huge success from a branding perspective," Insight 64 analyst Nathan Brookwood said. With Centrino, Intel addressed the fact that "buyers were very uncertain about wireless and the wireless experience. I think they have an opportunity here to do a similar thing because people are frustrated with the interoperability of consumer devices. I have all this stuff working in my house, but I have a degree from MIT."

Intel, trying to put its imprimatur on entertainment PCs, raises the possibility that the company will end up fighting for brand turf with Microsoft's Media Center Edition. But Brookwood thinks otherwise. "Today you typically have a Windows sticker and an Intel sticker on your PC," he said. "There's no reason why it can't have VIIV and MCE."