Intel's PCI plan an industry-splitter?

SAN JOSE, Calif.--Intel executives are calling for a dramatic overhaul in the innards of PCs, but analysts fear the chipmaker's new technology could split the industry.

The as-yet-unnamed new technology will supplant the existing PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) data pathway for accommodating devices such as sound cards and network cards, Louis Burns, general manager of Intel's desktop platforms group, said Thursday. Intel (intc) will deliver a preliminary description of the technology this fall.

The new technology is important because it would require not only PC makers to redesign their systems from the ground up, but also any company making hardware that plugs into a PC. Still, Burns said, it's critical to have a technology that can keep up with the speed improvements in CPUs coming in the next 10 years. Full story. -- Stephen Shankland, Special to ZDNet News