UMAX squelches CHRP rumors

Executives of UMAX Computer Corp. today denied reports that the company will ship a Mac OS system based on the Common Hardware Reference Platform.

The Fremont, Calif.-based UMAX last week showed a CHRP system at the Apple Expo in Paris. The model was based on a 300-MHz PowerPC 750 processor with a 1-Mbyte Level 2 backside cache.

According postings on the Internet, UMAX said it had received Apple's permission to ship the model next year. UMAX denied these reports. "It was a only a technical demo," said Phil Pompa, UMAX vice president of marketing, adding that the unit was previously shown at August's Boston Macworld Expo.

"Anything more than that was either misinterpreted or misrepresented," Pompa said. "We don't have any plans to ship CHRP."