The technology industry is tapping in to the growth of digital entertainment, but all the players are going about it differently. For consumers, that's frustrating, as it is hard to access digital content on multiple devices. Chip giant Intel plans to use its considerable heft in the industry to get around the problem.
Viiv (rhymes with “five”) is a new brand that denotes a suite of integrated components targeted specifically for multimedia personal computers. The idea is to make these PCs more like a traditional entertainment device, like a VCR, with instant on-off (no waiting for it to boot up) and a simple remote control. But Viiv also sets standards for how appliances like televisions communicate with these PCs, and it establishes requirements so media providers — websites, TV channels — can deliver content over broadband that is viewable anywhere in the home. It also might give Intel a central position in the future so-called digital home. Making itself an indispensable part of consumers' lives would also go a way to solving another problem — Intel's steadily eroding market share to rival chip-maker AMD.
