NeoMagic is back with SoC for handheld IAs

NeoMagic is back with SoC for handheld IAs
By Bruce Gain, EBN
July 13, 2001 (10:43 a.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20010713S0033

After exiting the notebook graphics-IC market last year, NeoMagic Corp. is attempting to reclaim its position as a leading embedded-IC supplier by introducing a highly integrated system-on-a-chip (SoC) for handheld Internet appliances.

The company's latest device, the MiMagic NMS7040, cobbles together a variety of multimedia features and is aimed at PDAs and WebPads, communications platforms like cell phones and two-way messaging units, and entertainment devices such as games, MP3 players, and portable DVD players.

"The [new chip] family is designed to attract broader consumer interest by bringing high-performance multimedia to the handheld market without compromising small size and long battery life," said Prakash Agarwal, president and chief executive of NeoMagic, Santa Clara, Calif.

The chip integrates DRAM with a 32-bit MIPS RISC processor and a USB host controller to enable handheld 3D graphics and multimedia applications.

Bu t just as in the cutthroat graphics IC market that NeoMagic recently vacated, the Internet appliance sector is littered with casualties of its own, including companies like Gateway and 3M, which recently discontinued or postponed their IA lines.

Mark Singer, NeoMagic's vice president of marketing, acknowledged that the competition is stiff and includes the likes of Intel Corp. and Transmeta Corp. NeoMagic will also compete against players such as Motorola Inc. and National Semiconductor Corp., which have processor and graphics-IC packages specifically for IAs, Singer noted.

"The trick is whether NeoMagic can win any sockets," said Jon Peddie, an analyst at Jon Peddie Associates, Mill Valley, Calif. "They claim to have a couple of wins in the pipeline, but are very mum about it."

Nevertheless, the company has a shot, according to Peddie. "NeoMagic is going into the SoC biz using their embedded memory experience," he said. "They have some DSP capabilities that will help, ... and they also underst and bus management and tight drivers."

Analysts predict handheld IAs will take off in the near future, with a market that encompasses PDAs, WebPads, handheld games, and cell phones growing to more than 175 million units by 2004, according to IDC, Framingham, Mass.

"There are many emerging opportunities in the handheld arena," said IDC analyst Scott Hudson. "Embedded DRAM technology could make an important contribution to some of these applications."

Singer said NeoMagic can offer an "unparalleled" level of integration for power reduction, and claimed the company was the sole supplier to offer 3D graphics on an SoC.

The MiMagic NMS7040 and NMS7041 will sample this quarter and will be available in a 329-pin PBGA. In 100-unit lots the NMS7040 is $35 and the NMS7041 is $50.