Intel Launches AnyPoint™ Wireless Home Network Products

Also Launches First Phoneline-based 10 Mbps USB Product

LOS ANGELES, April 5, 2000 - Intel Corporation today launched the AnyPoint™ Wireless Home Network product line. Intel also announced the addition of a 10 Megabits per second (Mbps) Universal Serial Bus (USB) Phoneline Home Network product that doesn't require a customer to open the computer case to install.

"The addition of wireless products to the AnyPoint Home Network product line gives customers a choice between a phoneline-based home network or a wireless home network," said Dan Sweeney, general manager of Intel's Home Networking Operation. "Customers who want mobility in their home network now have a simple way to take advantage of untethered Internet and network access from their dens, patios or other locations."

AnyPoint Wireless Home Network Products
Intel's first wireless products are an internal PC card and an external USB model. The AnyPoint Wireless Home Network PC card lets laptop owners surf the Web from anywhere in or around the home without wires while sharing a single Internet connection with other PCs. The AnyPoint Wireless USB Home Network model allows both desktop and laptop PCs to be connected via a wireless home network. Both products enable all the computers on the network to share printers and transfer files.

Consumer demand for wireless home networking is being driven by the rapid growth of the Internet, high-speed Internet connections and multiple PC households. The number of multiple PC households will top 31 million by 2003, according to a recent Cahners In-Stat Group report. Over 7.6 million households will have a high-speed Internet connection by 2003, according to a Yankee Group report issued in February.

The AnyPoint Wireless Home Network products are based on an open industry specification created by the HomeRF Working Group, which is composed of more than 100 leading PC, consumer electronics, networking peripherals, communications software, home control and semiconductor companies. The specification is designed to allow PCs, peripherals, cordless telephones, and other consumer electronic devices to share voice and data via a single home network.

IBM will offer the AnyPoint Wireless Home Network products in a new all-in-one PC called the NetVista* expected to be launched in May. The NetVista integrates all its major components into the backside of a15-inch flat panel display and includes an Intel® Pentium® III processor.

"Integrated with IBM's recently announced desktop PC, Intel's AnyPoint Wireless Home Network solution resonates with our need to offer both individuals and very small businesses end-use optimized computing, flexible Net access and mobility," said Brian Dalgetty, vice president, IBM Desktop Product Marketing. "With close to 17 million multi-PC households in the United States today, we want our NetVista line to offer PC purchasers, particularly second-time PC purchasers, the added benefit of network portability."

10 Mbps USB Phoneline Model
The new Intel AnyPoint Phoneline Home Network 10 Mbps USB model is the first 10 Mbps home network product available that does not require customers to open their PCs. It is designed to provide the speed necessary for demanding networking functions, such as the transfer of high-resolution graphics and other large files. The higher network speed also enables future applications, including the distribution of full motion video between personal computers. The 10 Mbps USB model joins Intel's existing family of AnyPoint Phoneline Home Network products that are designed to connect PCs using existing phone wiring without interfering with normal telephone operation.

All the new products include the award-winning AnyPoint Internet sharing and networking software and are designed for straightforward installation and ease of use. All AnyPoint Home Network products are compatible with both dial-up and high-speed Internet access specifications such as digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable modems.

The AnyPoint Home Network product line represents the most comprehensive line of home network products available today and fulfills a part of Intel's vision of the e-Home, where the Internet is seamlessly available through a range of devices in the home.

Pricing and Availability
The AnyPoint Wireless Home Network PC card has a suggested United States list price of $129. The AnyPoint Wireless Home Network USB model has a suggested United States list price of $119. The AnyPoint Phoneline Home Network 10 Mbps USB model has a suggested United States list of $99. All three products will begin shipping within a month.

Suggested United States list prices for the current AnyPoint Phoneline Home Network products are: $49 for the 1 Mbps PCI card, $69 for the 1 Mbps Phoneline Parallel Port Model ($39 after current mail-in rebate), $89 for the 1 Mbps USB Phoneline Model ($69 after current mail-in rebate), and $79 for the 10 Mbps PCI card.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

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Unwired Home - Marlene Bauer, a Portland, Oregon consultant, takes advantage of the first warm Spring evening to surf the Web from her deck. Her laptop is equipped with a new product from Intel called the AnyPoint Wireless Home Network. The product allows multiple PCs in the same home to share a single Internet connection, share printers and files, and play multiplayer games from anywhere in or around the home without having to plug into a telephone or power line. Intel will introduce wireless home network products for both desktop and laptop PCs today at Spring Internet World.