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Taiwan vendors team to push 1394
No, you don't want USB 2.0...
A band of Taiwanese companies and Taiwan-based subsidiaries of US operations have come together to promote IEEE 1394 as the standard connectivity and networking technology for information appliances.
The consortium, dubbed The Taiwan 1394 Club, will be kicked off later this month by founder members Via, Texas Instruments, Joinsoon Electronics, Procomp Informatics, Asian MGI Software and Microsoft Taiwan, local business paper the Commercial Times reports.
The group hopes to recruit a further 200 Taiwanese operations to its cause.
News of the alliance comes just a few weeks after the Intel-sponsored USB 2.0 specification was given its first public airing. USB 2.0 takes the peripherals bus' throughput to 480Mbps, from 12Mbps, beyond 1394's 400Mbps. Surely, then, that makes it a better bet than 1394, aka FireWire and iLink?
True, 1394 does have some technological advantages over USB 2.0 - it's a true peer-to-peer system, for example - but we suspect the real concern here is the degree to which support for USB 2.0 puts power in the hands of Intel, something the Taiwanese majors have become increasingly keen to avoid. The alliance will presumably attempt to counter Intel's USB 2.0 promotional efforts by pushing 1394 as a better, more consumer-oriented alternative. ®
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
