Leaping aboard the Network Computer bandwagon, Richardson, Texas-based Cyrix Corp is reportedly trying to persuade Japanese and Korean consumer electronic companies to use a planned Cyrix chip in Internet terminals. According to PC Week, the 5Gx86, not yet commercially available, is teamed with a controller chip and special software to process audio and video signals, eliminating the need for other multimedia hardware. Separately, feverish activity in Cyrix shares forced the company to break its own embargo and release news it had wanted to keep for today. The shares jumped $3.625 to $36.375 as 3.1m shares changed hands. Cyrix says it wants to offer users of machines with its chips an easy path to upgrade to 32-bit Windows NT and MMX multimedia performance, and that the next version of its 6×86 processor will also be MMX-compatible – MMX is Intel Corp’s Multimedia Extensions instruction set, but of course does not stand for that. The next version of the 6×86, the M2, will have 64Kb cache, up from 16Kb and be optimised for 32-bit applications under Windows NT. Aimed at the desktop Pentium Pro market, the M2 will initially be clocked at 200MHz, and will have the same pin-out as the Pentium. The firm plans to sample the M2 in the fourth quarter, and also plans a P200+ 150MHz version of the 6×86 for delivery this summer.
