Despite pressure from Sun Microsystems Inc, Integrix Inc is aiming its current range of Sparcsystems and PowerPC developments at the computer-integrated telephony, video server and set-top markets. Integrix, based in Newbury Park, California, is using embedded PowerPCs for a television set-top box aimed at video-on-demand markets in the Far East, for which it is also writing software. It should be ready by the end of the year. Integrix said Sun Microsystems’ Sparc Technology business is more open these days under the leadership of Chet Silvestri than it ever was, but feels that it is still bound too tightly to Sun’s own desires. It hopes that the arrival of Ed Zander at Sun Microsystems Computer Corp will bring more of the open business practices that Integr ix said it experienced at SunSoft Inc while Zander was in charge there. Integrix has recently secured UltraSparc terms and conditions from Sun’s Sparc Technology Business, and estimates a fourth quarter date for its first UltraSparc products although it does not even have board-level prototypes yet. The SEC1000 SBus expander and HA1000 high-availability server with integrated SEC boards for accommodating multiple telephone lines is now out at several regional Bells. It has got a full range of one- and two-processor SparcStation 20-compatible SuperSparc workstations and servers, as well as one-to-four-way 100MHz HyperSparc systems for compute-intensive users, and 90MHz SuperSparc and 125MHz HyperSparcs models are due. It is also preparing an Internet unit that will house Integrated Services Digital Network too. A 75MHz and 85MHz Sparcstation 5-compatible line – which will move up to 110MHz microSparcs – comes with five SBus slots. Integrix is also pressing for access to Sun’s high-end ZX and low-end 24-bit graphics technology, so far denied to the Sparcsystem community. It says it would build a SparcStation 4-compatible system if Sparc Technology would license the building blocks, and says it does not understand why it will not. Like other vendors, Integrix hopes Sun’s UltraSparc can bring the compatible market out of the ice age in which it has been lately. Sun’s SuperSparc headaches meant it had to cut Sparcstation prices sharply to maintain price-performance, cutting into its market space, Integrix explains. It gets 40% margins on peripherals such as screens and boards, but its general-purpose Sparcstation-compatibles have been loss leaders for some time, it admits, just as Sun’s own Sparcstation 4 line is now.
