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Posted: 12:00 noon, EDT, 9/1/98 Japan's Casio snaps up new low-power Cyrix MediaGXTOKYO — National Semiconductor's Cyrix processor division this year will roll out a reduced-voltage version of its MediaGX processor aimed at mini-notebook computers. Japan's Casio Computer Co. Ltd. will be one of the first to employ the processor in its A5 line of notebooks, scheduled to hit shelves here later this year, the companies announced here Tuesday. The Casio notebook, which will compete with Toshiba's Libretto and NEC's Mobio, represents the first Japanese PC company to incorporate the MediaGX, a National spokesman said. Earlier this year in the United States, Compaq announced a sub-$2,000 notebook with an earlier version of the MediaGX with MMX technology. The National spokesman declined to disclose the voltage or power-dissipation specifications for the new version of the MediaGX, saying only that it will consume 75 percent less power than Pentium-based notebook processors and 50 percent less than older versions of the MediaGX. The new processor may owe its reduced-voltage characteristics to National's new 0.25-micron process, which will start to ramp up in high volume at its South Portland fab this month. The company would not reveal the processor's cost. The x86 processor integrates a PCI controller, graphics processing and system logic on the same chip. A companion chip provides PCI-ISA bus controller, RAMDAC and interface functionality. While desktop PC sales have faltered in Japan, sales of notebooks are still growing at a fairly rapid clip. "We believe this new version of the MediaGX processor will create a new wave of innovation in the fiercely competitive mobile-computing market, which is showing outstanding growth," said Tatsuo Ishihara, president of National Semiconductor Japan, in a statement.
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