Hong Kong firm
offers 'Chinese' CPU for Linux PCs
By Peter
Clarke
Semiconductor Business News
HONG KONG --
Culturecom Holdings Ltd., a publisher of Chinese language "fighting" comics that
migrated into information technology in the 1990s, has begun selling its
V-Dragon microprocessor for use in Chinese PCs.
Culturecom,
which listed on Hong Kong's stock exchange, professes links to Transmeta
Corp. and IBM Corp. A report on Culturecom's Web site when the first
reports surfaced said transactions in its shares were suspended on July 23
pending an announcement on a cooperation effort with eForce Group and Transmeta
to exploit the Linux-based Midori operating system.
The V-Dragon
CPU incorporates support for Chinese-language characters, according to the
company. It was unveiled at an event held at the Hong Kong Convention and
Exhibition Center, the company said.
The company
said it signed agreements for the sale of about 100,000 V-Dragon CPUs, and
letters of intent related to the sale of an additional 200,000 V-Dragon CPUs on
the first day of the trade show.
According to
Culturecom's Web site, the V-Dragon was developed with help from IBM and
has been designed to run the Midori variant of the Linux operating system. In
addition, the V-Dragon CPU was specifically developed to meet criteria
established by the Chinese government as part of a standard information
technology environment for China, Culturecom said.
"This V-Dragon Midori
Linux embedded architecture is a leading system of its kind in the China
market and is in line with the Chinese government's IT policy. Culturecom is
confident it will make a significant impact on market share with this new
development," Frank Cheung, chairman of Culturecom, said in a
statement.
Speakers at the trade show opening ceremony included: Zheng
Minzheng, director general of the department of electronics and information
product administration in the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry; C.D.
Tam, CEO of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp.; and Alexander
Poon, chairman of The Council of Taiwanese
Chambers of Commerce in
Asia.