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Live at Viiv

Live at Viiv

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Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
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Dan Ackerman
Reports coming out of the Intel Developer Forum say that the processor manufacturer has a new branding plan for Media Center PCs. In a keynote address, Don McDonald, a senior vice president from Intel's Digital Home Group, announced the birth of "Viiv," a brand name that, like Centrino before it, will combine a CPU and other Intel hardware and Windows Media Center Edition.

Aimed at entertainment PC users--particularly those who use rack-style home theater systems--Viiv (you know, like "five") will be based on a dual-core CPU, and the first systems bearing the name should start popping up in early 2006. None of the major PC vendors such as Dell or HP have announced their support for the platform, but it's a safe bet to say they'll be onboard.

According to Intel, Viiv systems will feature TV tuners, a Media Center remote, and "special software that makes it easier to set up a home network and connect to other wireless devices."

Our cousins over at News.com lay out the branding concept when they quote industry analyst Nathan Brookwood as saying, "Today you typically have a Windows sticker and an Intel sticker on your PC. There's no reason why it can't have Viiv and MCE."