Press Release
- Archives 2000
ATI joins
the Web3D Consortium to help make 3D pervasive for e-commerce
revolution
February 21,
2000
Toronto,
Ontario - ATI Technologies Inc. (TSE: ATY, NASDAQ: ATYT) announced
today that it is joining as a Charter Member the Web3D Consortium,
formerly the VRML Consortium, an industry group created to spur
the development of open standards for web 3D specifications.
With growing virtual model applications for product display,
ATI sees Web3D as a driving force to enable web 3D acceleration
in desktop PCs, notebooks and set-top boxes. ATI's install base
of more than 80 million 3D RAGE accelerators will be able to
see the web in a new, and exciting dimension - 3D!
"The Web3D Consortium welcomes ATI as a member and will highly
value the company's input," said Neil Trevett, president of
the Consortium. "ATI has a great deal of experience in bringing
to market graphics and video technology, most recently in the
e-appliance space. This experience will help us to reach our
goal of developing standards for specific markets in the shortest
possible time."
With content creators unrestricted by non-standardized technology
and new technologies making it possible for users to open most
animations and video 3D web content as easily as they open any
web page, e-commerce businesses, major retailers and a host
of other organizations are expected to re-embrace the Internet
as a major sales and communications vehicle.
Internet connectivity devices have gone from just the computer
to a host of new consumer electronic appliances (e-appliances),
such as hand-held PCs, PDAs, TV set-top boxes and digital cellular
telephones-- all of which must also be 3D-enabled.
ATI has the widest range of e-appliance products
ATI offers the widest range of e-appliance graphics and video
accelerators on the market, from the RAGE HDTV™ graphics and
video chip for the set-top box to the RAGE Mobility™ family
of notebook chips to the graphics and MPEG-2 video power of
the RAGE 128 PRO™ graphics chips.
Graphics boards, such as the RAGE Fury Pro™ and the dual-chip
RAGE Fury MAXX™, and ATI's All-in-Wonder™ family of combination
TV-tuner and graphics boards are also ideal for e-commerce and
3D web content viewing and use. In all, ATI has an install base
of 80 million RAGE 3D graphics chips and boards that can enable
3D e-commerce applications.
The Web3D Consortium changed its name in December 1998, from
the VRML Consortium, following the ratification of an expanded
charter. The new charter moved from VRML-only proposals for
standardization to multiple technologies for 3D on the internet.
The goal of the new charter is to create a suite of interoperating
standards targeted at specific market segments. "The Web3D Consortium,
now mandated to entertain multiple 3D technologies, will create
the standards needed for 3D to become pervasive on the web,"
said Philip Eisler, senior director of component marketing,
ATI. "We provide our commitment to work with the Consortium
members to evaluate and bring to market a suite of standards
that will see 3D web content available to all the important
market segments, something that will grow e-commerce activity
significantly."
Web3D Consortium Profile
The Web3D Consortium is a non-profit organization with a mandate
to develop and promote open standards to enable 3D Web and broadcast
applications. Information on the Web3D Consortium can be found
at
www.web3d.org.
Copyright
© ATI Technologies Inc., 2000. All company and/or product
names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective
manufacturers. Features, pricing, availability and specifications
are subject to change without notice.
Company Profile
ATI Technologies Inc., the world's
largest supplier of 3D graphics and multimedia technology,
designs, manufactures and markets innovative and award-winning
multimedia solutions and graphics components for the personal
computer, set-top box and consumer electronics appliance markets.
An ISO 9002 company, ATI is the world's leading supplier of
video and 2D/3D graphics accelerators to OEM and retail customers.
Founded in 1985, ATI employs more than 1,700 people at headquarters
in Thornhill, Ontario, and in offices in the United States,
Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Barbados, Malaysia,
Japan and Hong Kong. ATI is a public company whose shares
trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.
Contact Information
For other ATI news releases visit our web site
at www.ati.com.
