Intel, Google in video search tie-up

Philipp Gollner and Scott Hillis

LAS VEGAS: Users of Intel Corp.'s new entertainment platform will soon be able to use Google Inc.'s search technology to locate Internet video, one of several new partnerships as the top chip maker moves from microprocessors into digital home entertainment.

The agreement, announced by the companies, will give users of Intel's Viiv-branded products a way to search, organize and view Internet video on their televisions and portable devices.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

"With the explosion of digital entertainment choices, consumers will need simple, easy ways to locate the content they want and easily play it when they want," Kevin Corbett, vice president of Intel's digital home group, said in a statement.

The link with Google is part of a broader strategy by Intel to expand from a chip maker to a leading provider of digital home entertainment.

Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini on Thursday announced a slew of new products and partnerships, including agreements with DirecTV Group Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit, to give consumers a broad choice of music, video, photos, games and movies.

Viiv is Intel's attempt to turn PCs into the center of home entertainment and make it easier for consumers to play video, music and other content on a variety of devices.

Viiv-based PCs will feature Intel's dual-core technology, which combines two processors on a single chip to increase power and efficiency.

"Viiv will completely change what you expect from home entertainment," Otellini said in a speech on Thursday at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. "We have to integrate the big screen capability, the PC capability and the Internet experience."

Otellini, during a presentation that lasted almost 1-½ hours, did not mention the Google partnership, which was announced separately in a press release during his speech.

Google co-founder Larry Page is scheduled to give a keynote address at the Las Vegas conference on Friday.

The show is the consumer electronics industry's biggest convention in the U.S., drawing an estimated 130,000 retailers and technology enthusiasts and showcasing the latest gadgets.

Intel and Google "believe open standards are critical to provide rapid growth in digital entertainment," Susan Wojciki, Google's vice president for product management, said in a statement. "Our goal is to work closely with Intel to make Google Video content available on new digital devices in the home."

DirecTV CEO Chase Carey, who joined Otellini at the presentation, said his company will use Viiv technology to transmit entertainment content among various devices in the home. The DirecTV PC will also allow consumers to transmit PC content to television screens, he said.

Intel is among the companies that helped make California's Silicon Valley into a technological powerhouse and its processors power an estimated 90 percent of the world's personal computers.

Google's expansion from its core Internet search feature into a range of Internet and software services has pushed its stock price up to more than $450, and given it a market capitalization of $133 billion, bigger than all but a handful of blue-chip companies.