Intel to invest $200 million in ‘digital home’

On the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Wednesday, Intel will announce plans to invest $200 million in companies developing new types of hardware, software and networking products for the “digital home,” the company said in a statement.

On the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Wednesday, Intel will announce plans to invest $200 million in companies developing new types of hardware, software and networking products for the “digital home,” the company said in a statement.

The goal of the funding is to accelerate the convergence of PCs and consumer electronics equipment by making it easier for consumers to play music, video and other digital content on devices around the home, the company said. The fund will be managed by Intel Capital, the chip maker’s investment arm.

Intel is one of several computer industry titans hoping to find new business in products for the home, including digital televisions, stereos and handheld computers. Microsoft and Dell are among those expected to show new consumer products at CES this week.

As more entertainment and educational content becomes digital, people want to edit, manage and access that content, and share it among multiple devices around the home, John Miner, president of Intel Capital, said in the statement.

Broadening its efforts at home, Intel is also expected to announce this week that it is developing a new type of chip for digital televisions that could help lower the cost and widen the use of those products, according to a report last month in The New York Times.

Its efforts at the consumer market haven’t all been successful. In the heady days of the Internet bubble it launched its own brand of consumer products that included a music player and a digital microscope. When the economy turned south it pulled the plug on the fledgling consumer division in 2002.

Intel continued to develop what it calls “building blocks” for consumer products, however, including chips and software for media center PCs, set-top boxes, portable music players and other devices. It is expected to provide an update this week on a portable music and video player that it co-developed with Microsoft.

CES gets under way Wednesday evening with a speech from Bill Gates, Microsoft’s chairman and chief software architect. The show officially opens on Thursday when Paul Otellini, Intel’s president and COO, will address the CES crowd.