
Chip maker Focus to announce Xbox deal
According to http://storage.ittoolbox.com, Focus Enhancements, a Campbell chip maker, is expected to announce today that it has received purchase orders to supply video conversion chips for Microsoft's Xbox video-game console starting in the fall.
Focus said it has received orders to supply its FS454 chips, which convert the machine's graphics so that they can be displayed on a TV set, whether it's based on U.S., European or high-definition broadcast standards, said Brett Moyer, president and chief executive of Focus.
The chips will replace a current solution provided by Conexant Systems in Newport Beach. Focus said the chips enable Microsoft to reduce the cost of the Xbox. Microsoft is widely rumored to be preparing a lower-cost version of the Xbox this fall to help reduce the losses associated with the console.
Focus is a publicly traded company with 80 employees. Most of the employees are in Hillsboro, Ore., where the company acquired its video-conversion-chip business in 1996.
The chips will replace a current solution provided by Conexant Systems in Newport Beach. Focus said the chips enable Microsoft to reduce the cost of the Xbox. Microsoft is widely rumored to be preparing a lower-cost version of the Xbox this fall to help reduce the losses associated with the console.
Focus is a publicly traded company with 80 employees. Most of the employees are in Hillsboro, Ore., where the company acquired its video-conversion-chip business in 1996.