Serial ATA solutions lag expectations

SEAGATE AND INTEL may have demonstrated the "first native Serial ATA hard drive implementation," at PC Expo in New York last week, but mobo makers are struggling to add the Serial ATA controller chips onto their products to support the standard. Chipset makers, it seems, haven't yet integrated the controllers into their offerings, Digitimes reports.

Among Serial ATA chipsets announced, SiS says it will introduce its Serial ATA-supporting south bridge chip, SiS964, from October and VIA has said it plans to incorporate the function into its VT8235 south bridge chip some time later.

And Intel,despite having shown a prototype at PC Expo, is not expected to build Serial ATA into its new ICH5 south bridge chip until some time during the first half of 2003.

So don't expect to see much Serial ATA activity this year, is the message and then only at the high end. Last year at the System Builders' Summit in Poitiers, Intel told us Serial ATA would be the "predominant technology" by 2003 and that on-board solutions would be commonplace this year. Doh!