While everyone from SGI to 3dfx has 3D IP, in one form or another, there are only a handful of companies that are in the business of selling 3D IP:

Imagination Technologies is probably the easiest to summarize so, I'll start there. When the company was VidoeLogic, it went through a number of metamorphoses from a video card vendor, to graphics card vendor, to graphics chip company, to what it is now, a mixture of legacy businesses, and a newly found focus on selling technology IP. I'll venture to say that Imagination Technologies got its wake up call in the four or five years it has had to work with NEC. Initially, the idea that PowerVR was going to be manufactured by one of the world's largest semiconductor companies must have seemed like a slam-dunk. NEC would get some unique technology, and VideoLogic would get all the chips it needed to build boards.

Things didn't quite work out that way. Sure, PowerVR in Dreamcast is done. Outside of that console, PowerVR has been a dud, despite some heavy spending by NEC. So, it's a good thing that Imagination Technologies is going to stick to its technology, and not be involved in products. Now, having said that, the VideoLogic Systems division of Imagination continues to sell products. Most of it in its home territory of the UK. The company's Sirocco audio products should be available in the US in 2000, but I can't see Imagination lasting long on speaker sales. Like I said, it's a good think Sega's selling some hardware right now.

Now, on to VM Labs. VM Labs doesn't sell 3D strictly. It sells the NUON processor, or rather licenses its technology. NUON isn't just a processor; it's an operating system too. The combination provides a value added DVD platform, which should also include some 3D game capability. Originally, NUON was referred to as Project X, as far as I can remember, and it got quite a bit of coverage in the gaming press. In fact, it's more of a multimedia processor in the tradition of Philip's Trimedia . I am sure VM Labs won't like the comparison, but every time I hear about NUON I always get an image of Philip's CD-I system in my mind. If Sony is attacking the multimedia boom box business from a hard core 3D perspective then, companies like VM Labs, and Philips are coming at the problem from the MPEG end of things. If you have silicon for DVD decoding, you probably have enough gates and transistors to do 3D. Somebody has to figure out how you get content for all this stuff, and make it something that consumers really want. Sony has the games. VM Labs assumes that because the additional features NUON provides are free that software vendors are going to be drawn to support ubiquitous DVD players with titles. Build it and they will come.