SGI and nVidia Form Alliance

Patent suits take forever. Last October's suit against nVidia by Silicon Graphics (SGI) felt like it would be long and drawn-out battle. SGI accused nVidia of infringing on a 3D-graphics patent held by SGI. On Tuesday, that suit was dismissed as the two companies decided to form an alliance to help build future technologies. NVidia has also licensed SGI's 3D-graphics patent portfolio as SGI has licensed nVidia's patent portfolio.

Considering nVidia is the odd man out so to speak by being one of the only 3D-graphics chipmakers without a board-manufacturing plant, the alliance with SGI could be a powerful one.

"For the past 15 years, SGI has been the most important 3D-graphics company in the world and has created many fundamental technologies for 3D computer graphics,'' said Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO and president of nVidia. "Our collaboration is bringing together the most talented 3D technologists in the world to develop products that will usher in a new era of breathtaking 3D experiences. This is a defining moment for the 3D graphics industry.''

The alliance's potential benefits for nVidia are obvious, as the company has become one of the darlings of the gaming industry with its latest TNT 2 and TNT2 Ultra powerhouses. Having access to upcoming SGI technologies could boost its next chipsets to even higher speeds. Considering that SGI is currently working on its upcoming graphics technology, Fahrenheit, with Microsoft, nVidia could have a leg up on companies like 3dfx. Since Fahrenheit will benefit Microsoft's DirectX API (something nVidia does extremely well) and OpenGL, nVidia could more closely ally itself with Microsoft in the development of even faster next-generation 3D graphics chips.