Hardware News

VIA changes 'offensive' chipset name

Matthew Broersma ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 26 May 2000 14:42 BST

Chipset maker VIA Technologies has confirmed it will change the name of its forthcoming Apollo KZ133 chipset, designed for next-generation microprocessors from AMD, to avoid possible Nazi connotations. The product will be renamed Apollo KT133. (A chipset communicates between the microprocessor and the rest of a PC.)

A VIA spokesman said the company decided to make the change, which will mean reprinting documentation and publicity materials, because of possibly offensive meanings connected with the term "KZ". "KZ" was the German abbreviation used to mean "concentration camp" in World War II.

"We were having some calls from Eastern Europe saying this was a concern," said a VIA spokeswoman. "We didn't realise this was causing a problem. It is, so we are changing it."

VIA issued an apology to anyone the company might have unknowingly offended.

The KT133 is designed for use with AMD's forthcoming Duron processors, which use the Socket A architecture.

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