Texas Dude: yes, as a matter of fact you did miss something:
"WAVE SYSTEMS INTRODUCES WAVE DIRECT E-COMMERCE SERVICE FOR PC USERS
Hauppauge Digital First To Implement Wave Direct Service On TV Receiver Boards
San Jose, CA , June 1, 1999 - Wave Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: WAVX; wave.com), a provider of electronic commerce, content distribution and security services, today announced the launch of its Wave Direct e-commerce service, which will be incorporated in WinTV Theater Tuner Boards from Hauppauge Digital Inc. (NASDAQ: HAUP; www.hauppauge.com), the leading developer and manufacturer of analog and digital video, TV, and data broadcast receiver products for personal computers. The Wave Direct service provides consumers with a convenient and flexible way to buy electronic content such as software and music at their desktop. Content purchasing models include pay-per-use, rent-to-own and outright purchase. The Hauppauge Digital WinTV Theater Tuner Board is the first product to incorporate the Wave Direct service and will be available exclusively from CompUSA stores nationwide this week.
"The debut of the Wave Direct service in Hauppauge's WinTV tuner boards marks a milestone for the company and is a critical first step in the deployment of our multi-channel content distribution network," said Steven Sprague, president of Wave Systems. "Wave Direct offers the first glimpse into a future where users will have access to convenient and flexible purchase options. Wave will continue to offer new services that will revolutionize the secure delivery, access, and use of electronic content." Wave Direct is designed to benefit consumers, PC and peripheral vendors and content providers. Consumers benefit from flexible purchase options -- pay-per-use, rent-to-own -- and convenient at-home shopping for a wide variety of electronic content. PC and peripheral vendors directly benefit from an alternative revenue stream, superior product differentiation, and extended customer relationships. Content providers gain from secured copyright protection, flexible pricing options, and lower distribution costs.
Hauppauge WinTV Theater Receiver Boards With Wave Direct
Available exclusively from CompUSA stores nationwide for a suggested retail price of $149.00. The Hauppauge WinTV Theater Tuner Boards will ship with Wave's e-commerce functionality embedded in the product and a CD-ROM bundle of software titles from leading publishers that can be purchased or rented securely using Wave Direct. The e-commerce functionality in the chipset enables secure transaction processing at the point of purchase -- the consumer's desktop. Wave Direct users will be able to access the Wave Direct online store (www.wave.com) to obtain additional software titles as they become available.
"By partnering with Wave Systems to provide our customers with a convenient, secure, and arguably revolutionary tool for accessing and buying a wide range of software and digital content, Hauppauge is offering our customers a very unique, innovative feature while establishing at the same time a revenue stream that grows beyond the point of purchase," said Ken Plotkin, Hauppauge Digital's CEO.
Wave Direct users simply load the bundled CD ROM's onto their PC and then follow the Windows-based instructions for registering and using the service. After their account is established users are free to rent or buy any of the packaged software titles. When the consumer uses any of the titles, money is debited from their account based on their usage. Every penny spent in rental time is applied toward the total purchase price. Once rental payments reach the retail price, the software is owned outright.
Wave has been developing secure transaction and electronic content distribution technology for over two years. Wave Direct is a tangible part of Wave's overall strategy to facilitate the secure distribution and sale of digital information by creating new transaction and purchasing models derived from client-based e-commerce technologies."
Nice DD, TD... |
