Hi, Justone (and Mike)- WRT the STB/STB semiconductor question and stock plays, I suggest Philips. They are putting themselves into an enviable position; I supect that by 2003 they will be far and away the dominant player, both in North America and Europe, where DTV will be OFDM-based.
Look also at HAVi, in concert with Sony, Sharp, Thomson Multimedia. Panasonic, Grundig, Hitachi and others: this is an IEEE 1394/'wireless 1394' overlay for personal entertainment. You might want to check out their involvement with Liberate/Microsoft, not to mention Tivo.
HAVi is developing a strong groundswell; many, including TI are preparing chipsets, but Philips is well-positioned with last year's acquisition of VLSI.
The HAVi product will accept to either broadcast, wireless, or network input, and will bridge to Jini and UPnP, Linux or Windows.
Regards,
Jim |
