"It slices, It dices," it does everything a set-top can do and a whole lot more................
techweb.com
Aladdin set-top to combine interactive games, TV, DVD
By Doug Olenick
Sparks, Nev.-Ricoh is in the early stages of developing a TV set-top device that combines a DVD player, Internet TV and interactive gameplay for release in late 1998 at an expected street price of $450 to $550.
Ricoh' new Aladdin device will play DVD movies, along with DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, CD-ROM and CD-RW discs, and will also use a new hybrid CD-RW disc, said Jeff Lengyel, Ricoh's marketing manager. The CD-RW disc, as yet unnamed, will differ from current discs by containing an application zone and a read/write zone.
"This is so different, there is no category for it yet," said Lengyel.
The read/write capability of the new disc, which Ricoh is developing, is one of Aladdin's best features, he said. One possible use for the CD-RW is the creation of personalized video games. A user can download a digital photograph of himself onto the disc and transfer the image into a game. There, the user can replace the face of a game character with his own face. Changes can be made to other game elements, such as background scenery, Lengyel said.
Ricoh is talking with software makers about developing the customizeable games.
Even though Aladdin's expected price is the same as DVD movie players now on the market, Lengyel is confident Aladdin will hit its price point, because of future price reductions on DVD products as well as cost-saving measures taken in making Aladdin.
Aladdin will have printer and TV connections, a stereo jack and a PC card slot. It will also include an infrared gamepad and a remote control that incorporates a small keyboard and a pointing device.
In addition to game software. Lengyel foresees Aladdin having an on-screen photo-album maker, a Web-page builder and "fun" productivity programs.
In other news, Ricoh is releasing the RDC-300 digital camera and RXP-10 photo printer. The RDC-300 is set to start shipping in mid-July at a $499 suggested retail price. It has a flip-up LCD and 4MB of internal memory for storing between 25 and 100 photos. The camera has photo-manipulation capabilities that allow the user to adjust the photo's contrast and brightness via the LCD.
The RXP-10, slated to ship in early fall at a $499 SRP, is a dedicated photo-only printer that can make prints ranging in size from a thumbnail-size to a 3x5-inch photo. It uses a dye-sublimation thermal process to produce picture resolutions of 640 x 480. The RXP-10 can connect directly to a digital camera. |
