Microsoft Unit's Internet TV Gets Wider Audience
By Yuko Inoue
MAKUHARI, Japan (Reuters) - Microsoft unit WebTV
Networks says its service which allows people to surf the Internet
on their television sets reaches out to a poorly served area of the
market -- women and the computer-illiterate.
WebTV Networks president Steve Perlman said on Wednesday
the Internet television service it offers in Japan had an "unusually
high" percentage of women among its users -- about 35 percent.
And only about 20 percent of them had personal computers at
home.
"WebTV has created an Internet value proposition that's not for
high-tech users but rather is for the average consumer," Perlman
told a news conference after making a keynote speech at the
four-day Comdex '98 convention in Makuhari, near Tokyo.
"WebTV has a profound impact not on the PC industry but on
society," he said.
WebTV was purchased by Microsoft last year for $425 million as
part of the software giant's strategy of reaching more consumers
by melding the personal computer's capabilities with television's
ease of use and mass acceptance.
Hoping to repeat the success it has had in the United States,
WebTV launched the service in Japan in December, allowing
Japanese consumers to surf the Internet using their TV sets and
telephone lines at home. It has just begun testing in Britain.
Perlman did not say how many subscribers the firm had in Japan,
but WebTV officials said they have not changed their target of
150,000 by the end of this year.
He said Tuesday's announcement of a digital TV tie-up between
Microsoft and Sony would strengthen its own relationship with
Sony, which produces set-top boxes for WebTV.
"We view this announcement as furthering our relationship that we
have with Sony," he said.
"We are looking forward to working with Sony to continue to
extend the WebTV's system and begin to incorporate some of the
digital TV capabilities they will be developing together with
Microsoft."
Microsoft and Sony said they would work together to link PCs
and consumer-electronics devices, moving closer on technology
standards for digital TV and other products.
WebTV's subscribers had grown to 300,000 by the end of
December in the United States, despite scarce supply of the
needed set-top boxes.
Perlman said the company would enhance its service in Japan by
the end of June, adding capabilities such as still picture and audio
content to electronic mail.
The company also plans to launch a so-called Plus Internet
television service in Japan by the end of this year, Perlman said.
The Plus service provides picture in picture" display and unified
remote control, allowing users to switch easily from television to
the Internet. |
