Netscape Pioneer to Invest in Smart VCR
Will Take Stake in Replay Networks, a Custom TV Start-Up
By JOHN MARKOFF
SAN FRANCISCO -- A new technology intended to replace the traditional home
videocassette recorder is expected to get an important vote of confidence
on Monday with the announcement that a co-founder of Netscape
Communications Corp. has invested in one of two companies developing
digital television recording systems.
Marc Andreessen, who founded Netscape along with Jim Clark in 1995, will
announce that he is investing in Replay Networks Inc., a small Silicon
Valley start-up company and will join its board.
Replay Networks, based in Palo Alto, is one of two Silicon Valley companies
developing television systems that enable viewers to watch, store and
retrieve programs in novel ways, including pausing while the programs are
in progress and returning to the point of the pause as much as 30 minutes
later.
In December, the company will begin shipping the system, known as ReplayTV,
which will enable users to record a complete program that is already in
progress, to automatically record programs that meet a predetermined
criterion -- for example, movies featuring a particular actor -- and to
intelligently skip commercials.
But just as important as the bells and whistles, Replay executives say, is
that unlike most traditional VCRs, ReplayTV is simple enough to program
without resorting to a manual. The system includes an interactive
programming guide that the viewer can use to instruct the system to record
all programs related to a particular sports team, for example, or to
capture a particular program whenever it is on.
"The thing that most people can relate to is never missing their favorite
show," said Anthony Wood, Replay's founder and chief executive. "People
have busy lives, and it's not worth it to program their VCR."
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