Bandwidth Whores: Stay tuned Net access through TV slow to take off
Reuters - 08:13 p.m Dec 09, 1998 Eastern
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two years ago, a tiny Silicon Valley
start up came out with a rather novel concept, a way to use the
Internet without using a computer.
The name of the company was WebTV Network
(http://www.webtv.com) and its WebTV service worked by
connecting an ordinary television to a set-top box that was hooked
up to the Internet through a standard telephone line.
Within months of the first WebTV devices showing up on
retailers' shelves, thousands and then tens of thousands of people
bought the set-top boxes and signed up for the $19.95 a month
service.
The attention surrounding WebTV was enough to interest
Microsoft Corp. (http://www.microsoft.com), which snapped up
the private company for $425 million. Industry observers lauded
the acquisition as the dawn of the Internet appliance era, when
people would connect to the Net using all kinds of non-PC
electronic gadgets.
Those predictions have proved partly true. Today, it's possible to
check e-mail or browse the Web from a wireless phone or digital
organizer like the PalmPilot from 3Com Corp.
(http://www.3com.com).
But the number of people hooked up to the Net through their TVs
remains tiny. In two years, WebTV's customer base has grown to
about 500,000, compared with 79 million total Internet users in
North America, according to the latest figures from pollster
Nielsen Media Research (http://www.nielsenmedia.com).
That number is bound to grow, albeit slowly, as the TV-Net
options become more widespread.
For instance, this year marked the launch of a second TV-based
Internet service, from WorldGate Communications
(http://www.wgate.com), a private company in Bensalem, Pa.
Unlike WebTV, WorldGate doesn't require a separate set-top
box. Rather, WorldGate subscribers sign up through their cable
TV operators, who offer the service as an add-on, like a premium
movie channel, at a suggested price of $4.95 a month.
WorldGate sends Internet data to subscribers through their cable
TV converters and equipment located at a cable operator's office.
The WorldGate service transmits data at speeds of 128 kilobits
per second up to 27 megabits per second.
Along with e-mail and Web access, WorldGate offers a feature
called hyperlinking, which allows subscribers to click from a TV
show or commercial directly to special Web pages with related
information.
A cable TV system run by Charter Communications
(http://www.chartercom.com) in St. Louis was the first to offer
WorldGate's service. Since sign ups began in June, Charter has
collected about 1,000 subscribers, or 6 percent of its customers in
the area, according to E.J. Glaser, a Charter regional vice
president.
''People love it,'' Glaser said. ''Some people had never used the
Internet before and they were hooked.''
As Charter considers rolling out the service in other cities,
WorldGate is signing up new partners, including cable operators
in Georgia, Ohio, Washington, the Bahamas and Ecuador.
For its part, WebTV has introduced a number of upgrades this
year. In November, the service launched a holiday shopping
guide, and subscribers who use newer WebTV Plus equipment
can now add photos and sound files to e-mail messages and send
electronic greeting cards.
But services such as WebTV and WorldGate still have a ways to
go. Neither supports Web sites that use the Java programming
language, in vogue with a growing number of Web sites. What's
more, WebTV doesn't support RealNetwork's popular streaming
audio and video technologies.
Still, more TV-Internet options are coming. America Online
(http://www.aol.com) is reportedly working on a WebTV-like
device. According to news reports, the company is negotiating
with consumer electronics manufacturers to make the devices and
with telecommunications carriers to provide Internet access.
A new generation of semiconductors on the market now will
make it easier than ever to use your TV to channel surf and surf
the Web simultaneously.
Chips such as those recently introduced by Broadcom Corp.
(http://www.broadcom.com), a semiconductor company in
Irvine, Calif., could eliminate the need for special set-boxes by
integrating Internet programming technology directly into TVs.
The chips also clean up Web graphics, improving text fonts and
eliminating fuzzies to make them look better on TV screens,
according to a Broadcom representative demonstrating a prototype
Net-integrated TV set at a recent cable TV convention in Anaheim,
Calif.
''Just as today there are cable-ready VCRs, these (chips) will be
the same thing, a broadband conduit into the home,'' Broadcom
President Henry Nicholas said in an interview at the convention.
(Michelle V. Rafter writes about cyberspace and technology from
Los Angeles. Reach her at mvrafter@deltanet.com. Opinions
expressed in this column are her own.)
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication and redistribution of Reuters content is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters
shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for
any actions taken in reliance thereon.
o~~~ O |
