FOCUS-AOL in alliances to deliver Internet via TV
(recasts throughout, updates stock prices, adds executive
quotes, byline)
By Eric Auchard
NEW YORK, May 11 (Reuters) - America Online Inc. <AOL.N> on
Tuesday unveiled its long-awaited interactive television plans,
seeking to demonstrate that the top Internet media network is
ready to play in the converging worlds of computers and TV.
In a blizzard of announcements, Dulles, Va.-based America
Online said it agreed to a half-dozen partnerships to develop a
converter box that transforms TVs into Internet receivers and a
satellite TV system to deliver interactive online services.
AOL TV, as the America Online project is called, will bring
many features of the existing AOL online service to U.S. TV
viewers, like e-mail buddy lists and quick-checkout online
shopping, as well as various special TV navigation features.
"This is not a replacement for the personal computer,"
Barry Schuler, president of AOL's Interactive Services Group,
said in an interview. "We are looking at other places where
people will extend their online experience in the home."
But while AOL gave a glimpse of how it plans to propel the
Internet into U.S. living rooms, AOL TV will not be available
until 2000 -- missing this year's Christmas' buying season --
when most consumer electronics gadgets are sold each year.
Despite all the deal-making, there were no signs of
progress in finding partners to deliver the next generation of
high-speed Internet services -- an issue that has clouded AOL's
future outlook and sapped its stock price recently.
Still, AOL showed it is advancing on its goal of reaching
the 80 million U.S. homes without Internet connections. This
was enough to raise the opinions of several AOL analysts on
Wall Street, propelling the stock nearly 9 percent higher.
AOL said its AOL TV unit had reached deals with Hughes
Electronics Corp.'s <GMH.N> DirecTV, the No. 1 U.S. satellite
TV service with 7 million subscribers, to combine DirectTV
programming with an enhanced TV service from AOL TV.
Hughes Networks, another Hughes unit, agreed to build the
dual-purpose converter boxes necessary to transmit both
DirectTV and AOL TV services to satellite TV subscribers.
Schuler said the boxes would contain a satellite receiver
and interactive TV software with the basic AOL system and
graphics, requiring users to update only new data, thereby
making the most of limited communications lines.
In addition, Royal Philips Electronics NV <PHG.AS>, another
provider of TV signal converter boxes, agreed to produce an
advanced TV converter box to deliver AOL TV services based on a
design from modem maker Boca Research Inc. <BOCI.O>
Oracle Corp.'s Network Computer Inc. <ORCL.O> unit agreed
to provide a complete software system for AOL TV, allowing the
service to be displayed on sets connected to the Web by either
phone or satellite links.
Finally, National Semiconductor Corp. <NSM.N> said AOL had
selected its microprocessor computer chip as the brains for the
new Web-to-television converter boxes.
The announcement marked the first major customer pact for
National Semiconductor, a flagging rival of computer chip giant
Intel Corp. <INTC.O>, which last week announced plans to shed
Cyrix, its PC chip business, to focus on new Internet devices
such as the ones that will be used in AOL TV boxes.
The AOL TV services would allow U.S. consumers to view a
special set of AOL interactive services on their televisions,
either through standard phone line or satellite TV links.
Initially the AOL TV services will be offered as add-on
attachments to existing consumer TV sets. Eventually, Schuler
hopes to convince major TV set makers to build the technology
necessary to offer such services directly into new TV sets.
Schuler promised AOL TV would satisfy a vast audience of
couch potatoes. "This is not just about making your TV another
computer Internet monitor," Schuler s... |
