Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stoctrash who wrote (41830)	6/8/1999 12:53:00 PM
From: DiViT	Respond to of 50808

Speaking of passing it around. Joint Ventures... NAB99: Joint ventures, interoperability & sales NAB99:Joint ventures, interoperability & sales Gerald M. Walker 06/30/1999 World Broadcast News Copyright 1999 by Intertec Publishing Corporation, a PRIMEDIA Company. All rights reserved. It could be the formula for success in the marketplace that was NAB99: Joint ventures + interoperability = sales. At the biggest display of broadcast and multimedia technologies on the planet, the 105,000 attendees at this year's show got a steady diet of announcements concerning collaborations and sales. Interoperability, it seems, has replaced open platform as a favorite manufacturer's mantra. Here are the business highlights. The July/August issue will feature key product introductions at NAB99. If the attendance numbers, the number of exhibitors and the sales deals announced are any indications of success, then the 1999 NAB Convention should be rated a hit. Maybe the buyers were not as ready to open up their checkbooks as wide as the exhibitors had hoped, but there still was enough action on the digital transition front to make for a lively stay in Las Vegas, Nevada. Joint ventures, which started out as a curiosity a few years ago, now have become as standard a part of NAB as the sound of slot machines. Some of the collaborations are means of sharing technology. Others are put together to exploit markets. And this year, the collaborationists talked about making the world safe for interoperability. Sharing the risks also might be an incentive these days. Two industry heavyweights, Avid Technology and Sony, announced an alliance to develop MPEG-based nonlinear editing systems for newsroom and post-production applications. Under this alliance, the two companies will work together to create an Avid NLE system that will interoperate with Sony's new line of MPEG equipment. The partners intend to cover both compression camps because they also intend to collaborate to enable the current Avid NewsCutter to interoperate with Sony's DVCAM equipment, in addition to its current DV capabilities. Finally, Avid and Sony intend to collaborate on 24P post-production workflow systems for HDTV, including high-def broadcast news equipment. Ampex Data Systems and Hewlett-Packard have taken on the daunting task of archiving for the broadcast industry. Ampex Data Systems has refitted its DST automated cartridge libraries for HP's MPEG-based MediaStream video servers. According to Ampex, the DST library reduces the overall time required to archive and restore program elements to a network of Hewlett-Packard video servers. Meanwhile, Ampex also has a joint marketing agreement with Tektronix to link DST libraries with Tektronix Profile servers for mid- to high-end broadcast archive operations. Andrew called its acquisition of Passive Power Products the means to "provide complete RF system solutions from the transmitter output through to the antenna." Passive Power Products is said to be the largest supplier of digital TV (DTV) filters in the world. It will be known as Andrew Passive Power Products, and its manufacturing facility will remain in Gray, Maine, USA. Columbine JDS Systems and the Comark Digital Services unit of Thomcast Communications announced an agreement to co-develop a PSIP program and system information-protocol generator that will be driven by all CJDS traffic systems. The new CJDS PSIP Manager will link traffic and on-air automation products with Thomcast's Pearl PSIP system. Pearl is designed to work with all ATSC-compliant streams, regardless of the encoding system selected by the broadcaster. Ampex, Avalon, Drake Automation Ltd (DAL) and Tektronix are working together on a new network library interface for the Tek Profile. (See page 42.) The first implementation of this interface will be at London News Network (LNN). An Ampex DST 712 will be connected to a Profile Fibre Channel Network. LNN is the network playout center for the Independent Television network in the UK. "This architecture is much more fault resilient, truly sharing a library between all network servers," explained Robin Adams, chief technology officer for DAL. "Two-stage caching is eliminated with last-minute items being fed directly from the tape to the output servers," Fast Forward Video revealed that it has entered into an OEM agreement with Odetics Broadcast in which Odetics will integrate Fast Forward Video's Omega digital disk recorder into an upcoming line of broadcast equipment. Harris has signed a distribution agreement with SkyStream, a leading supplier of data and conditional-access broadcast networking equipment. Under the agreement, Harris will incorporate SkyStream's DTV/ATSC IP data injector into its family of DTV products and market the systems as the Dataplus brand. Data-plus enables TV stations making the transition to digital broadcast centers to augment existing video programming line-ups with new revenue-generating data services. Data-plus will support an interface to Harris' Flexi-Coder DTV/HDTV video encoders. One of the earliest advocates of partnerships, Hewlett-Packard revealed a collaborative effort with DiviCom and JVC to deliver a HDTV on-air server. The combined high-def system will feature HP Media-Stream servers 700 and 1600, DiviCom 's Media-View MV 400 HDTV encoder and JVC's new DM-D4000 HDTV decoder. The Media-Stream servers will be equipped with an input/output interface card capable of accepting MPEG streams from the DiviCom encoder and will provide MPEG streams to the JVC decoder in compliance with ATSC, DVB and SMPTE standards. HP also announced an alliance with Sundance Digital to combine its servers with Sundance automation. International Datacasting Corporation (IDC) and Tektronix have inked a strategic alliance to deliver digital multimedia satellite systems. Under the agreement, IDC will integrate the Tek M2 Series video-edge device for video trunking into its SuperFlex satellite data broadcast systems, expanding the IDC distribution system to support TV-quality video as well as Internet, data and audio transmissions. The M2 encoder handles both real-time video encoding and bandwidth for data. In a joint-venture partnership, Merlin Communications International and the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority have formed Iris Gateway Satellite Services Ltd. The new company will provide satellite turnaround and fiber-connectivity facilities based in Cyprus to provide a ground link between Asian and European satellites and communications systems. JVC and Sonic Solutions jointly are developing a new DVD archive system built upon Sonic's DVD Creator technology. The workgroup-based JVC DVD Archive system provides automatic encoding, storage, and management of video and audio assets for archival and distribution purposes and incorporates Sonic's AutoDVD production system. The archiving system has three components: a JVC asset-management system, a JVC DVD library and the Sonic AutoDVD. At NAB, Lucent Digital Video and Sharp Electronics demonstrated DTV decoder and encoder interoperability and PSIP technology. The SharpVision DTV decoder (TU-DTV1000) and the Lucent VideoStar encoder SD worked together. In addition to Lucent, Sharp also is collaborating with DiviCom , General Instrument, NDS, Thomcast and Tiernan.

To: Stoctrash who wrote (41830)	6/8/1999 1:07:00 PM
From: DiViT	Respond to of 50808

CompUSA PC American Pro(TM) Desktop Series Uses Zoran SoftDVD(TM) to Play Hollywood Movies and DVD Games [Rumor has it that Zoran is selling off their money losing SoftDVD business for a song...] 06/08/1999 PR Newswire (Copyright (c) 1999, PR Newswire) American Pro Product Line Delivers Unmatched DVD Playback Capabilities With World's First Software-Only DVD Decoder DALLAS, June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- CompUSA PC(TM) today announced that it is shipping all CompUSA PC American Pro(TM) desktop computers with Zoran Corporation's SoftDVD, the industry's first pure software DVD decoder. CompUSA PC, the build-to-order provider of leading-edge computer systems, is a division of CompUSA Inc. (NYSE: CPU), America's Largest Computer Superstore(R) retailer. "CompUSA PC's high-quality desktop systems combined with Zoran's SoftDVD's robust architecture provides consumers with smooth, superior-quality, DVD-playback performance," said Rob Howe, CompUSA PC vice president and general manager. "The inclusion of SoftDVD in our desktop systems is yet another example of CompUSA PC's combination of leading edge technology and superior value in build-to-order computers." "We are pleased to have been chosen by CompUSA PC for their American Pro family of Desktop PCs," stated Dr. Isaac Shenberg, senior vice president for business development at Zoran. "SoftDVD delivers unmatched capabilities and quality to PC gamers and other PC users of DVD and is a perfect match for top-quality desktop PCs such as the CompUSA PC American Pro." SoftDVD is standard on all CompUSA PC American Pro computers with DVD drives but is available as an option on all CompUSA PCs. SoftDVD enables PCs to play DVD content without requiring dedicated decoding hardware. All video and audio decoding, navigation, decryption and 3D audio functions are performed in software. SoftDVD also supports six 3D audio algorithms for enhanced audio experience using only two speakers. Today, entry-level PCs (more than 300Mhz) which utilize a Pentium II or equivalent processor are capable of running SoftDVD with popular graphics cards to produce a high-quality video and audio experience. ABOUT Zoran Zoran Corporation (Nasdaq: ZRAN) develops and markets software, integrated circuits (ICs) and IC Intellectual Property (IP) cores for digital audio and video applications enabled by compression. Zoran also provides complete reference designs based on Zoran's technology. Zoran's product lines and IP include JPEG codecs, MPEG and DVD decoders, digital audio processors and real-time DVD software for PCs. All these standard-based products benefit from Zoran's Standard Plus(TM) technology. Zoran's software is bundled by PC and graphics-card manufacturers for software and software assisted DVD playback on PCs. The company's ICs are used in numerous digital audio and video products. Leading applications incorporating Zoran's products and IP include professional and consumer video editing systems, filmless digital cameras, stand-alone and PC-based DVD players, SuperVCD players, digital speakers and audio systems. Zoran is headquartered in Santa Clara, California with additional operations in Haifa, Israel, Toronto, Canada and offices in Tokyo, Japan and Shenzhen, China. For more information about Zoran call 408-919-4111, or visit Zoran's website at zoran.com. ABOUT CompUSA PC CompUSA PC, the build-to-order division of CompUSA Inc., was established in March 1997 to provide a direct sales option to CompUSA customers. CompUSA PC is dedicated to providing genuine value to its customers through the building and on-time delivery of computers designed to the customer's exact specifications -- computers that offer performance and value without compromise. CompUSA PC's products include high-quality branded servers, desktop PCs and notebook computers and offer immediate access to the newest technologies, tested compatibility of components, flexible configurations, extensive multi-level training options, competitive pricing, government buying schedules and National Software Testing Labs Y2K certification. For more information about CompUSA PC's products go on-line via the CompUSA website (www.compusa.com), visit the in-store "configurator" terminals, call 1-888-2CompPC or speak with a CompUSA Corporate Account Manager. ABOUT CompUSA Inc. CompUSA Inc. is one of the nation's leading retailers and resellers of personal computers and related products and services. The Company currently operates 211 CompUSA Computer Superstores(SM) in 83 major metropolitan markets across the United States that serve retail, corporate, government and education customers and include technical service departments and classroom training facilities. Standard Plus, and SiliconSoftware are trademarks of Zoran Corporation. Contact: /CONTACT: Rob Howe, Vice President & General Manager of CompUSA PC, 972-528-2191, or email, Robert_Howe@compusa.com; or Yizhar Ganor, Director of Corp. Business & IR of Zoran Corporation, 408-919-4286, or email, ir@zoran.com; or Barbara K. Marsh-Wetherell, Principal of Marsh-Wetherell Market Relations, 925-933-1907, x3, or email, mwmr@hooked.net, for CompUSA Inc./ 09:05 EDT

To: Stoctrash who wrote (41830)	6/8/1999 7:29:00 PM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

The Microsoft/Echostar digital VCR/settop box.............. newsbytes.com Digital Video Recorders - Coming Soon To Living Rooms 08 Jun 1999, 5:02 PM CST By Laura Randall, Newsbytes. FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., Digital video recorders, with their individualized programming features and memory capabilities, are poised to do well when they become available in the commercial consumer electronics market this fall, according to new market research data. Known as DVRs, digital video recorders are a sort of enhanced alternative to VCRs and DVD players, offering viewers constant individualized programming service and a hard drive instead of a cassette. Say a television viewer gets a phone call while he's watching a football game. He can start taping the game immediately by pressing a button on the DVR. When he gets off the phone, he can resume watching the game right away without having to wait for the game to end and rewind a tape. DVRs also have the capability to record shows and automatically reset the programming if the time or date of the show is changed. "Consumers are very excited about these products," said Kevin Hause, a consumer devices analyst at market research firm International Data Corp. IDC is predicting that digital video recorders will explode onto the market when they debut in the fall, based in part on preliminary orders for the products and the buzz surrounding them when they made the rounds at trade shows this winter and spring. RePlay Networks, TiVo and Microsoft all have developed technology for digital video recorders. Microsoft plans to start shipping its EchoStar dish player, a high-end setup box with limited DVR capabilities, this summer, Hause said. Panasonic and Philips Consumer Electronics plan to debut products using RePlay and TiVo technology, respectively, in the fall, Hause said. Prices for DVRs are currently at $499 and $999, depending on the storage capacity, Hause said. But the analyst told Newsbytes he expects the prices for DVRs to drop significantly once they hit the retail market. IDC is predicting that about 1 million DVR-enabled products will be shipped in 2000, and that the number of shipments will reach 10 million in 2004. "DVR products will mirror the rapid adoption of DVD players," Hause said, citing broad consumer interest and a simple infrastructure as the main reasons for the explosive growth. Hause also said a key factor in the digital video recorder's growth will be the integration of DVR functions into other devices, such as set-top boxes and digital TV converters. Reported by Newsbytes.com, newsbytes.com17:02 CST Reposted 17:58 CST (19990608/WIRES PC, ONLINE, BUSINESS, TELECOM/DVR/PHOTO)