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

To: Maya who wrote (42450)	6/27/1999 11:10:00 PM
From: Helios	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 50808

I went through microsoft's stock research site and found that their wizard values cube at $199 based on the PE of its peers. investor.com interesting

To: Maya who wrote (42450)	6/28/1999 9:05:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

DTH in Poland........................ multi-international.com Polish DTH Platforms Mull a Truce By THERESA AGOVINO June 21, 1999 Merger talks between the two digital-satellite direct-to-home services in Poland could resume now that United Pan-Europe Communications N.V. (UPC) has signed an agreement to acquire At Entertainment Inc., one of the country's DTH providers. Last year, At Entertainment was discussing the creation of a joint digital platform with Canal Plus Polska. "We want to add channels and offer greater value to our clients," said Nimrod Kovacs, managing director of Eastern Europe for UPC. "Maybe there is a way that [UPC and Canal Plus] could work together. We could resume the merger talks or think about ways to combine and cooperate." Kovacs added that he hadn't contacted Canal Plus yet. Canal Plus Polska managing director Gaspard De Chavagnac said, "There is no room for two players that want to make money in this market. It probably would make sense to have a conversation." Experts said the purchase was likely to put pressure on "CYFRA+," the Canal Plus digital platform in the market. "There isn't enough ad revenue for both," said Greg Paine, executive media director at McCann-Erickson Polska, Poland's largest advertising agency. Paine added that the CYFRA+ platform doesn't show up on audience-viewing polls. Both companies claimed to have the lead in Poland's DTH market. UPC said it will have 145,000 customers at the end of June, while Canal Plus said its tally will be 150,000. De Chavagnac noted that CYFRA+ added a children's channel and a movie channel in April, and that it will add a travel channel this summer. Its programming clout grew last month when Poland's public-television broadcaster, Telewizja Polska SA (TVP), acquired a 10 percent interest in CYFRA+. That deal could lead to TVP owning up to 40 percent of the platform. The two companies plan to develop a news channel and a cultural channel in the next few months. "We are negotiating with other Polish companies, as well," a Canal Plus spokesman said. "We think it is most important for us to deal with other Polish partners. We want to create thematic channels for the Polish market." UPC raised the programming stakes when it agreed to buy at least 12.8 percent of SBS Broadcasting SA. Now, the two companies can share the costs of developing new channels. SBS partially owns one of Hungary's privatized terrestrial stations, while UPC operates cable networks in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania. Kovacs said the purchase of At Entertainment strengthens UPC's position in Eastern Europe and makes it an even stronger force as it prepares to compete for telephony business when the industries are liberalized. He also revealed that UPC plans to expand its satellite operations throughout the region, although there is no timetable. This was good news for local programmers. For example, HBO Hungary managing director George Douglas said his firm has been thinking about creating new channels on the expectation that the country would get a digital platform. He added that it didn't make as much sense to create new channels when cable only reached approximately one-third of Hungary's 3.7 million households. "At least now, when we talk about a digital platform, we have a good idea of who will be doing it," Douglas said. "In our five-year plans, we always expected a digital platform. Now, our plans seem much closer to becoming a reality."

To: Maya who wrote (42450)	7/28/1999 5:58:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Venus............................. thestandard.net Microsoft Plugs Into China By Clare Haney HONG KONG – In an effort to tap millions of potential customers, Microsoft (MSFT) plans to sell Internet set-top boxes in China by the end of this year, a company executive confirmed early today. The devices, which will plug into TV monitors and are known by the code name Venus, will allow Microsoft to target the many millions of Chinese who are currently unable to afford computers, but are keen to hook up to the Internet. There are more than 300 million TV sets in China, according to recent estimates, but comparatively few PCs. Sean Zhang, managing director of Beijing-based Microsoft China Research and Development, said that the company is hoping the devices will be priced below $302. The Venus project was officially announced in March of this year when Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates made his first visit to Shenzhen, one of the special economic zones established by the Chinese government to encourage foreign investment. All the applications are in simplified Chinese, the form of the written language used in Mainland China. Venus also draws from Microsoft's Web browser Internet Explorer and its WebTV service. "Most importantly, the device provides a browser designed for TV," Zhang said. Initial partners who have signed up to produce Venus computers include the Acer Advanced Labs unit of Taiwanese vendor Acer Group, Chinese PC and handheld maker Legend Holdings, Mainland electronics giant Hai'er Group and Philips Consumer Electronics. Although Zhang stressed that Venus is aimed squarely at the Chinese market, he didn't rule out the possibility of Microsoft perhaps looking to offer the technology elsewhere in the world. In the meantime, Microsoft is not making any public estimates about future sales of Venus devices, Zhang said.