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To: BillyG who wrote (43729)	8/5/1999 5:38:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 50808

DVD Player sales are forcing studios to release DVD versions at the same time as theatrical releases overseas. DVD player world wide sales should exceed 7M units................................ variety.com Int'l DVDs force release speedup By MARC GRASER, August 5, 1999 With DVD becoming more popular overseas, especially in Europe and Japan, the window for theatrical releases of U.S. pics in international territories could narrow to a point where DVDs are released day and date with their theatrical counterpart, said Benjamin Feingold, prexy of Columbia TriStar Home Video during DVD99, a two-day technology confab in Los Angeles. Currently, DVD titles often bow in the U.S. — day and date with rental copies of the same pic — prior to the pics' theatrical release overseas. Thus, foreign audiences are able to purchase the DVDs online or through retailers and have them shipped to their homes before the pics play in their local theaters. Foreign DVD players read an encryption that bars them from playing discs produced outside their territories, but as has been proven, the protection technology can easily be disabled. As a result, Feingold said the major studios are being forced to “shorten the theatrical window.” “We're already seeing the effect of DVD,” Feingold said. “In the future, Hollywood will have to preplan releases more than they do today.” Feingold said the use of digital delivery systems, such as digital projection, may enable the studios to do so. “If the technology is there, we may be able to do that,” he said. They may have to. In Europe, hardware sales are expected to reach 1.5 million by the end of the year, up from the current 600,000, with consumers in France and Germany making up the largest number of buyers. The number of available titles is expected to reach 900 now that Universal and Fox are shipping discs in the territory. About 24 million discs are expected to sell. In Japan, 1 million players have shipped already this year, doubling the number shipped in all of 1998. Roughly 3,000 titles are expected to be available by 2000, with nearly 10 million discs expected to sell. Comparably, in the U.S., sales of DVD players are expected to reach 4 million before the end of the year, while 56 million software titles will be shipped to retailers, growing four times that of CDs. There are 5,000 titles available to choose from. The technology has yet to penetrate the Chinese market, where video compact discs are still the format favorite because of their copying ease. Feingold also predicted that DVDs will become more adaptable to devices, being able to play on upcoming disc-based videogame consoles from PlayStation, Sega and Nintendo. Educational and music-oriented DVDs will also begin to flood the market. DVD99 is hosted by the Intl. Recording Media Assn.

To: BillyG who wrote (43729)	8/5/1999 5:39:00 PM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

CableLabs Issues OpenCable Specs; Hosts Digital Supplier Conference LOUISVILLE, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 5, 1999--Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. (CableLabs (R)) today issued a final set of hardware specifications that form the foundation of the cable industry's OpenCable(TM) advanced digital services project. All portions of the OpenCable hardware specifications now have been released to the manufacturing community. The specifications are formally known as the Unidirectional Functional Requirements, the Bi-directional Functional Requirements and the OpenCable Network Interface. Their purpose is to spell out for suppliers and others how cable operators envision different elements of future digital video systems connecting and operating. These specifications included some key information that the manufacturers need to complete their design and manufacturing of digital devices. OpenCable is the CableLabs managed project that will achieve creation of advanced digital devices from multiple suppliers that will communicate with one another, or interoperate. The project is also working to manage the development of a POD (removable security) module by the July 1, 2000, deadline established by the FCC to facilitate the availability of set-top boxes at retail. The issuance of specifications coincided with an OpenCable project update meeting in Denver with representatives of technology companies. About 200 people were expected to attend the meeting from the software industry, consumer electronics companies, traditional cable suppliers and from the Internet industry. Last years CableLabs hosted a similar conference, also in Denver. Comcast Vice President of Strategic Planning Mark Coblitz began the conference by providing the cable industry's perspective on digital devices and the future of retail marketing of cable services. "We are proud of the series of milestones and key developments that we have attained in this project," said Coblitz, who heads the OpenCable business team. "Last week's interoperability test on PODs went well, we now have completed the hardware specifications, and today's event kicks off the segment of the initiative that will further focus on the software specifications." The conference also included Time Warner Cable Chief Technology Officer Jim Chiddix discussing the industry's focus on a common set of middleware software that will enable portability for future generations of OpenCable devices. "The process will include a competitive, open solicitation, as established in other parts of the OpenCable process," he noted. "There are going to be many opportunities in this open environment for consumer electronics companies and software companies to innovate," he said. Chiddix added that by approaching the middleware element of OpenCable in this manner, companies may "create applications that can run on any cable system, rather than being tied to one proprietary system. This architecture will allow cable customers to move and to retain full functionality on cable systems," Chiddix said. "That is an ultimate goal of OpenCable." The middleware approach allows service developers to write applications that run on any hardware platform and that are independent of any operating system residing in a particular device. This approach was articulated at the outset of the project. Said Lisa Lee, OpenCable project leader for CableLabs: "This solution will allow us to provide the best product to the consumer. With the purchase of such a device, the consumer will be able to use their set-top box or integrated television in compatible cable systems. This also will provide a very competitive environment for new applications to be developed and deployed. Televisions as we know them today will be a thing of the past." Said Laurie Priddy, executive vice president of AT&T Broadband Internet Services: "AT&T Broadband continues to strongly support a retail strategy and this initiative. I see OpenCable continuing to show progress and to serve as the vehicle to meet the FCC's deadlines for retail availability of set tops." Priddy led a discussion on copy protection that included a representative from Warner Brothers studio and from the licensing administrator for the so-called 5C copy protection system. Circuit City provided a retailer viewpoint. A panel moderated by Chiddix and focused on set tops and digital television sets featured speakers from Samsung, Sony Electronics, Panasonic, and the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA). A panel on point of deployment (POD) removable security modules included speakers from SCM Microsystems, Scientific-Atlanta and General Instrument. CableLabs is a research and development consortium of cable television system operators representing the continents of North America and South America. CableLabs plans and funds research and development projects that will help cable companies take advantage of future opportunities and meet future challenges in the cable television industry. It also transfers relevant technologies to member companies and to the industry. In addition, CableLabs acts as a clearinghouse to provide information on current and prospective technological developments that are of interest to the cable industry. CableLabs maintains web sites at cablelabs.com; cablemodem.com; cablenet.org; opencable.com; and packetcable.com. CONTACT: CableLabs Mike Schwartz, 303/661-9100 m.schwartz@cablelabs.com