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To: DiViT who wrote (48148)	1/11/2000 7:36:00 PM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

National spins designs for Internet set-tops, DVD players eetimes.com By Margaret Quan EE Times (01/11/00, 3:50 p.m. EST) SANTA CLARA, Calif. — National Semiconductor Corp. will provide reference platforms for an Internet DVD player and Internet set-top box that will allow OEMs to reduce development costs and time-to-market, the company said. National's reference designs are based on the Pantera "back-end" DVD-on-a-chip from National's Mediamatics subsidiary and on Internet appliance software from Planetweb Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.). Products based on the designs are expected to appear this quarter, National officials said. The Pantera device integrates a 32-bit RISC processor, video/graphics processor, MPEG video decoder and NTSC/PAL encoder. The reference designs also use a 56-k v.90 internal modem for an Internet connection, 3 Mbytes of flash memory and Planetweb software, which provides Internet browsing, e-mail and the option to customize entertainment. The iDVD reference platform uses a small-footprint Nucleus operating system from ATI Technologies Inc. (Thornhill, Ontario) and specifies a wireless infrared keyboard with integrated mouse and optional six-channel audio capability. National said its iDVD platform is compatible with both PAL and NTSC viewing standards and with all DVD specifications, as well as with Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA), Video CD and China's emerging SuperVCD format. National is already working with Internet service providers (ISPs) that plan to introduce subsidized iDVD players in early 2000. In addition, manufacturers Raite (Taiwan), Lucus Origin (Singapore), Aiwa Co. Ltd (Tokyo) and TCL of China are producing the players and expect to ship them for retail sale in the second quarter. An iDVD player based on the design will let consumers take advantage of embedded content and features already available on DVD feature films, including behind-the-scenes commentary from actors and directors, access to movie scripts and storyboards, links to a film's or studio's Web site, and the ability to view multiple camera angles, screen shots and endings. The iDVD also delivers personalized entertainment content to users. Assuming the iDVD player isn't part of an ISP's subsidized model, National estimates the boxes will be priced from $199 to $249 for nonbrand name products and $299 to $349 for brand-name players. Net-top boxes based on National's reference platform will provide Internet access, browsing and e-mail through a television. They will be given away by ISPs to lure subscribers to their service, National said. The reference design for the Net-top box uses a derivative of the Pantera chip with the DVD/MPEG functionality disabled and 2 Mbytes of flash memory. National has not announced any relationships with ISPs for the Net-top box. Providing a reference design for an Internet-enabled DVD fits well into National's strategy to provide Internet appliances, said Pier DelFrate, vice president of marketing for Mediamatics (Fremont, Calif.). While the company's DVD business is small now, he said, National made great strides in the last year to develop relationships with consumer-electronics companies in this area and believes combining Internet access with DVD will accelerate consumer acceptance of DVD. Yamaha shipped the first Pantera-based product in 1999 and National worked with several companies demonstrating DVD models on the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. About 4 million DVD players were sold last year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Cahner's In-Stat Group (Scottsdale, Ariz.) expects DVD player shipments to double in 2000.