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

To: John Rieman who wrote (48397)	1/20/2000 9:43:00 PM
From: DiViT	Respond to of 50808

Sign up with a new ISP and get a free Cube DVD player?... 'FREE' DVD PLAYERS PLANNED BY SOME ISPs 01/17/2000 VIDEO WEEK (c) Copyright 2000 Warren Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Despite mixed success of free PC model, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are considering extending concept to Internet-enabled DVD players (iDVD). Under plan, DVD players equipped with 56 kbps modem and browser will be offered free or at discounts to consumers who agree to pay monthly fee for ISP service for set period. Other details, including price, weren't available. Among ISPs are Edge, Favorite Online and Global Data Tel, parent of eHola.com --Spanish, Portuguese and English language ISP content provider in Latin America. Service will be available first in U.S. and China. Major ISPs such as Mindspring also are considering concept as way of gaining foothold in Internet-enabled living room, sources said. "The Internet Service Providers are looking for a new base," said Pier Del Frate, mktg. vp for chip-maker National Semiconductor's MediaMatics subsidiary, which is supplying chips for iDVD players. "For them [ISPs], it will be people who don't already have a service and want to access the Internet." National Semiconductor is partnering with browser developer PlanetWeb, which signed agreement to combine its software with C-Cube Microsystems' video processing chip for rollout of players. ISP will sell both private label and branded iDVD players in promotion, although it couldn't be determined at our deadline whether any CE manufacturers had signed on. Far East manufacturers Raite and Lucas will supply DVD hardware containing chips from C-Cube Microsystems and Luxsonor in addition to National Semiconductor. Content providers for iDVD service will include CD Now, CMPnet, Concentric, DVD Express, Netflix, Time Warner, TV Guide. Hardware production is to begin this month with sample quantities in "thousands" and service first available to consumers in early Feb., sources said. Basic iDVD players will feature 56 kbps modem, wireless keyboard, variable control pointing device. Sources said additional features would add $42 to basic manufacturing costs, meaning players still could be made for half cost of even cheapest PC. Del Frate said National Semiconductor Pantera chip includes CPU, MPEG 2 decoder and functions that enable player to display Internet content in NTSC, PAL and other standards. "The early [ISP participants] are going to be branding them with their own names," Del Frate said. "One of the requirements is that when you buy the box it has to have the Internet Service Provider built in. Most people that will buy these type of boxes won't have the knowledge of how to select and set up an ISP." Executive of major CE company expressed some skepticism at prospects for free DVD players, saying that retailers, already battered by low-priced models in holiday season, are unlikely to embrace concept. PlanetWeb Mktg. Vp Gordon Short countered that there will be opportunities for retailers, especially those selling software. Target market for iDVD will be those with PCs that don't have online access, Short said. ISPs view concept as much easier to implement than free PC approach that requires extensive technical support, he said. "Typically, the person that's interested in a free PC doesn't know a thing about installing and maintaining a PC... so the ISP ends up doing a really heavy load of hand- holding," Short said. Short said content will be pushed to box or "triggered pull," meaning that DVD disc inserted in player will activate modem and browser, which in turn signal content provider to offer programming relevant to disc. For example, insertion of You've Got Mail DVD (Warner) triggers background information on movies, lists of other Tom Hanks films, purchase option. "The idea is that the best time to try to reach a consumer with offers to buy or rent movies is when he's just started or just finished watching a DVD in his living room," Short said. Unclear was how quickly content is pushed to player and where data will be stored. Both PlanetWeb and MediaMatics officials were vague on storage capacity of early DVD players, and it was unclear whether devices would have hard drive. Players will be compatible with PC Friendly format hybrid DVD/DVD-ROM movie discs.

To: John Rieman who wrote (48397)	1/20/2000 9:54:00 PM
From: DiViT	Respond to of 50808

Gemstar guides TiVo suit MARC GRASER 01/20/2000 Daily Variety Page 10 Copyright 2000 Variety, Inc. HOLLYWOOD --- Gemstar Intl. Group said Wednesday it has filed a patent infringement suit against TiVo Inc., alleging that the digital video recorder maker stole its program guide technology. Gemstar's Pasadena-based StarSight Telecast division claims TiVo "willfully infringed certain Gemstar intellectual property" by deploying, marketing and selling personal video recorders that contained an "unlicensed" program guide. The suit, filed in Federal District Court's Northern District of California, claims that the guide was based on Gemstar technology. The technology is at the heart of products such as VCRPlus, which allows viewers to program their VCRs to record a show just by entering a code number that is printed alongside a show's title in newspaper and magazine TV listings. The technology also enables cable TV viewers to see listings and descriptions of programs onscreen on hundreds of available channels. "While Gemstar keeps an open licensing policy and is ready to customize licensing terms to accommodate licensee needs, Gemstar is equally ready to vigorously enforce its intellectual property rights," said Gemstar's Stephen A. Weiswasser, general counsel and executive veep. "Gemstar will diligently prosecute infringers of its patents, trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property, and will seek redress to the fullest extent of the law." Last October, StarSight won an award of more than $26 million in a contract dispute against General Instruments, with Gemstar claiming GI didn't pay for proprietary Gemstar electronic program guide technology it purchased as part of a 1992 pact with StarSight. GI is now in a pending acquisition by Motorola, the nation's No. 1 maker of set-top boxes. Also in October, Gemstar acquired TV Guide Inc., a former News Corp. holding, for $9.2 billion under which TV Guide will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Gemstar. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter and give Gemstar TV Guide's brand recognition. A TiVo spokesperson declined to comment while lawyers were evaluating the lawsuit's charges but said the company does have 15 application patents pending for its system. TiVo enables users to digitally record TV programming without videotape and allows viewers to pause and rewind live programming.

To: John Rieman who wrote (48397)	1/20/2000 10:47:00 PM
From: Binx Bolling	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 50808

Did I understand correctly? 4 million DVD unit chips shipped in 1999 including 1.2 Million in PCs >2.8 Million in Consumer boxes Which half of year shipped 1.8 million total DVD units? Did they break this out (PCs vs. Consumer boxes)? Why couldn't the guy give a straight answer about 3Q to 4Q sequential growth in DVD? Why all the seasonality justification (May-Nov) for DVD and not Set-Top (which grew over 40%)? 4th Qtr: % Revenue Breakdown? High 30's = VCD ~60 % = DVD (largest) + CODEC (2nd) + Set-Top (3rd) Relative Profitability of 4 IC groups broken out? Codec =80's DVD's,Set-top ? = into the 50's VCD's = low 50's Again, why was this guy so vague? Why did he group DVD and Set-Top? What is he hiding? Geographical Strength in ICs ? North America stayed in High Teens Europe grew to mid teens from high single digits European growth came from set-top and codec Japan grew to mid teens from high single digits Japan growth came from Codec and DVD business China decreased from 50s to 30s (why?) Does CUBE compete directly with ZRAN (Zoran) in DVD or do they have complimentary products, or both?