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To: Peter V who wrote (24553)	10/28/1997 4:17:00 PM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Boo, Hiss.... THIS WEEK'S NEWS DIVX STUDYING EARLY SOFTWARE RELEASE ÿ 10/27/97 Consumer Electronics Warren Publishing, Inc. (Copyright 1997 by Warren Publishing, Inc.) ÿ Circuit City's Digital Video Express (Divx) wants to release movie discs before titles' actual street date, Chmn.-CEO Richard Sharp told VSDA board at Oct. 17-18 fall meeting in Chicago. VSDA Pres. Jeffrey Eves quoted Sharp as telling board about Divx plan to ship nonworking Divx discs to consumers by direct mail. Discs would be activated on actual street dates using Divx decryption system. Divx has said its supporting studios Disney, Paramount, Universal and DreamWorks are bound contractually to release Divx titles simultaneously with other video versions. Concept of shipping nonworking Divx movies to consumers weeks before street dates caused alarm among those in video retailing who listened in on Sharp's remarks in Chicago, Eves told us. Among those who were put off reportedly were those who believe that availability of discs before street date goes against grain of video marketing. Some also were fearful that plan would give consumers 2 weeks to try to crack Divx encryption system. We're told Divx contracts with studios aren't clear on issue of shipping nonworking discs before video street dates Nevertheless, Eves said that Sharp's willingness to go before board to discuss members' concerns "frankly showed a lot of class," but he said he doubts Sharp won many converts. VSDA board refrained from taking formal position on Divx, Eves said. Sharp couldn't be reached for comment by our deadline. Meanwhile, uphill bid to establish "one-stop-shopping" patent pool on DVD was dealt another blow last week when 6 DVD Forum companies announced agreement on joint licensing program. Licensing will be administered by Toshiba, with help from Hitachi and Matsushita "on a regional basis," announcement said. However, "interested 3rd parties" still can approach 6 companies individually for DVD licenses, statement said. Companies -- Hitachi, JVC, Matsushita, Mitsubishi, Time Warner, Toshiba -- said they still are in negotiations on single patent pool with Philips and Sony, which last spring joined with Pioneer in announcing separate collective licensing agreement (TVD April 21 p12). As with Philips-Pioneer-Sony pact, agreement among 6 companies applies to DVD-Video and DVD-ROM hardware and software. But licensing terms are different from those of Philips-Pioneer-Sony, which imposed royalty of 3.5% per player, 5 cents per disc. Six-company pact assesses rate of 4% for hardware (with minimum $4 levy) and 7.5 cents per disc. Philips said last spring that disagreements with other DVD Forum members have been about licensing terms, not contested technologies. Unmentioned in either announcement has been Thomson, which has been licensing its own DVD patents since 1996.

To: Peter V who wrote (24553)	10/28/1997 4:18:00 PM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

Run DMC... Gateway 2000's New Destination PC/TV Bob Woods ÿ 10/27/97 Newsbytes News Network (c) Copyright 1997 Newsbytes News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. ÿ NORTH SIOUX CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA, U.S.A., 1997 OCT 27 (NB). "Destination DMC" sounds like a new rap or R&B star from the music world. But Destination DMC is really the new PC/TV combination from Gateway 2000 [NYSE:GTW], that combines DVD, digital TV, high-speed Internet video communications access, and three dimensional (3D) gaming/interactive entertainment. DVD, sometimes known as Digital Versatile Disk, offers high quality digital imaging, digital sound and versatility. One disk stores up to 4.7 gigabytes of information -- seven times more than a compact disc. Both movies and special DVD-encoded PC games can be used with a DVD player. Gateway officials first announced it would be including DVD in the Destination line earlier this year at E3 in Atlanta (Newsbytes, Jun. 19, 1997). At the time Gateway 2000 officials called DVD the "future of home entertainment." As a digital television (DTV), the Destination DMC takes an analog feed and digitally enhances it to decrease flicker and improve picture quality, Gateway officials said. Although the 181-channel TV tuner is setup to accept existing analog TV signals, the Destination DMC is computer-based, and has the same upgrade capabilities as typical PCs. Destination DMC can also view digital video from the Internet, if the unit is hooked up to a high-speed access service. This capability is targeted at the home, corporate, and educational markets, officials added. All Destination Big Screen PC/TVs and the Pentium II Destination DMCs are shipped standard with the Apocalypse 3Dx Graphics accelerator, which Gateway claims "takes 3D gaming to an arcade-level experience." All of the new features are incorporated into a new case that features a new-style front bezel and allows direct integration with consumer electronic devices including stereo, audio and VCR equipment. Surround sound, a wireless keyboard, and a wireless mouse are also included. The Destination DMC, priced at $4,999, comes standard with an Intel 300 megahertz (MHz) Pentium II Processor, a 512 kilobyte (Kb) cache, 64 megabytes (MB) of extended data out (EDO) dynamic RAM (DRAM), 36" multimode SVGA Monitor, a 4MB Apocalypse 3Dx Graphics Accelerator card, a 8.4 gigabyte (GB) hard drive, and other features. The same system with a 31" monitor is available for $4,499. Other Destination Systems are priced as low as $2,499, officials said. Gateway 2000's Destination DMC Web site is at destination.com . The company's main Web site is at gateway.com . Press Contacts: Sue Nail, Gateway 2000, 605-232-1371/Reported By Newsbytes News Network: newsbytes.com /GATEWAYLOGO/PHOTO