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To: BillyG who wrote (24773)	11/3/1997 5:44:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

MediaMatics banking on Microsoft and IBM for their $3 per DVD-PC................................... ijumpstart.com Mediamatics Ties DVD Strategy to Microsoft DirectShow 2.0; Aims for Volume Software Decoder Sales in 1998 <Picture><Picture><Picture> Mediamatics [NSM] executives are betting that tight integration with Microsoft Corp.'s [MSFT] latest technology will make its DVD software decoders the de facto choice for PC OEMs, and the company is willing to give up sales this year to leverage the relationship with the Redmond, Wash., giant. The latest version of Mediamatics' DVDExpress decoder is written to take advantage of the DirectShow 2.0 API. The company is the first to offer products meeting that specification. DirectShow was expected to ship to developers and PC OEMs (as part of a Windows 95 OCR release) between Oct. 31 and Nov. 15. Peter Biddle, technical evangelist for Microsoft's platforms group, told Multimedia Week if Microsoft missed the Oct. 31 deadline "it would be a matter of days, not months" before the company shipped it. Biddle believes interest in DVD - and volume sales of DVD PCs - won't take place until the summer of '98 after developers become familiar with DirectShow and start shipping a large number of titles that take advantage of it. If Biddle is correct and the bulk of DVD titles coming out works with DirectShow, Mediamatics could have a long-term advantage in gaining PC design wins. That's because manufacturers will want to add software that plays back the majority of DVD titles on the market. Titles written to the Media Control Interface (MCI) spec won't necessarily work on PCs supporting DirectShow, said Mike Schmit, manager of software for Zoran Corp. Zoran is selling DVD decoders today that work with MCI rather than DirectShow, which Microsoft feels is superior for running DVD applications, particularly MPEG-2 video. Rather than wait for the ActiveMovie upgrade to be available, Zoran decided to focus on MCI and get product to PC OEMs, including Compaq Computer Corp. [CPQ], Packard Bell NEC Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Corp. [HWP] Schmit said Zoran will have DirectShow-compliant decoders available to coincide with the release of Windows 98, which is expected in May or later. DirectShow will ship as a component of Windows 98. "It's just a little bit of Microsoft controlling the market, " Schmit said. "We shipped with Compaq in September, then in October Microsoft decided to make it part of the spec." Piere Del Frate, vice president of marketing for Mediamatics, believes Zoran's push to get out with DVD decoders written to MCI this year will not generate volume sales in the long run. Mediamatics' DVD Goals Instead of focusing on the near term, Mediamatics is aiming to get its DVDExpress software decoder included in 70 percent of the 15 million DVD-equipped PCs Microsoft expects computer manufacturers to ship in 1998. Del Frate told Multimedia Week the cost to OEMs for DVDExpress is less than $5 per unit. Assuming the cost averages $3 per unit, and Mediamatics gets the software included in 7.5 million PCs, that would translate into $22.5 million in revenues, which is significant for the National Semiconductor Corp. [NSM] subsidiary. When asked how the company will generate revenue until its software is purchased by OEMs, Del Frate said his company still gets about 50 cents for every copy of Windows 95 sold because the OS includes Mediamatics' software MPEG-1 decoder. The company's strategy for its MPEG-2 software decoder is to deliver it in two forms, as a standalone product and as a bundle with IBM Microelectronics [IBM] MPEG-2 hardware. As a standalone product, it requires the horsepower of a 266 MHz Pentium II to accomplish 30 frames-per-second video playback, according to company officials. Sold to OEMs with the IBM chip, DVDEXpress provides the interface and splitters needed to integrate various DVD data streams and present them to users in a way they can navigate. Shooting High and Low The company's two-fold strategy makes it possible to address the needs of OEMs designing both high-end and sub-$1,000 systems. With DVD's market acceptance in $2,000-plus systems still uncertain and the low-end comprising more than 25 percent of retail sales over the last two months, the company is positioning itself for the best possible chance of success regardless of which way the market moves. And with the hardware option available to OEMs for less than $60, Mediamatics is ready to take advantage of the sub-$1,000 market. The company has yet to announce a partnership with Cyrix Corp. [NSM], another National subsidiary, but a design win with that company is very likely. There's a good chance the hybrid DVDExpress will be running inside a Cyrix box next month at Comdex. With more processing power being built into high-end systems and software a viable decoding option, Del Frate expects the hybrid decoders to become more prevalent at the low-end. He expects that market will account for 30 percent to 40 percent of DVDExpress sales. (Mediamatics, 510/668-4850; Microsoft, 206/882-8080; Zoran, 408/567-0552.)

To: BillyG who wrote (24773)	11/3/1997 8:11:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

The Versailles Summit.............................................. onlineinc.com DVD Summit... A La Versailles <Picture: [DVD Summit]>Remember where the Treaty of Versailles, the one that ended The Great War, was signed? The answer is Trianon Palace, Versailles, and this happens to be the site of DVD Summit, November 30-December 2. Considering some of the battles waged around DVD on the European front--such as Dolby Sound versus MPEG--the venue may be especially appropriate. Organizers are Inside Multimedia, the 15-year old industry newsletter helmed by iconoclast John Barker, and Knowledge Industry Publications, Inc. (KIPI), publisher of Tape/Disc Business, The DVD Report, A/V Video & Multimedia Producer, and many other trade publications and conferences. Sponsors include Philips Eindhoven and MPO, the France-based CD and DVD replication giant. The DVD Summit is described by organizers as "the first European conference to address the strategic issues and publishing opportunities for PAL territories. Because Japan and America have dominated the DVD scene, this has tended to weight discussion toward the NTSC standardDVD Summit redresses the balance by highlighting issues which pertain to Europe and Asia Pacific." The conference is aimed at chief executives and strategists, and carries a "delegate fee" of approximately $1,500. (DVD Summit, +44-1438-742424; Fax +44-1438-740154; gwalker@phillipsltd.co.uk) --David R. Guenette