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

To: Maya who wrote (25739)	11/26/1997 1:02:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Web Video......................................... ijumpstart.com Net Video Could Spark Low-End Sales Boom <Picture><Picture><Picture> Demand for low-end video acquisition and post gear could increased dramatically in 1998 as cable, ISDN and satellite modems overcome bandwidth limitations that have prevented the Web from becoming a true video medium. Most analysts and industry experts are quick to point out that the Web is unlikely to achieve video quality on par with broadcast and cable services any time soon. But even a medium-quality service for the growing audience of Net users could lead traditional programmers and Web-savvy newcomers to devote substantial resources to Web video. HBO, for one, has established interactive divisions to create and manage content-rich Web presences designed around video offerings. And UltimateTV in Los Angeles is now hosting KCAL-TV's Web site with streaming "near-live" newscasts viewed with RealVideo software. Still, the picture is the size of a matchbox and looks more dodgy than early QuickTime movies on CD-ROM. Webcasters experimenting with video are optimistic about the Internet's potential as a viable broadcast medium despite many analysts' and manufacturers' poor outlook. Cable Connection MSNBC Business Video president Mike Wheeler thinks a proliferation of cable modem hook-ups could provide the backbone for mass market Webcasts and make the Internet suitable for live and archived video content. However, Wheeler doesn't think there will be a significant amount of market saturation by cable modems until after 2000. Wheeler said Business Video has allocated first quarter funds for the acquisition of digital video palmcorders to be used by the service's camera crews, replacing the Beta SP or M2 equipment they now operate. This leaves open the possibility that makers of digital technologies like DVCPRO and Beta SX could see a lucrative new market of Webcasters. Cable modems transmit data at speeds of up to 15 Mbs - several orders of magnitude faster than T1 Ethernet, which costs thousands of dollars per month, not to mention 56K analog modems. Wheeler said his Business Video subscribers with T1 lines get the best quality, although live video streams are still not full-screen on subscribers' PCs. "Our service represents what consumer Netcasts will look like after 2000," he said. Financial News MSNBC Business Video is the direct descendent of NBC News Desktop, a dial-up financial service catering largely to Wall Street. Subscribers retrieve video clips from the site's archive using T1 lines and even 28.8K or 56K analog modems and Microsoft's [MSFT] NetShow. Ironically, Wheeler said T1 users connecting to Business Video's Web page sometimes have trouble during periods of heavy site traffic, while 28.8/56K users have less difficulties. To date, traditional broadcast manufacturers have not targeted new products at Web-based video services - offering, for example, a video server that simultaneously delivers streams optimized for over-the-air and Internet delivery. "I can't think of a single traditional supplier that's moving into that area," Wheeler said. "Some [manufacturers] are happy to stay in a cocoon, some are anxious to move into new areas." A random survey of manufacturers attending the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) annual technolgy conference in New York confirmed this. As a Philips Electronics executive said: "There will not be TV-like video broadcasts over the Internet during my lifetime." Steven Frenkel, a multimedia analyst with Paragon Capital Corp. in New York, also is very down on the prospects of Web video. "TV-like video broadcasts over the Internet are never going to happen," he said. "I'm even more convinced of that after attending COMDEX. The Internet is limited; I don't see any solutions for the bandwidth constraints." Still, what Frenkel and others may be overlooking is that the Web is not likely to duplicate existing video delivery media, just as television does not duplicate film or radio. The Web will evolve into a unique service unlike no other, and pro video manufacturers would do well to exploit the new market. (Paragon, 800/969-8173; MSNBC Business Video, 212/664-5518) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Film Scouts Aims to Lead Web Video Market <Picture><Picture><Picture> Film Scouts Inc. of New York says it is committed to creating a TV-like Internet and is actively exploring viewing and delivery applications including the experimental Mbone. "We're considering deals that will deliver video [on] whichever platform will work," said Mayra Langdon Riesman, CEO of Film Scouts. Riesman's company was founded in 1995 and gained notoriety that year by delivering video from the Cannes Film Festival in France. The company provided real-time video interviews over the MBone with film celebrities to AOL [AOL] subscribers and Web cruisers worldwide. The Mbone is a limited-access corner of the Internet that can stream high-quality video to users with high-speed connections. Besides utilizing MBone video technology provided by Bellcore, the Film Scouts Web site contains dozens of QuickTime movies and has multiple platform options available to visitors thanks to alliances with RealNetworks, Vosaic, VDOnet and France's INRIA. "You adapt to your user, rather than have them adapt to you," Riesman said. (Film Scouts, filmscouts.com)