To All,
Here is a piece of good news for AMD.
QNX(R) Technology Turns TV into Home Automation Center
PR Newswire - December 01, 1997 14:18 TV set-top box offers at-home banking, home automation and security, email, web access, and more Manufacturer scheduled to deliver several hundred thousand units over next 16 months. Uses QNX's desktop-caliber embedded browser to directly visit any web site, using any ISP.
LYSAKER, Norway, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Thanks to a new set-top box announced today by PCTVnet ASA of Norway, consumers in Europe and Scandinavia will soon be able to shop and bank at home, automate light and heat, save energy, send email, browse the web, and enjoy a variety of other services -- all from their TV sets.
Manufactured by PCTVnet and based on realtime technology from QNX
Software Systems (QSSL), the new appliance, called HomePilot, will be
available in stores this month. "HomePilot goes far beyond offering affordable access to the Internet," says Morten Rynning, marketing director at PCTVnet. "In fact, it can help home owners save money through its energy-saving and home-automation features. It can even make life safer through its integration with home-security systems."
PCTVnet is scheduled to deliver several hundred thousand units of
HomePilot over the next 16 months. Already, the appliance is being adopted by European banks, cable companies, and other service providers to deliver enhanced services to their customers. Power utilities in Norway, for example, will soon offer the unit to their customers to provide automated meter reading and power management.
"The initial delivery schedule is actually a conservative estimate," says Michael Hornby, vice president of sales and marketing at QSSL. "Yet it should far exceed the installed base of any existing internet set-top box or television, including WebTV. And the reason is simple: HomePilot offers much more functionality, from the convenience of banking at home to the ability to directly visit any web site."
Unrestricted Web Access
Most existing internet TVs and set-top boxes have limited browsers that require a "web filter" to visit the majority of sites on the web. HomePilot, however, uses QNX's Voyager(TM) Browser, which can directly visit any site and work with any ISP, thanks to its full support for HTML 3.2, frames, JavaScript, and other advanced browser features. A QNX-enhanced version of the Spyglass Device Mosaic browser, Voyager runs in QNX's Photon microGUI(R) windowing system, which provides set-top boxes with TV-centric features like anti-aliased fonts and built-in support for TV remote controls.
"Initially, we hoped to distribute several million copies of Spyglass Device Mosaic Web browser technology through our alliance with QNX Software Systems," said David Harris-Evans, managing director of Spyglass Europe. "But now, even those estimates appear modest given that QNX has added features to Device Mosaic to better address recent positive developments in the worldwide market -- such as the adoption of HomePilot and the concept of technology convergence in the home."
Good news for AMD's products:
======================================================================Inside HomePilot
HomePilot is a diskless set-top box powered by an AMD ElanSC400 processor with 4M of flash, 8M of RAM, a 33.4 kbaud modem, a 640x480 graphics controller, a sound processor, and 4 PC Card slots for adding a variety of peripherals and communication solutions.
Standard features include a wireless infrared keyboard and picture-in-picture technology that allows the viewer to switch between regular TV viewing and services like the web, email, news, at-home shopping, and so on. A built-in bar code reader allows users to purchase goods using a smart card or ordinary bank card. By plugging small nodes into wall sockets, the home owner can use HomePilot to automatically control light and heat.
Pricing and Availability
HomePilot is now available in Scandinavia. The QNX Internet Appliance Toolkit used to create the software for TV-Online is also available now; pricing starts at approximately $15,000.00 US. OEM runtime pricing for QNX is available from QSSL.
======================================================================
About PCTVnet
Founded in 1992, PCTVnet ASA has its headquarters in Lysaker, Norway (right near Oslo). The company maintains close alliances with banks, utilities, cable TV companies, and the Norwegian post office to develop HomePilot and related services. Besides targeting Scandinavia, the company is negotiating with international alliances to deliver HomePilot throughout Europe, North America, and elsewhere.
About QNX Software Systems
Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems is the industry leader in high-performance realtime operating system software for PCs. No other RTOS vendor has over 16 years' experience on the x86 platform, offers more options for the x86, or has as large a marketshare on the x86. QNX is at work in everything from consumer electronics and office automation products to mission-critical systems for aerospace, medicine, process control, point-of-sale, telephony, and telecommunications.
QNX and Photon microGUI are registered trademarks, and IAT and Voyager are trademarks, of QNX Software Systems Ltd. All other trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.
Reader Information
QNX Software Systems Ltd.
175 Terence Matthews Crescent,
Kanata, ON, Canada K2M 1W8
Voice: 613-591-0931 or 800-676-0566
Fax: 613-591-3579
E-mail: info@qnx.com
Web: "http://www.qnx.com"
European Division:
Voice: 011-44-01923-284800
Fax: 011-44-01923-285868
E-mail: QNXeurope@qnx.com
SOURCE QNX Software Systems, Ltd.
/CONTACT: Paul Leroux of QNX Software Systems, 613-591-0931, ext. 271, fax, 613-591-3579, or paull@qnx.com; Barbara Patterson of Patterson & Associates, 602-957-4500, fax, 602-957-4599, barbara@patterson.com; or Pete Bresser of TKO Marketing Consultants (Europe), 011-44-1474-704941, fax, 011-44-1474-704844, or pete.bresser@tko.co.uk/
Best wishes
James |
