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

To: SIer formerly known as Joe B. who wrote (27628)	1/7/1998 8:53:00 AM
From: coopie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

BIG winS for CUBE - CE this time YEAH!!! Number 1 - [ Business \| US Market \| Industry \| IPO \| S&P \| International \| PRNews \| BizWire \| Finance Home ] Wednesday January 7, 8:36 am Eastern Time Company Press Release C-Cube DVD Solution Selected by Marantz Japan, Inc. for New Consumer DVD Player High-End Audio Leader to Use C-Cube's ZiVA Design To Accelerate Time-To-Market LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 7, 1998--C-Cube Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ:CUBE - news), the market leader in digital video technology, today announced with Marantz Japan, Inc., a leading force in the high end audio/video electronics market, that Marantz has selected C-Cube's ZiVA-Kit DVD manufacturing design as the core of its new line of DVD players. This further continues the long-term relationship between the two companies, which began with the successful development of VideoCD products for the Asia-Pacific market. As a recognized leader in high-end consumer audio and audio/video products, Marantz is leveraging C-Cube's unmatched digital video silicon experience to deliver a true high-fidelity DVD player for the home theater enthusiast. C-Cube's manufacturing kit provides the foundation that allows Marantz to produce feature-rich DVD players quickly without investing significant development costs. ''As consumers become better educated on the features that make DVD compelling, we continue to work with the pioneer and digital video leader to deliver the ultimate in audio/video performance,'' said the executive spokesperson for Marantz Japan, Inc. ''By using C-Cube's complete ZiVA-kit design, we have accelerated our development and production process to meet the immediate demands of the market.'' ''Marantz's reputation for stellar audio products is a great match for our video talents,'' said Alex Daly, senior vice president for C-Cube Microsystems. ''By combining the best of breed in audio and video, and using our complete turn-key design, Marantz can produce a high-performance system with an aggressive time-to-market.'' About C-Cube's ZiVA DVD Decoder ZiVA DVD decoders are designed to fuel the development of value-add DVD playback solutions for the consumer electronics and PC markets. By integrating MPEG-2 video decoding, Dolby Digital decoding, MPEG audio decoding, CSS authentication and descrambling, sub-picture decoding, on-screen display, linear PCM audio decoding, demultiplexing and audio/video synchronization into a single chip, the ZiVA family offers the fastest time to market at the lowest overall system cost for makers of consumer and portable DVD players, PC add-in cards and OEM PC configurations. ZiVA's flexibility stems from the programmable microcode architecture and its high-level advanced API which provides the critical tools necessary to deliver the ideal solution for DVD players, PCs and portables. About C-Cube Microsystems C-Cube Microsystems Inc. is the industry leader in the development and delivery of highly integrated digital video silicon solutions that address the consumer electronics, communications and convergence markets. C-Cube is headquartered in Milpitas, Calif. with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Its stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol CUBE. C-Cube can be reached at 408/490-8000 or on the World Wide Web at c-cube.com . Note to Editors: The C-Cube logo is a registered trademark of C-Cube Microsystems Inc. C-Cube is a trademark of C-Cube Microsystems Inc.

To: SIer formerly known as Joe B. who wrote (27628)	1/7/1998 9:46:00 AM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

Tsutaya's DVD Rental Biz Off to Good Start January 7, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Business is brisk at two Tsutuya digital video disk (DVD) rental shops that started renting DVDs Dec. 19, 1997 in Shinjuku and Sangenjaya, Tokyo. The rental shops are operated by Culture Convenience Club (CCC) Co., Ltd. "We are expecting monthly sales to amount to one million yen (US$7,520), an initial target for a Shinjuku shop, if we can keep up the current pace of sales," said Fumio Kurokawa, president of Culture Publishers Inc., a CCC affiliate engaged in the contents business. Shinjuku is a major electronics district in Tokyo. "Besides, luckily, the DVD rental business promotes sales of DVD software products at the shop. Sales of DVD software products have tripled," Kurokawa added. Rentals of the 50 DVD players at the two franchise shops also has been active, with all players rented at some times. The two shops even had to prepare an additional 20 players. Many customers rented a DVD player with DVD software since the players are not yet widely used among Japanese consumers. When the Tsutaya rental video shops started the rental business, they had only 55 Warner Home Video titles. However, it is imperative for the chain shops to add more video titles to their lineups in order to expand the DVD rental business further, experts said. Kurokawa explained that his company has obtained approval to include MGM/UA video software in the lineups at the shops. The content company also is negotiating with other film companies with the aim of offering 100 rental video titles by the end of the month. DVD software developers are generally positive about the rental business, because it is easy to make sales estimates, said Kurokawa. He expects the shops to be able to offer 90 percent of DVD video titles by the spring of 1998. According to Kurokawa, DVD software developers such as movie companies are trying to take advantage of the rental service to boost sales of their software products. For example, the developers sell their software products at higher prices to rental shops. Some developers will start selling their products at the shops following success in the rental business. The DVD rental service was launched by CCC, operator of the Tsutaya franchise rental video shops. Manufacturers of DVD-related products expect the business to expand the entire DVD market. Sales of DVD players have been lower than initially projected. The rental business at the two shops in Tokyo is merely a pilot case for CCC. The company plans to increase the number of nationwide pilot rental shops for DVD products to 10, including a shop in Osaka, to gather fundamental data on the DVD rental business. The gathered data will be announced at a briefing session to be given to franchise shop owners scheduled to be held sometimes around March. After the session, the company will decide whether to start the rental business at about 920 other Tsutaya shops nationwide. Related story: CCC Chain Stores Start Renting DVD Software (Nikkei Multimedia)