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

To: Stoctrash who wrote (29707)	2/19/1998 6:39:00 PM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

If you're overseas and someone doesn't understand English, I'm sure they'll understand it if you speak louder and repeat yourself. I've seen a lot of people try it, but I've never seen it work!

To: Stoctrash who wrote (29707)	2/19/1998 7:13:00 PM
From: DiViT	Respond to of 50808

STB Sys Stock -2: Analysts Say May Beat 48c/Shr 1Q Net View By Janet Morrissey 02/19/98 Dow Jones News Service (Copyright (c) 1998, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--STB Systems Inc. (STBI) shares rose 7% after fourth-quarter earnings from a major customer, Dell Computer Corp. (DELL), blew past analysts' estimates, igniting optimism that STB may follow suit when it reports its fiscal first-quarter results Monday. On Wednesday, Dell reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 81 cents a diluted share, exploding past street estimates of 76 cents and year-earlier net income of 50 cents. A CIBC Oppenheimer Corp. analyst said the news sent shots of investor adrenalin into shares of STB, which is a major supplier to Dell. "When it's a good quarter for Dell," he said, "it's usually a good quarter for STB." About 80% of STB's revenue is from original equipment manufacturers such as Dell, which currently buys graphics accelerators, multimedia cards and DVD interface boards from the Richardson, Texas, company. The CIBC Oppenheimer Corp. analyst estimated business from Dell alone accounts for more than 20% of STB's total sales. Another analyst, J.P. Mark of Dain Rauscher Inc., pegs STB's first-quarter earnings at 48 cents a share, up from 31 cents - adjusted for a July 3-for-2 stock split - a year earlier. However, Mark said but said he would not be surprised if STB beats the estimates by 2 cents to 4 cents a share. The "strong correlation" between Dell and STB is "definitely what's driving" Thursday's rally, he said. "When Dell makes a (personal computer) sale, then STB makes a sale, too." Hoak Breedlove Wesneski & Co. analyst John S. Bain agreed. "If you took Dell's price chart and hung it over a price chart of STB," he said, "they'd be similar." Recent positive financial results from two other major OEM customers - Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) and Gateway 2000 Inc. (GTW) - fueled investor optimism further, Mark said. Bain also cited "supply/demand in the PC business" as a possible factor. He projects STB's first quarter at 47 cents a share, but quickly adds that his estimate could be on the low side. A consensus of five analysts surveyed by First Call put the company's earnings at 48 cents a share. STB will complete another 3-for-2 stock split Friday, which may or may not be factored into its results on Monday. A company spokesman was not immediately available for comment. STB closed Thursday at 37 1/8, up 2 1/2, or 7.2%, on volume of 272,500, compared with a daily average of 141,700. -By Janet Morrissey; 201-938-5400 (END) DOW JONES NEWS 02-19-98 05:54 PM

To: Stoctrash who wrote (29707)	2/19/1998 9:28:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Dual Layer hybrids? Burst Cutting Area? Project X????????????? ijumpstart.com DUAL LAYER HYBRIDS ARE THE FUTURE <Picture><Picture><Picture> By end 1998 few PCs will be bought that don't have a DVD-ROM drive as standard and DVD-Video players will have started to sprout in European homes. That will be the time to start exploiting a little-known feature of the DVD specification, the Burst Cutting Area (BCA). This is an area on the central locking ring with a unique bar-coded number lasered onto it that can be read by the player. This number allows hidden areas of the disc to be unlocked. The uses of this feature are legion. For example you watch The Godfather and at the end of the movie you are given the opportunity to purchase Godfather II. You pays your money and voila, the second movie is waiting for you on the second of two layers. Or you obtain a training programme which has free access to module 1. On completion you are offered access to subsequent modules by a simple email transaction. One of the companies currently pioneering these ideas is Panasonic Disc Services in Torrance, California. It is a top DVD replicator and today 35-40 per cent of its production is dual-layer. We will be visiting the operation in April; stay tuned for a full report. The company works closely with its sister firm Panasonic OWL in Edinburgh. OWL's development manager Lindsay Holman will be speaking on the hybrid potential of DVD-ROM at the IL98 conference in Edinburgh (13-15 August). Contact: Harvey Mabry, Panasonic Disc Services, tel: +44 1 310 783 4800, email: mabryh@dvd.panasonic.com; Lindsay Holman, Panasonic OWL, tel: +44 131 555 6055, email: lindsayh@owl.co.uk. Industrial-strength DVD arrives Panasonic is now offering a professional DVD-Video player for the US market, the DVD-T2000 (NTSC). The player has an RS-232C remote control interface for computer control, AC-3 multichannel audio output and an optional rack-mount adapter. Information on the player can be found at panasonic.com. Pioneer too has introduced an industrial-strength DVD player in the States at $995. This has RS-232, frame search, bar code, mouse and on-screen cursor, text generation and overlay, drawing capability, video tracking hot spots, a moderate amount of on board programming and supports existing laserdisc commands and functions. Features are aimed at kiosks, education, and computer controlled systems. These innovations on the hardware side are fast being matched by the content developers. London-based Abbey Road Interactive has announced the DVD-Video 'Byte' - a disc that contains short snatches of constant bit-rate MPEG-2 video (with Dolby AC-3 stereo sound) for kiosk and presentation use. The Basic Package costs Pounds 1500 and includes mastering of one disc with up to 10 minutes of video; auto-play and automatic looping functionality are built in. Extras include additional video (Pounds 75 per minute) and additional discs (Pounds 300 per disc). For more details, visit the Web site at abbeyroad.co.uk or contact Sarah Bradley, digital video manager, tel: +44 171 266 7282. Tele-Cine opens its first DVD production line London-based Tele-Cine announced the opening of its DVD production line last week. It has combined systems components from Minerva, Daikin and Dolby to make a true one stop shop for the PAL Region 2 market. Jeff Emerson, business development manager, told IM that the equipment is still being bench tested at the moment but there are a couple of customers waiting in the wings. He said that TeleCine would have MPEG-2 audio capability if the customer asked for it, echoing the general assumption that AC-3 is now the de facto standard. Tele-Cine has its eye firmly fixed on Hollywood. It is a big London production house with many years experience of audio localisation of home videos for the movie industry. With the acquisition of DVD capability it is now bringing that experience into play by providing a one-stop shop for American producers who wish to reach the European market with its diverse language localisation needs. Contact Jeff Emerson, tel: +44 171 208 2208; email: jeffe@telecine.co.uk. Emerson will be speaking on the issue of European multi-language localisation at our DVD Summit on 13-15 October. Project X Rumours are circulating on the Web about a future DVD-based console named Project X. If they're true it could pose a serious threat to the next-generation consoles from Sega (and eventually Nintendo and Sony). The technology hails from California-based VMLabs (http://www.vmlabs.com) and is built from a group of processors designed from the start with gaming in mind. More a format than a console, the system is thought to be supported by several consumer electronics big names, including Philips. VMLabs, which numbers several ex-Atari personnel among its development staff - was demonstrating the console to a select few at Winter CES last month in Las Vegas. The machine is said to be capable of playing DVD-Video discs, have very high resolution and be capable of real-time raytracing (lighting of objects using real-world physics). The first products are due by the end of the year, at the astonishingly low price of under $200.