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

To: Maya who wrote (30725)	3/10/1998 8:22:00 PM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Here's some Luxsonor info. It says that they're not sampling yet. What have you heard about the company? luxsonor.com

To: Maya who wrote (30725)	3/10/1998 8:52:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

BskyB boxes can be upgraded in software(Frontend functions). They must have the hardware ready now.................................... ijumpstart.com OPPOSING WORLD VIEWS ON FUTURE TV LANDSCAPE CLASH AT CONFERENCE <Picture><Picture><Picture> The Financial Times New Media and Broadcasting Conference, which took place on February 23-24 in London, started off with a promotional presentation from BSkyB's CEO and managing director Mark Booth, who was unsurprisingly upbeat about the BIB digital launch, scheduled for June this year. "We changed the face of broadcasting when we launched in the 1980s and we are about to change it again," was one of his more low-key comments. He backed up his optimism with four reasons for the unavoidable success of the digital satellite service - "more control, more choice, easy access and flexible hardware." Meanwhile, Patricia Hodgson, director of policy and planning at the BBC, gave a vigorous defense of the Beeb's digital strategy, welcoming competition from BSkyB, while begging it to "stop throwing sand into the engine." She did not think that new digital satellite and cable channels would necessarily take away its audience share, as its current share had remained stable at 42 per cent, despite the onslaught of analogue satellite and cable. On the programming front, she resorted to the BBC's classic self-promoting line, that only BBC managers seem to believe, nowadays. "The BBC has the best range of programmes in the world," she claimed, comparing with the U.S. output. She cited old favourites such as "Our Friends in the North," "Absolutely Fabulous" and "Only Fools and Horses" as examples of this excellence. She gave strong backing to the BBC's universal approach, saying that "the commitment to supplying knowledge for the whole of society must remain," and she defended the BBC's decision to make BBC Resources available to others in the market as "a way of making revenue that can be invested in new programme creation." Meanwhile, ITV's CEO Richard Eyre, put a new spin on the challenge of attracting advertisers in the new digital age. In an entertaining presentation, he claimed that only mass audiences the likes of which are reached by ITV truly can be effective for advertisers. He cited research from TV Span that showed that the most successful ads are the ones that are talked about in the wider community. Only mass audiences reached by ITV can achieve that "talked about in the community" effect. He compared an ITV ad to a " neutron bomb," saying that only "good taste" stopped him from carrying the analogy further to "collateral damage." He quoted from the ITC report reviewed in EMB&F (February 9), that established that viewers of cable and satellite viewers had actually decreased to 9 per cent of the viewing audience. BDB's chief of operations John Egan did not reveal much about BDB's plans, except to say that they were devising an EPG and that orders for set-top boxes using SECA technology would be going through in the next few weeks. He also said that the set-top box would eventually be able to download BIB's EPG. Perhaps the most surprising piece of news to come out of Booth's presentation was his claim that the hardware will not need to be replaced as new software will automatically be downloaded into the set-top box - confirming reports that Sky is not planning to introduce second generation set-top boxes but simply upgrade the software - a much cheaper option for the consumer. Booth also showed tantalising glimpses of the new digital EPG. Unsurprisingly, it is very similar to Sky's existing one, giving viewers seven days of listing information for all channels by channel, time and genre of programmes. The viewer can build in his or her personal planner, selecting a list of films for instance. A reminder message tells parents that a parental control mechanism is available. The NVOD offering gives a choice of 15-20 films every evening, starting at 15 minutes interval. This means that five films will be available every hour, compared to one on Sky's existing analogue package. The EPG also will show access to 60 channels of music and plans are afoot to enable viewers to order CDs directly from their TV-set. "It will be easier to stay in your lounge than catch the no 9 bus," he enthused. However, his presentation was overshadowed somewhat by the suspiciously well-timed piece of news that BSkyB was planning to sue BDB (British Digital Broadcasting), the digital terrestrial TV group owned by Carlton and Granada, over its plans to use the Canal Plus conditional access system Mediaguard, as opposed to the one developed by its own subsidiary News Digital Systems. He refused to comment on the situation, only to insist that BIB is to be platform neutral, "unlike ITV."