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

To: John Rieman who wrote (30843)	3/12/1998 8:52:00 PM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

DVD in the corporate world................... FEATURE/Bringing Innovative DVD Software to the Commercial Market March 12, 1998 CROFTON, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE FEATURES) via NewsEdge Corporation -- Now that a number of desktop and portable Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) computers are available, the corporate world is beginning to notice that DVD technology is ideal for many business applications. The fact that a DVD can hold up to 26 times more data (up to 17 GB) than a CD-ROM is appealing to a business user who needs massive storage capacity. Both the capacity and quality of DVD make it perfect for business and government training programs. Though there is a relatively small installed base of DVD-ROM hardware, holding some publishers of DVD software back, NB Digital Solutions of Crofton is one company that is taking the application of DVD technology to new levels. "There are infinite ways in which the material in the databases on a DVD can be related, displayed or mapped once it is in a gigantic relational database on the DVD," says Ralph LaBarge, president of NB Digital Solutions. "When you consider the quantity of information that a DVD can hold, the business possibilities are endless." NB Digital Solutions is currently developing a prototype training course for the Naval School of Health Sciences in Bethesda. This course is being designed to use many technological advances such as DVD optical storage, MPEG-2 digital video compression and Dolby AC-3 audio compression. The Naval School of Health Sciences currently publishes many of its training courses in laser disc and CD-ROM formats. DVD provides the high quality video content while eliminating the need for an expensive analog video overlay card to make it compatible with a standard personal computer. DVD's video quality far surpasses that of CD-ROM while not requiring add-in hardware. That's just one example of NB Digital Solutions' leading edge knowledge of how to apply new technology to solve business problems. The company is considered one of the country's leading DVD service bureaus using DVD to help companies bring their products to market faster. DVD has no learning curve for anyone who has used a computer equipped with CD-ROM or a VCR. While the following examples may not seem directly business-oriented, it is easy to see how the DVD technology currently being developed will ultimately find its way into the commercial arena. NB Digital has also developed a state-of-the-art program called SceneSaver that presents material from a DVD disc as a Windows 95 screen saver. Viewers can play BMP, JPEG, AVI, MOV, MPEG and VOB files in a user configured program. The SceneSaver program is one of several technological innovations that NB Digital recently provided for a new DVD called EARTHLIGHT, released by Mill Reef Entertainment and exclusively distributed by DVD International. EARTHLIGHT features never-before-seen NASA video of the Earth taken from the space shuttle accompanied by a six-channel Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound score written especially for this production by composer Ryan Shore. While the creative aspects of EARTHLIGHT were generated by Mill Reef Entertainment, the transition to DVD technology was strictly the province of NB Digital. For example, NB ensured that EARTHLIGHT used the Software Publisher's Association (SPA) technical recommendation released last year to ensure compatibility with all DVD-ROM systems. NB Digital's LaBarge was the chairman for the SPA DVD-ROM Interactive Media Format Technical Working Group that developed these recommendations. "Lady in White" represents the first non-studio dual-layered feature film released on DVD. From Elite Entertainment, a company well-known in the field of specialty laser disc products, "Lady in White" employs Reverse Spiral Dual Layer (RSDL) DVD technology, previously only used by the studios, which uses two layers of a DVD to store information. About halfway through the film, the DVD player moves seamlessly from one layer to the other. Obviously, DVD can be used to upgrade the presentation of video entertainment programs. DVD can also be and is being used like standard CD-ROM. It can be used for research. It can be used to present original entertainment, training and educational content. In fact, numerous major corporations are already using DVD-based training programs developed by NB Digital Solutions. CONTACT: Daly-Swartz PR \| Jeffrey Swartz, 714/361-6888 \| jeff_swartz@prodigy.com \| www.nbdig.com [Copyright 1998, Business Wire]

To: John Rieman who wrote (30843)	3/13/1998 11:43:00 AM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

John, can you connect this to Cube for us... AUSTRALIA: NOKIA WINS FIRST DIGITAL TV SET - TOP ORDER 03/13/98 Exchange Telecommunications Newsletter Copyright(C) 1998 EXCHANGE TELECOMMUNICATIONS NEWSLETTER Nokia has won what it claims is the world's first order for set - top boxes for terrestrial digital television, from British Digital Broadcasting (BDB), the joint venture between Carlton and Granada Television. "This is our first order for digital terrestrial terminals and one of the most significant commercial tenders that we have ever been awarded," according to Graham North, director of sales and marketing, Nokia Multimedia Network Terminals. The contract should make Nokia well-placed for the future Australian digital TV market.