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Technology Stocks : WavePhore (WAVO)- VBI fed WaveTop for WebTV -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David Gardiner who wrote (1034)	3/23/1998 7:49:00 PM
From: AJ Berger	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2843

Todays Volume from Dow Jones Newswire Article WaveTop Hopes to Offer Solution To Home Users' Bandwidth Woes By MARK BOSLET Dow Jones Newswires PALO ALTO -- A small Internet company with the backing of technology powerhouses Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. hopes to pave a new path in data broadcasting. WaveTop, a unit of WavePhore Inc., will unveil an Internet-like service on April 6 designed to bring information and data to personal computers. But instead of traveling over phone lines and through modems, the data will hitch a ride between picture frames of television signals. That means news, children's programming and weather information from WaveTop will move over the airwaves or across cable-TV systems to home computers. Leaving a computer on during the day will allow the information to be waiting at the end of the workday. "WaveTop is taking advantage of the Internet's current congestion by offering an alternative distribution path," wrote analyst Rob Martin of Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. in a January report. It allows "users to receive a constant stream of downloadable data to be viewed at [their] discretion." WaveTop plans to launch its system at the National Association of Broadcasters convention and has arranged to use the between-frame space, or vertical blanking interval, in the Public Broadcasting System television signal. Because of PBS's national reach, the broadcast will be within range of 99% of U.S. households, though for the first couple of months, only 50 top markets nationwide will get the signal. "We have a great window [of opportunity] right now for the next several years," said Sandy Goldman, senior vice president and general manager of WaveTop. "We will be the poster child for data broadcasting." WaveTop's ambitious plan is a reflection of the need for technology that allows home PC users to receive data more quickly. The company's emerging technique for transmitting text and other information may not be as fast as cable modems, but it does have an advantage: It sends its data to a large audience simultaneously. In order to receive the WaveTop signal, cable subscribers must run cable wires to their computers as well as TVs. Television signals received with a housetop antenna also need to go to computers outfitted with TV tuner cards, which cost between $85 and $125. Then, with free WaveTop software, the PC stores the data WaveTop sends during its 17-hour broadcast day. The software runs with Microsoft's Windows 95 and will be included in Windows 98. During its broadcast day, WaveTop is capable of distributing 170 megabytes of data, or the equivalent of a 2,000-page magazine. Mr. Goldman, senior vice president and general manager of WaveTop, said he hopes to eventually double or triple the capacity by using other lines within PBS's vertical blanking interval. The company's broadcast will include content from USA Today, the on-line versions of Fortune, Money, Time and People, sports information for children from Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, lists of top-selling books from Barnes & Noble Inc., stock quotes from Quote.com and PBS on-line. Twenty nonpaying advertisers have lined up so far, including Kellogg Co., Lincoln-Mercury, Microsoft and Intel, Mr. Goldman said. Both Microsoft and Intel own just over 2% of WavePhore stock. WaveTop had hoped to begin its service at the end of last year. Software development delays caused the setback, but testing of the system has been underway since November, Mr. Goldman said.

To: David Gardiner who wrote (1034)	3/24/1998 5:12:00 PM
From: David Gardiner	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2843

I was curious if Wavo was getting trademark protection on their WaveTop names. It certainly appears that they are. These are all marks filed in the communication's class with the USPTO. Several of them are filed as intent-to use marks. GET TUNED IN, CYBRARIAN, TECHTOP, FUNTOP, EDUTOP, COOKTOP, WOMENSTOP, QUOTETOP, SPORTSTOP, PARENTTOP, STOCKTOP, MYTOP, ONLINETOP, NEWSTOP, KIDSTOP, GUIDETOP, FAMILYTOP, VIDEOTOP, WEATHERTOP, LIVETOP, RADIOTOP, TVTOP, GAMETOP, SMARTTOP, MOVIETOP, WAVETOP. Gives a decent idea of what channel types may be offered. Dave