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

To: Carnac who wrote (31657)	3/31/1998 9:53:00 AM
From: Don Dorsey	Respond to of 50808

DVD Posts Impressive Gains During First Year On Market, Far Outpacing Early Sales Of VCRs And CD Players Business Wire - March 31, 1998 09:36 ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 1998--The new video playback technology of choice, Digital Video Disc (DVD), celebrates its first anniversary this week amid signs that it has made a strong first impression, especially among "early adopters" and home theater households. According to the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA), first-year DVD player sales to U.S. dealers topped 437,000 units. "Not even the videocassette recorder or the compact disc player -- two of our industry's greatest success stories -- came close to these kinds of numbers when they were introduced," said CEMA President Gary Shapiro. "First-year sales of DVD players are more than twice what VCRs were during 1975-77, and more than twelve times those of CD players when they hit the market in 1983!" Shapiro noted that "these twelve-month results clearly suggest that DVD has been embraced by 'early adopters,' those consumers who want and are prepared to pay first-generation prices for the very latest products. Add to that the fact that home theater systems now can be found in 15 percent of U.S. television households, and you begin to understand why DVD's takeoff has been successful. Our next challenge will be to take DVD to the mass market." Central to the success of DVD has been the steady proliferation of software titles, more than 800 of which now are offered by approximately 30 labels, including the home video divisions of nearly all the Hollywood studios. With its vastly improved picture quality and six-channel surround sound, DVD provides a host of advantages over existing video playback systems. DVD technology uses as many as 500 lines of horizontal resolution, as compared with the VHS format's 240 lines, and can store up to 133 minutes of full-motion video on a single-layer, CD-size disc (and more than four hours on dual-layer discs). In addition to its stunning digital images and surround sound, DVD gives consumers the ability to modify the aspect ratio from the squarish (4:3) measurements of today's TV sets to the widescreen (16:9) dimensions of a movie theater screen. Capable of storing, on one side of a disc, more digital information than seven audio CDs, DVD's unequaled flexibility allows the consumer to select from as many as eight different soundtracks and 32 subtitle tracks, choose preferred camera angles, and access background information, for example, on the film's actors and director. At a time of rising concern over whether certain movies are suitable for children, DVD gives parents the option to view a mature version of a particular film while limiting their children to a version edited for younger audiences. Another compelling feature is that DVD players are fully compatible with music CDs. Today nearly two dozen companies manufacture or market DVD players at prices ranging from as little as $399, for a basic model, to as much as $10,000, for models offering such advanced features as a 200-disc DVD changer. CEMA is a sector of the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), the 74-year-old Arlington, Virginia-based trade organization representing all facets of electronics manufacturing. CEMA represents U.S. manufacturers of audio, video, accessories, mobile electronics, communication, information and multimedia products which are sold through consumer channels. SELECTED DVD PLAYER MANUFACTURERS (PR contacts where noted) Faroudja Laboratories Jack Guedj 408-735-1492 Hitachi 770-279-5600 JVC Nancy Bird 201-703-4054 LG Electronics Daniel Lee 201-816-2052 Matsushita (Panasonic) Bill Pritchard 201-348-7182 Mitsubishi Max Wassinger 770-734-5300 Philips Jill Greenman 423-521-3274 Pioneer Joni Saphir 310-952-2507 Sanyo Fisher David Claus 818-998-7322 ext. 247 Sony Rick Clancy 201-930-6909 Thomson Frank McCann 317-587-3669 Toshiba Susan Shelby 201-628-8000 ext.3280 Zenith John Taylor 847-391-8181 CONTACT: CEMA Lisa Fasold, 703/907-7669 email: lfasold@eia.org or Allan Schlosser, 703/684-8900 email: potomacpr@msn.com cemacity.org

To: Carnac who wrote (31657)	3/31/1998 9:58:00 AM
From: Don Dorsey	Respond to of 50808

Hi-Val Takes the Lead by Offering First DVD-RAM Kit; Hi-Val Ships Industry's First DVD-RAM Kit to Retail in April Business Wire - March 31, 1998 08:25 SANTA ANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 1998--Hi-Val, Inc., a leading supplier of DVD-ROM upgrade solutions, today announces its plans to ship the industry's first DVD-RAM upgrade kits. The first kit will include a 2X DVD-RAM drive and playback and recording software for DVD-RAM. The second kit will ship with Hi-Val's signature wireless option that allows movies to be played back on a television set up to 300 feet away from the PC. The kits will ship to retailers at the end of April for suggested retail prices ranging from $399 to $599. Hi-Val's DVD-RAM drive will enable users to record data on DVD-RAM discs, play DVD-ROMs, DVD movies and standard CDs, CD-R and CD-RW at 20X speed. Multimedia enthusiasts will appreciate the ability to back up copies of DVD and CD-ROM titles and games, allowing them to preserve the quality of the original DVD and CD-ROM. Additionally, consumers can use the drive with a video camera and video capture card to create home movies or archive family information. Business users will appreciate the drive's ability to back up the company server to UDF packet writing. This will allow DVD-RAM to be used as a removable hard drive, archive information or back up the company intranet. Media costs are expected to commence at $24.95 for 2.6 GB and $44.95 for 5.2 GB discs. "Meeting the consumer's demand for cutting edge technology products is Hi-Val's number one priority," says Mark Vakili, president of Hi-Val. "By offering the industry's first DVD-RAM upgrade kit, Hi-Val continues to push the market forward and maintain its leading position." Hi-Val, Inc. is one of the fastest growing high-tech companies in the USA. Hi-Val is located in Santa Ana, California and offers a wide range of multimedia solutions. By working with multiple manufacturers, Hi-Val combines the latest quality 24X and 32X CD-ROM drives with the highest quality soundcards and top selling CD software. A variety of CD-Recorders, CD Changers, DVD-ROM drives, graphics accelerators, wireless products, and business software applications are also part of Hi-Val's expanding product line. For more press information, contact Kristin Nerup, Imagio Public Relations, at 206/625-0252 or kristin@imagio.com. Additional sales information may be obtained by contacting Hi-Val at 714/953-3000 or hival.com. CONTACT: Imagio Public Relations Kristin Nerup, 206/625-0252 kristin@imagio.com

To: Carnac who wrote (31657)	3/31/1998 10:02:00 AM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Hi-Val will ship first DVD-RAM kits for $399, without an MPEG-2 encoder. (Beat me to it, Don!) newsalert.com <<The first kit will include a 2X DVD-RAM drive and playback and recording software for DVD-RAM. The second kit will ship with Hi-Val's signature wireless option that allows movies to be played back on a television set up to 300 feet away from the PC. The kits will ship to retailers at the end of April for suggested retail prices ranging from $399 to $599. Hi-Val's DVD-RAM drive will enable users to record data on DVD-RAM discs, play DVD-ROMs, DVD movies and standard CDs, CD-R and CD-RW at 20X speed. Multimedia enthusiasts will appreciate the ability to back up copies of DVD and CD-ROM titles and games, allowing them to preserve the quality of the original DVD and CD-ROM. Additionally, consumers can use the drive with a video camera and video capture card to create home movies or archive family information. Business users will appreciate the drive's ability to back up the company server to UDF packet writing. This will allow DVD-RAM to be used as a removable hard drive, archive information or back up the company intranet. Media costs are expected to commence at $24.95 for 2.6 GB and $44.95 for 5.2 GB discs. >>

To: Carnac who wrote (31657)	3/31/1998 7:18:00 PM
From: Kibby	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Chrock-a-matic >>>80 MHz for MP@ML, come on! SGS-Thomson's HDTV decoder probably consumes less power than C-Cubes' DVD decoder!>>>>80 >>>>MHz for MP@ML, come on! SGS-Thomson's HDTV decoder probably consumes less power than C-Cubes' DVD decoder!>>>> You must know something that the world doesnt when you go on to insult the Cube CTO who chairs the MPEG committee and is just stating a plain fact about HDTV decode. Regarding Cube's DVD chips, well if you think the SGS heaters can work on a PCMCIA Card as the Cube chip will , you have yourself an argument. Bad decoders?? is that why Cube is dominating the PC market? do some homework! You go look at a direct tv (sgs thompson) box and compare it to a ccube based box. The difference is night and day. Like comparing windows 95 to DOS. K