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

To: BillyG who wrote (36234)	9/26/1998 9:41:00 AM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

When it comes to installing the first DTV's, what ever you do, don't open the box............................................. September 28, 1998, Issue: 1027 Section: News -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At Panasonic's boot camp, managers talk tough to front-line reps who will roll out digital TV -- Advice to the salesman: 'Don't open the box' Junko Yoshida As the first digital TVs roll off the delivery trucks and into people's homes, installers are likely to find geographical pockets-many, at first-with no DTV reception. That's just one of the snafus dogging DTV in the final weeks before digital broadcasts go live in the United States, sometime around Nov. 1. What is being hailed as the dawn of the next megamarket in electronics-an event more momentous than the arrival of color television-is riddled with implementation holes and unsolved mysteries. After 10 years of intense laboratory work and standards battles that rocked the industry, it's now up to the retailers on the front lines to wrestle such bugbears as the lack of cable compatibility, the thicket of antenna specifications and the need for a DTV-to-digital-VHS interface. As for computer compatibility: Don't go there. During a recent boot camp in Cherry Hill, N.J., for its consum-er-electronics salespeople, Panasonic's Ed Wolfe offered a rule of thumb for the folks who will install the first digital TV sets. "Whatever you do, don't open the box," the national marketing manager for the company's television division told the East Coast sales reps. The Pandora's box is a cardboard carton containing the industry's first 56-inch digital HDTV-ready projection television set. Launched last month, the set retails for $5,499. Scope things out with a small TV first, Wolfe told the sales staff. If no signal comes in, you can lug the DTV back to the store to sell to another customer. Tearing open the box would make that impossible. Wolfe assured his salespeople that the bane of the box will quickly pass as most TV stations start sending DTV signals at full power. But until the market sheds its training wheels, dealers must take a hands-on approach, he said, giving DTV's rollout as much attention as their predecessors gave the introduction of television itself in 1948. Those buying the first DTV sets are "the best customers you'll ever meet," said Wolfe, and deserve "to be treated with kid gloves." more.............................................. techweb.com

To: BillyG who wrote (36234)	9/26/1998 10:10:00 AM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Toshiba's note book with a self contained DVD decoder chip set(C-Cube)............................................. techweb.com Toshiba Portege 7010CT Toshiba's diminutive Portege 7010CT packs a powerful punch. Measuring only 1.1 by 11.7 by 9 inches and tipping the scales at a scant 4.35 pounds, including battery and power supply, this stylish ultracompact has a sturdy magnesium alloy case. Our review unit came equipped with a 3.8GB hard drive and 32MB of RAM. A NeoMagic 128XD video controller with 2.5MB of memory drives its 12.1-inch LCD screen-a combination that produces pleasing displays, although native resolution is only 800x600. Aging baby boomers may appreciate 800x600 displays because they produce larger text, but most new 300MHz Pentium II-powered notebooks have larger screens. Other features we liked include the Yamaha OPL3 sound chip, an integrated K56flex modem and a self-contained DVD decoder chipset that can be used with an optional DVD-ROM drive (a 24X CD-ROM drive is also optional).