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To: Maya who wrote (37169)	11/9/1998 12:44:00 PM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Netscape Pioneer to Invest in Smart VCR Will Take Stake in Replay Networks, a Custom TV Start-Up By JOHN MARKOFF SAN FRANCISCO -- A new technology intended to replace the traditional home videocassette recorder is expected to get an important vote of confidence on Monday with the announcement that a co-founder of Netscape Communications Corp. has invested in one of two companies developing digital television recording systems. Marc Andreessen, who founded Netscape along with Jim Clark in 1995, will announce that he is investing in Replay Networks Inc., a small Silicon Valley start-up company and will join its board. Replay Networks, based in Palo Alto, is one of two Silicon Valley companies developing television systems that enable viewers to watch, store and retrieve programs in novel ways, including pausing while the programs are in progress and returning to the point of the pause as much as 30 minutes later. In December, the company will begin shipping the system, known as ReplayTV, which will enable users to record a complete program that is already in progress, to automatically record programs that meet a predetermined criterion -- for example, movies featuring a particular actor -- and to intelligently skip commercials. But just as important as the bells and whistles, Replay executives say, is that unlike most traditional VCRs, ReplayTV is simple enough to program without resorting to a manual. The system includes an interactive programming guide that the viewer can use to instruct the system to record all programs related to a particular sports team, for example, or to capture a particular program whenever it is on. "The thing that most people can relate to is never missing their favorite show," said Anthony Wood, Replay's founder and chief executive. "People have busy lives, and it's not worth it to program their VCR." For the rest of the story... nytimes.com

To: Maya who wrote (37169)	11/9/1998 2:09:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Kirch d-boxes adding revenue with interactive adds................ news.com New ad avenues on digital TV By Reuters Special to CNET News.com November 9, 1998, 8:15 a.m. PT URL: news.com The advent of digital television in Europe has opened new avenues for advertising, allowing it to be better aimed at target groups, digital television executives and analysts said. Speaking at the European Television Symposium in Berlin, German digital pay-TV service DF1's advertising director Martin Mille said viewers' ability to interact with digital TV advertising is the key component. With viewers able to request more information on an advertisement by using a remote control devise, advertisers could get added value, he said. Jon Beverley, chief executive of British new media consulting firm Upstart, said many advertisers would at first try to implement the techniques they have developed for Internet advertising to a digital TV environment. However, he added that the new media offered pitfalls. These were mostly linked to the initial confusion consumers are likely to have using the new interactive technology. "The majority of advertisers and their agencies are thinking how they can take what they developed for the Web and slap them into digital TV," he said. "It will be one of the most exciting ad channels, but dozens of mistakes will be made." Digital television would also pave the way for "extended advertising surfaces," offering more space for infomercials and specialized product-based programs, Mille said. He added that while advertising revenues at DF1 in 1999 were expected to have a ratio of 95 percent traditional advertising to five percent interactive, the ratio by 2007 was likely to be 78 percent traditional to 22 percent interactive. "What we now need to see is how the technology develops, how the prices are and how consumers accept it," he said. DF1 has more than 30 theme channels including 14 featuring advertising. Future developments include channel sponsoring, which DF1 plans to introduce next year, and home shopping via the remote control. Digital television is expected to offer viewers hundreds of channels, sharper picture and sound quality, as well as interactivity. Media and computer companies hope to ultimately unite the television with the personal computer, enabling Internet access over TV screens.

To: Maya who wrote (37169)	11/9/1998 2:45:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

Panasonic debuts PC-DTV solution............................ newsalert.com Panasonic Launches World's First HDTV Solution for Personal Computers Business Wire - November 09, 1998 13:56 Jump to first matched term SECAUCUS, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 9, 1998-- PC-DTV Card Is Fully Compatible With All ATSC Formats + NTSC Following up on the start of the nation's new digital broadcasting system on November 1, Panasonic Industrial Company today announced the availability of the computer industry's first all-format digital television (DTV) tuner/decoder card. The PC-DTV tuner/decoder card (Model TB1T) which was developed in collaboration with Compaq Computer Corporation, is a PCI-based, two-board solution that enables computers to receive, decode and display high-definition and digital TV signals on the screen of a PC. It consists of 1) a tuner board which receives and passes-through both Advanced Television System Committee (ATSC) format digital signals as well as the current NTSC analog TV signals over a PCI bus, and 2) a video decoder board which decodes digital TV signals in all 18 ATSC formats for display of high-definition video images or 480p standard-definition video images over a VIP-2 bus. "Next year, PC-DTV devices will provide an exciting new market opportunity for Panasonic," said Ash Chabra, Group Manager of the Electronic Components Group of Panasonic Industrial Company. "By supplying our personal computer OEMs with these boards, we expect to accelerate the development of high-definition and digital TV in this country. Our strength is that we can provide end-to-end DTV solutions for PC's, including individual DTV system components, from the RF tuner through the all-format MPEG-2 video decoder." Panasonic will initially market this DTV-PC card system on an OEM basis to computer manufacturers, peripheral board manufacturers, TV broadcasters, content creation studios and content developers. Samples will be available by the end of this year with targeted volume production in early spring 1999. Panasonic Industrial Company also announced the immediate availability of the 8VSB TS output board (Model TTM1A), which outputs an 8-bit parallel transport stream (TS) from the RF input of broadcast DTV signals. This board will greatly help computer manufacturers, digital television/set-top box manufacturers and silicon developers accelerate their DTV product development. Both of the new products are manufactured by Osaka, Japan-based Matsushita Electronic Components Co., Ltd., the electronic components arm of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE:MC), a world leader in the development of digital television and other digital electronics products and technologies. Matsushita Electronic Components is a leading worldwide supplier of standard and highly customized electronic components. Panasonic Industrial Company, a Division of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America, is based in Secaucus, NJ, and is the sales and marketing channel for electronic components to customers in North America. Panasonic's development of HDTV and digital television in the U.S. has been centered at Panasonic AVC American Laboratories, Inc. Based in Burlington, NJ, the company developed the world's first single-chip, all-format digital television decoder which is incorporated in the new PC-DTV decoder device. For more information on Panasonic or Matsushita Electric, visit our web site at www.panasonic.com CONTACT: Jim Reilly or Kurt Praschak 201/392-6067 201/392-6124