First Java-Powered Internet Set-Top Box
newsbytes.com
16 Nov 1998, 4:55 PM CST
By Steve Gold, Newsbytes.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A.,
At Comdex Fall, which opened in Las Vegas
this morning, officials with the Electronics and
Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI),
the Korean information technology (IT) research
organization, took the wraps off what many in the Internet
set-top box (STB) arena view as the Holy Grail of STBs, a
Java-driven STB.
Because Java is an extensible language, it follows that a
Java STB can run an almost infinite number of applications,
despite the fact that it has no effective program storage
facilities on board -- Java applets can be downloaded off their
air and can run a effectively as if they were loaded from a
local hard disk, Newsbytes notes.
For the STB vendors, such a device could perform as well as
a PC, yet be mass produced for as little as $100. This is
why ETRI, with the assistance of Sun Microsystems, has
taken the time to develop such a device.
Rather than make the TV Internet STB an all-memory
device, ETRI has opted for a Java processor to drive the unit.
Using this approach saves on overall costs, and makes for
much faster Java code and applet execution speeds,
Newsbytes notes.
Code-named NetTheater, the Internet STB is billed as the
first product using the embedded Java processor
manufactured by LG Semicon, one of Sun's growing number
picoJava licensees. According to ETRI officials, NetTheater
allows users to execute Java applications over the Web.
"The legacy Internet STB supplies a very simple function.
Users can only surf the Web and send or receive electronic
mail," explained Gil- Rok Oh, the organization's vice
president.
"In contrast, NetTheater is a Java-enabled Internet STB
supporting multimedia applications on the PersonalJava 1.1
environment. This means that users of NetTheater can enjoy
their Java-based software on a cheap and simple computer
instead of on complicated Pentium PCs," he went on to say.
As shown at Comdex, the prototype NetTheater device
contains its own software package that includes a Web
overlay manager, a client for online news services, a Web
browser, and an e-mail client.
According to ETRI, the PersonalJava 1.1 environment runs
on the aptly- named Teapot RTOS (real time operating
system) developed for information appliances. All software,
the organization says, is implemented in the Java language.
The system software, meanwhile, is stored in flash memory,
so it can be upgraded by downloading new software from
Information Service Providers (ISPs).
According to Fadi Azhari, Sun's group marketing manager
for picoJava, ETRI's reference design is the first to use the
picoJava processor.
"With its Java application performance, it will help enable the
proliferation of Java applications," he explained, adding that,
as well as demonstrating the value of the Java processor in
running a real-time application, ETRI's reference design will
enables OEMs to get products to market faster.
For the technically minded, the NetTheater device shown at
Comdex today, includes a MicroJava-1 (MJ-1) 33 megahertz
(MHz) microprocessor.
According to ETRI, the device shows the possibility of
Java-processor performance even though the MJ-1
technology is not yet a commercial product.
According to ETRI officials, when LG Semicon releases a
100 MHz MJ-2 microprocessor with stable performance, the
organization plans to develop a second product based on the
MJ-2 technology and, all being well, will announce it in July
of next year.
Further details of the NetTheater can be found on ETRI's
Web site at crown.etri.re.kr .
Reported by Newsbytes News Network,
newsbytes.com .
16:55 CST
Reposted 17:18 CST
(19981116/Press & Reader Contact: ETRI +82-42-860-4802
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