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

To: JEFF K who wrote (37301)	11/17/1998 5:40:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

More Divi customers............................................... nikkei.co.jp Satellite Broadcaster Narrows Strategy With subscriber growth slow, DirecTV Japan pins its hopes on packages aimed at single genres Popular Japanese soccer player Hidetoshi Nakata, left, is going to appear in a DirecTV ad campaign aimed at boosting its subscriber numbers. DirecTV Japan Inc. plans to release in December lower-priced packages focusing on a single entertainment genre such as movies or sports. After succeeding in the U.S., the satellite broadcaster entered Japan a year ago but has seen subscription growth slow, leading it to adopt a business strategy tailored for the local market. DirecTV Japan Chairman Larry Hunter announced the new strategy Oct. 30 in Tokyo, where the company is based. The plan is a revised version of one that succeeded for DirecTV in the U.S. Hunter used to work for Hughes Electronics Corp. of the U.S., DirecTV Japan's top shareholder, and became chairman of the Japanese company in August. In the U.S. satellite-broadcast market, broadcasters mainly offer packages with a mix of movie, sports, news and many other channels. DirecTV has succeeded in signing up more than 4 million subscribers in the U.S., thanks to a strategy that offers packages with a wide variety of channels. DirecTV Japan has offered three types of packages of 30-40 channels, but the number of subscribers remained at 193,000 as of the end of October. So it concluded that packages with an exclusive focus on one entertainment genre will attract more Japanese consumers. In addition to the current packages, the company plans to offer 25 packages of two to 11 channels each, focusing on a genre such as movies, sports, cartoons or news. DirecTV Japan also began offering a digital interactive data-broadcast service, InteracTV, in late October. Subscribers can obtain a range of information, including weather and television listings, with a remote control. The company has incorporated InteracTV in all DirecTV tuners, in cooperation with major home-appliance makers. DirecTV Japan will also sharply raise its number of channels in releasing the new packages. It will carry out a major campaign to attract subscribers at the end of this year and the start of 1999. The company has selected Hidetoshi Nakata, a popular Japanese soccer player who now plays in the Serie A Italian league, for TV ads. DirecTV Japan is expected to spend 3-4 billion yen ($25-33 million) on the ad campaign and for system changes for the new packages. The company, said to have already used up more than half its original operating funds of 66 billion yen, is about to take a big risk, said an executive at rival Japan Digital Broadcasting Services Inc., the operator of Sky PerfecTV. DirecTV Japan in late September in effect dismissed then-President Muneaki Masuda, chairman of Culture Convenience Club Co., a major video-rental company that is its other top shareholder. DirecTV Japan hopes to reconstruct its business structure by unifying the posts of chairman and president under Hunter. The next two months are expected to be a turning point for the company.

To: JEFF K who wrote (37301)	11/17/1998 8:03:00 PM
From: J Fieb	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

I hope they let DIVI do a lot of talking at the conference. C-Cube is working with about 10 software companies to develop the tools for the chip, according to Patrick Henry, C-Cube 's sr. director of marketing. I can think of ULEAD, AVID, Adobe, but that leaves about 7 others.... Anyway tomorrow will bring some good talks..... comdex.com DVD -- Is It Finally Poised to Take Off? - Level 100 Two years ago, DVD was the hottest technology in the consumer market. However, it has taken off slowly and has not even come close to realizing its potential as of now. This session will provide an update on DVD technology and look at DVD ROM and the standard battles for perhaps the most important DVD technology of all -- DVD read/write. It will also look at the current applications or uses of DVD in both business and consumer markets. Wednesday, November 18, 1:00 P.M. - 2:15 P.M. Chair: Marty Levine Editor and Publisher, Digital Technology Report Speaker: Peter Biddle DVD Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation Speaker: Robert Duncan Senior Project Engineer, Product Development Div., Matsushita Electric Corporation of America Speaker: Rob van Eijk Vice President, Strategic Alliances & Business Grp, Mktg. for Optical Storage, Philips Consumer Elec. And this one also........ comdex.com igital TV and Internet TV: An Up-to-Date Perspective - Level 100 Few question the fact that the PC and TV are on a collision course. However, when this will happen and how it will develop is open to question and speculation. Our experts will provide an update on digital television and the current approach that the broadcasters, cable and telecom vendors are taking to meet the current government guidelines and proposed rollout timetable. They will also explore the various digital broadcast standards proposals that Microsoft and Intel and their competitors are pushing to these various industries. Additionally, panelists will look at the role of the Internet in next-generation television environments and give an overview of where Internet and enhanced TV is today and where it is going. Wednesday, November 18, 2:45 P.M. - 4:00 P.M. Chair: Robin Raskin Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, FamilyPC Speaker: Kishore Manghnani Vice President, Marketing, TeraLogic Inc. Speaker: Bert McComas Founder, InQuest Market Research Speaker: Rey Roque Vice President, New Business Development, Princeton Graphics Systems Speaker: Jim Schraith President and CEO, ShareWave, Inc. Speaker: Frans van Houten Senior Vice President, Philips Consumer Electronics