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

To: J Fieb who wrote (37533)	12/1/1998 10:35:00 AM
From: Don Dorsey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

General Instrument and Sony Confirm Strategic Alliance to Jointly Develop Advanced Set-Top Terminal Capabilities for Home Networking GI Will License Sony's Home Networking Software Module and Aperios OS; Sony Will Purchase 7.5 Million Shares of GI ANAHEIM, Calif., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- General Instrument Corporation (NYSE: GIC) and Sony (NYSE: SNE) today announced that definitive agreements have been reached to form a strategic alliance for the integration of Sony's home entertainment network technology with General Instrument's advanced digital set-top terminals and systems. The two companies agreed to collaborate to enable the use of Sony's Home Networking Module middleware and Aperios real-time operating system as a preferred multimedia delivery system using GI's digital cable set-top terminals. Specifically, GI will license Sony's Home Networking Module middleware and Aperios operating system for use in DCT-5000+ advanced digital set-top terminals that GI will offer to cable operators. Additionally, GI will promote Sony's Home Networking Module as a preferred implementation of a home network architecture using the i.LINK (IEEE1394) digital interface. The companies also confirmed that Sony Corporation of America will purchase 7.5 million new shares of GI's common stock at a total price of $187.5 million, pursuant to a joint announcement made earlier this year. The stock purchase is subject to customary closing conditions. "Sony values GI's role as the leading technology and equipment provider for the cable TV industry, and its experience in digital television," said Gary Myer, Co-President of Digital Network Solutions of America, a division of Sony Electronics. "Our strategic alliance will enable additional new service and revenue opportunities for cable operators, while ensuring consumers a smooth transition into the era of digital broadcasting." In May, Sony and GI jointly demonstrated a prototype DCT-5000+ advanced digital set-top terminal equipped with Sony's Aperios real-time operating system and Home Networking Module middleware at the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) Cable '98 convention in Atlanta. The demonstration illustrated a variety of exciting home network applications, such as high-speed Internet access, smooth video telephony, and an integrated user interface that allows for easy inter-control of multiple digital AV electronics appliances. "By marrying the best software technology available for home networking with the extensive capabilities of our DCT-5000+ set-top terminal and associated interactive digital broadband cable delivery system, we are able to quickly extend the power of digital systems for the benefit of both network operators and consumers," said Dave Robinson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Digital Network Systems for General Instrument. "Incorporating Sony's home networking technologies in our products allows us to offer cable operators a simple way to pass high-definition TV signals to their customers, and provides a powerful platform that opens the door to a whole new world of digital-based interactive services." Sony's Home Networking Module is middleware (the software that runs between an operating system and application software) that allows digital electronic devices equipped with the i.LINK (IEEE1394) digital interface to be interconnected and interoperated. The i.LINK interface allows devices to send and receive digital commands and digital AV streams, such as video or audio, at up to 400Mbps (Megabits per second). Aperios is a real-time operating system that Sony developed to support the requirements of digital AV products, such as advanced digital set-top devices. Because it can process continuous streams of audio and video content efficiently and without interruption, Aperios is especially well-suited for real-time applications. By virtue of its modular, object-oriented structure, Aperios is a highly configurable and scalable real-time operating system that can be used in a broad range of digital AV products. GI's DCT-5000+ interactive digital terminal will deliver an unprecedented level of processing and networking capabilities to the home's TV set-top space. The terminal is built around a high-powered 175 MHz RISC processor and high-end 3D and picture-in-graphics capable platform and leverages a built-in DOCSIS-compliant cable modem for high-speed two-way networking capability. The DCT-5000+'s unique triple tuner architecture will enable consumers to simultaneously watch TV and surf the Internet or watch TV and talk on a phone using cable IP telephony functionality.

To: J Fieb who wrote (37533)	12/1/1998 12:37:00 PM
From: DiViT	Respond to of 50808

C-Cube Finds Customers for Avia@TV 11/30/98 Multimedia Week (c) 1998 Phillips Business Information, Inc. C-Cube Microsystems Inc. [CUBE] has landed design wins for the company's second-generation AViA chipset in set-top boxes from Pioneer Digital Technologies Inc. and Pace Micro Technology plc. The chip, dubbed Avia @TV, will be available in volume in January for less than $30 in large quantities. Pace is expected to ship set-tops using the chip in the second quarter of 1999 followed by Pioneer in the latter part of the year. C-Cube will demonstrate the chip at the Western Cable Show this week in Anaheim, Calif., and has samples available. The chip enables two-way networking capabilities-a point C-Cube will play up to prospective customers looking to add Internet connectivity and a built-in upgrade path to their black boxes. The chip's advanced graphics capabilities will allow OEMs to build boxes capable of displaying Web content side-by-side with TV programming. OpenTV Inc., Canal+, PowerTV Inc. and Network Computer Inc. are developing middleware for Avia@TV. (C-Cube, 408/490-8000)