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Technology Stocks : WavePhore (WAVO)- VBI fed WaveTop for WebTV -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SMALL FRY who wrote (2014)	12/1/1998 6:51:00 PM
From: ilh1	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2843

6pm EST: FOCUS-Wavephore offers Internet TV shopping service By Sarah Tippit LOS ANGELES, Dec 1 (Reuters) - WavePhore Inc (Nasdaq:WAVO - news)., developer of an Internet broadcast system delivered to personal computers via television frequencies, on Tuesday unveiled a new online shopping mall, an announcement that nearly doubled its stock price. The stock gained $7.50 to $15.25 in very heavy trading after the company announced plans to offer a new Internet-based and graphics-rich shopping mall delivered over its WaveTop broadcast mervice that, in effect, turns the Internet into a broadcasting medium similar to TV. The stock was the most actively traded on Nasdaq, with more than 32 million shares traded. WavePhore said it had signed up nine merchants initially to sell merchandise and services on its new electronic commerce system, including Godiva Chocolatier, the Wall Street Journal, Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE:BKS - news), Audio Book Club (AMEX:KLB - news) and CompUSA (NYSE:CPU - news). Others are likely to follow, analysts said, including electronics merchants, greeting card companies and clothing retailers. ''I would have to assume their business model is revenue sharing and with that you can always get merchants to sign on,'' said Lauren Freedman, an Internet commerce consultant with the e-tailing Group in Chicago. WaveTop is an Internet-based service transmitted on an unused portion of the television signal that carries the Public Broadcasting System's TV network nationwide to computers equipped with TV tuners. The system is available to all U.S. households with PCs but in some cases requires the purchase of special equipment costing about $70. It offers a range of news and entertainment programming and, with the introduction of the mall, a variety of shopping choices. The WavePhore technology seems a temporary technology intended as a bridge between television, which is not interactive, and the Internet, which is, analysts say. It will probably evolve into something more sophisticated, but companies involved in the present will be well positioned when various technologies converge in the 21st century, analysts said. WavePhore ''has been very acquisition-oriented in terms of broadening the distribution of their technologies,'' said Joel Krasner of First Albany Corp. ''For example now WaveTop service is available through personal computers but I think ultimately it will be available through TV tabletop boxes as well as portable devices and other ways as well.'' For companies involved, e-tailing, the new term coined for online retailing, makes up a very small percentage of total revenue, analysts said. Still, its popularity is growing rapidly as people become more comfortable with the Internet. ''The potential size of the e-commerce market is expected in the billions and (will) only grow over the next several years,'' Krasner said. ''It's small today relatively speaking to what's spent in retail stores but it seems the wave of the future.'' Whether the mall will be profitable for WavePhore remains to be seen, he said. ''It will take some time but the way in which WavePhore will benefit is by sharing revenue generated in transactions.''