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To: DiViT who wrote (38141)	1/10/1999 4:45:00 PM
From: JEFF K	Respond to of 50808

How do you plug in that digital revolution anyway By Sarah Tippit LAS VEGAS, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Sure the digital revolution will let you find your lost dog, keep an eye on the baby, cook dinner and watch television while driving home from work, but nobody really seems to know how to wire it all together. Heavyweights such as Sony Corp., Microsoft Corp., and Cisco Systems Inc. all unveiled different visions of home networking systems at the massive Consumer Electronics Show here, but it was clear there are still some big logistical problems. "What we're seeing are announcements about future capabilities, but there's a lot of hype and not a whole lot of hardware to do it," said John Armstrong, an analyst with Dataquest, a unit of Gartner Group <IT.N>. "There is a lot of infrastructure that needs to be developed." For instance, whether home appliances will link together through a single wire, an electrical cord or wireless technology hasn't yet been worked out. Still others argue that it doesn't matter which one method of connection wins, just so long as those different ways all use the same underlying technology standards in compressing and transmitting the data. It's also far from clear whether the home of the future will send and receive data to the outside world through a phone, cable television or Internet company -- or some sort of hybrid of several services, Armstrong said, or even via satellites. "The (Internet) service providers, the new AT&T and other new cable companies and telephone companies and Internet service providers -- imagine what they're thinking?," said Michael Cristinziano, an analyst with Gerard Klauer Mattison. "If I'm going to access the home through cable modems then where does leave companies like America Online?" In fact, what were once separate industries are increasingly melting into one another, said Jeff Joseph, a spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association. For one, imagine the chief executive of a computer networking company like Cisco giving a keynote address at the same trade show 10 years ago, when toaster ovens, Walkmans and the first big-screen TVs were king. "It used to be that all you'd see at one of our shows were consumer electronics companies. This year all the major chip manufacturers are here," Joseph said. "The lines between information technology and consumer products are truly falling away." On Friday, Cisco's Chief Executive John Chambers unveiled a special modem that will be available this spring for sending voice and data over cable TV networks and a plan to share more technology with makers of electronic equipment. Canadian Nortel Networks and 3Com Corp. already sell such gizmos. Cisco -- the largest maker of gear that links computers in networks -- already has technology-sharing agreements with cable-modem makers such as Sony and Samsung Electronics, as well as General Instrument Corp., a maker of set-top boxes that link televisions to the Internet. The idea is that the new modem and technology-sharing partnerships will culminate in a complex home network that Cisco envisions would include everything from simple one-touch recording of favorite TV shows to violins in the family room that play by themselves for those romantic evenings at home. "I want to put my Eggo (waffles) in the toaster remotely from the shower," said Roger Smullen Jr., a 30-year-old engineer who works for a small semiconductor company in Silicon Valley. "The whole world's interconnected, so my home should be, too. What's your next point?" Simplicity will be key, Chambers said, to avoid a situation that is "too complex, difficult and expensive for consumers and that's why partnership is important." In its announcement on Thursday of a similar "Universal Plug and Play" home networking concept, Microsoft echoed the need for all those gadgets to work together. "As appliances become more intelligent and the distinction between appliances and computing devices blurs, a key part of their value to consumers will come from their ability to communicate with other intelligent devices," said Craig Mundie, Microsoft's senior vice president consumer strategy. Sun Microsystems Inc., one of the largest sellers of powerful computer servers to Internet service providers, also has plans on the table for such connections: an initiative called Jini, special software that can link myriad devices together and make them talk, regardless of the underlying "language" they speak. Likewise, in a keynote speech Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer noted, "Consumer electronics companies, retailers and others involved in the digital transformation must reach an unprecedented level of cooperation, because without such cooperation across companies and industries, we will never achieve the ease of use for consumers that is fundamental to success in the first place." In other words, if these formerly disparate companies can't all get along, don't expect to be watering your garden on the drive home anytime soon. 11:36 01-10-99 Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

To: DiViT who wrote (38141)	1/10/1999 5:40:00 PM
From: Stoctrash	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Significant...!! IF they don't take 2 years to sort it out and fight over who gets what. Since they just did this with the DVD standard, maybe they all learned something and it might get done quick!! That would be coold if they did...

To: DiViT who wrote (38141)	1/11/1999 11:38:00 AM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

Mediamatics Announces First DVD-On-A-Chip Solution for Consumer DVD Players; Pantera-DVD's Integration Enables No Compromise, High-Quality DVD Playback At New Consumer Price Points newsalert.com FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 11, 1999--Further establishing its leadership position in the rapidly expanding DVD industry, Mediamatics(R), a National Semiconductor(R) (NYSE:NSM) company, today announced Pantera-DVD(TM), the first fully integrated DVD-On-A-Chip(TM) solution for consumer DVD players. Pantera-DVD integrates all the back-end functions of a typical DVD player, including host processing, into a single chip. Mediamatics also announced the availability of a full manufacturing kit with complete system software, enabling manufacturers to drastically shorten the time-to-volume for their Pantera-DVD-based players. Pantera-DVD is a prime example of National's commitment to bring higher levels of integration to the marketplace with systems-on-a-chip technology. Utilizing its hardware and software design expertise, Mediamatics has integrated all the hardware and software needed to control a DVD player's back-end functions into a single chip, creating a unique total system solution that delivers the high-quality level of playback demanded by the most discriminating consumers. Because Pantera-DVD's hardware and software were designed in parallel, Mediamatics has achieved a well-balanced unified memory system architecture. This architecture ensures complete compatibility among system components, providing manufacturers of DVD players with improved performance, significant cost savings and greater flexibility. According to analyst Richard Doherty, founder of industry research firm the Envisioneering Group, "Pantera is the first single-chip OEM DVD solution to deliver snappy, DVD trick play while maintaining the video and audio quality normally associated with more complex and costly multichip designs." Mediamatics Announces DVD-On-A-Chip(TM) Solution 4 Mediamatics has been working closely with a number of leading consumer electronics companies in Japan, Southeast Asia, South America and Europe which will announce their Pantera-DVD-based players in the upcoming months. The first consumer DVD players designed using Pantera-DVD are scheduled to hit store shelves by March of this year. A truly worldwide solution, Pantera-DVD is compatible with all six DVD regions and both the PAL and NTSC viewing standards. This allows manufacturers to design DVD players for several different global markets with only minimal changes to the system's design. Pantera-DVD is fully compatible with all DVD specifications, CDDA, Video CD and China's emerging SuperVCD format, and it also supports a variety of audio standards including Dolby Digital AC3 and DTS. The Pantera-DVD Solution Typical DVD players require numerous discrete components to perform back-end decoding functions, such as data stream processing, CSS decoding, MPEG video decoding and NTSC and PAL encoding, as well as one or more CPUs to control all of these functions and applications. Pantera-DVD integrates these various components into a single chip, eliminating the need for an external host CPU, which translates into lower total system costs and higher reliability for manufacturers. This cost-effective solution enables OEMs to deliver a high-quality product to the consumer market while reducing their bill-of-materials in the process. "Through integration, we've developed a design that really benefits manufacturers of DVD players, as well as the end customer, by delivering a no compromise DVD playback solution," said Pier Del Frate, vice president of marketing at Mediamatics. "Our Pantera solution enables OEMs to produce systems whose audio and video quality rivals that of $700 DVD players; yet they'll be able to meet the market demand for sub-$300 solutions. Our technology enables manufacturers to grow DVD penetration into the home market." Pantera-DVD blends software flexibility and hardwired performance with Mediamatics' proprietary 32-bit RISC processor, Audio RISC-DSP, MPEG specific hardware, 10-bit Video DACs, graphics and NTSC/PAL encoder. The 32-bit RISC processor is the heart of Pantera-DVD, providing a baseline operating system for the entire DVD player, as well as setup for each of the DVD functions. The incoming MPEG program stream is processed by a flexible hardware/software combination where the on-chip Demux engine parses and processes the data and prompts the RISC to properly set up the audio, video and graphics decoders. The embedded RISC processor performs global control and housekeeping functions for the chip, and is also a platform for associated DVD applications like navigation and on-screen display. In addition, the RISC processor has headroom for the addition of future convergence applications, such as Internet browsing. Mediamatics' Complete System Solutions Mediamatics' total commitment to the DVD industry allows the company to provide OEMs with complete system solutions that contain all the essential hardware and software needed to build a working DVD player. For those manufacturers who wish to reduce risk and deliver a product to market quickly, Mediamatics offers a complete manufacturing kit that includes all the hardware, software, manufacturing documentation, casing, board schematics and Gerber files needed to produce a ready-to-manufacture DVD player for the consumer market. OEMs can also use the manufacturing kit to alter the basic DVD player design by adding enhanced features and options to their products. The manufacturing kit contains all the system software components needed to run a consumer DVD Player. These components include a Real Time Operating System, DVD Navigator, drivers for various modules, as well the DVD Application with user interface. A Software Developer's Kit is also provided for OEMs who seek to customize and differentiate their solutions. Availability Both Pantera-DVD and the full manufacturing kit are currently available for production. Mediamatics Mediamatics, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Semiconductor Corporation, delivers consumer quality digital video and audio hardware/software solutions for the consumer, PC and convergence markets. Mediamatics' software and system expertise is integrated into the emerging home entertainment market comprising of entertainment PCs and DVD players. Its software products are licensed by Microsoft and major PC OEM manufacturers, making Mediamatics the world's largest supplier of MPEG products. Visit Mediamatics on the World Wide Web at: mediamatics.com. National Semiconductor Corporation National Semiconductor provides system-on-a-chip solutions for the information age. Combining real-world analog and state-of the-art digital technology, the company's chips lead many sectors of the personal computer, communications, and consumer markets. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, National has annual sales of approximately $2.5 billion and 11,500 employees worldwide. Additional company and product information is available on the World Wide Web at national.com. Mediamatics is a registered trademark and Pantera-DVD and DVD-On-A-Chip are trademarks of Mediamatics Corporation, a subsidiary of National Semiconductor Corporation. All trade names referenced are the service mark, trademark or registered trademark or trade name of their respective companies. CONTACT: The Hoffman Agency Paul Barbieri, (408) 286-2611 pbarbieri@hoffman.com