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

To: John Rieman who wrote (39927)	4/17/1999 2:23:00 PM
From: JEFF K	Respond to of 50808

From Skyreport.com--I hope Cube is involved in this. EchoStar, WebTV make Push At NAB A demonstration of the EchoStar Model 7100 system, the much-talked about integrated satellite TV/Interactive receiver, will be conducted next week by EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen and WebTV Networks President and founder Steve Perlman. The event takes place at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas on Monday between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. The new name and logo of the Model 7100 will be released during the presentation. Features coming soon that will make it easy for consumers to receive more than 300 channels of digital television and surf the Internet without leaving their chair also will be unveiled by EchoStar.

To: John Rieman who wrote (39927)	4/18/1999 9:10:00 AM
From: JEFF K	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

More Echostar...................................... Sounds like more opportunities EchoStar Says It Will Join With Telephone or Internet Company Littleton, Colorado, April 17 (Bloomberg) -- EchoStar Communications Corp., the No. 3 U.S. satellite-television provider, will ''partner'' with a telephone and/or Internet company soon, the Rocky Mountain News reported, citing Chief Executive Charlie Ergen, speaking at the company's annual shareholder meeting yesterday. Likely partners include any of the Baby Bells, long-distance providers or Internet companies, said Ergen, who didn't elaborate on when or whom, or what type of ventures or alliances EchoStar might form. ''They're all going to need a video product'' to compete with the new AT&T Corp., Ergen said, the Denver newspaper reported. Last month, AT&T completed its $59.4 billion purchase of Tele-Communications Inc., making it the second-largest cable-TV company, with 10.5 million customers. (RMN 4/17 www.denver-rmn.com) Apr/17/1999 16:03

To: John Rieman who wrote (39927)	4/18/1999 8:28:00 PM
From: Maya	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

NAB news: (OT: Expect some volatility tomorrow; CPQ CEO/CFOs resign) Broadcasters seeking answers for digital transition By Aaron Pressman LAS VEGAS, April 18 (Reuters) - Radio and television broadcasters are looking for answers as digital technologies sweep through their industry, opening new opportunities for revenue and programming but also putting at risk some of their existing businesses. More than 100,000 broadcasters have gathered here for their annual meeting with a focus on finding strategies and products to profit from the digital wave without veering into untested money-losing ventures or being overtaken by Internet and cable-based programming. For the television industry, the conversion of analog broadcast signals to digital signals means the same amount of airwaves can carry a lot more information. By going digital, each current channel can carry as many as six ordinary shows or a single high-definition program with theater-quality pictures and CD-quality sound. Or, part of a channel can be devoted to carrying Internet traffic or pay-per-view shows. At the current early stage, only 57 television stations nationwide are airing any digital broadcasts at all and most of those show only a few hours a week. Viewing the digital shows requires a special television set that costs about $7,000 or converter boxes that are not widely available yet. By the end of the year, 100 or more stations should be live with digital programming, notes Chuck Sherman of the National Association of Broadcasters. And prices for digital sets are falling and should be under $3,000 in late 1999. ''We've really accomplished a great deal,'' Sherman said. Aside from the equipment costs, a dearth of programming is also deterring consumers. ''There are not enough programs and we all would like to see more,'' Sherman said. CBS Corp. (CBS - news) has shown football games in high- definition and Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS - news) ABC has offered a few shows digitally as well. Later this year, General Electric Co.'s (GE - news) NBC is expected to start broadcasting the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in digital. News Corp.'s Fox network is leaning more towards sending multiple standard quality shows in digital instead of using high-definition. ''The dearth of programming is a real problem,'' said Susan Ness, a member of the Federal Communications Commission who has been actively involved in digital television issues. Ness recommended that broadcasters create special programs to showcase the benefits of high-definition just as the Bonanza show in the 1960s spurred the popularity of color television. ''We've seen a revolution of epic proportions in the growth of digital in the Internet,'' Ness said. ''The same can be true of digital television.'' Many of the high-tech companies profiting from the growth of the Internet and digital computers are in Las Vegas this week, hoping to help broadcasters make the transition. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT - news), Hewlett Packard (HWP - news) and Sun Microsystems (SUNW - news) are present to hawk their latest digital television-compatible wares. And executives from Internet broadcasting pioneers like Broadcast.com and RealNetworks Inc. (RNWK - news) are prominently featured offering their advice. According to a recent survey of 300 television stations, that advice could be useful as very few TV stations are using the Web to distribute live video and audio or offer much interactive content at all. After reviewing Web sites of the 300 stations, University of Florida professor Sylvia Chad-Olmsted found just 1.3 percent were Webcasting entertainment programming and 7.3 percent were sending news shows, although half the news was audio only. About 10 percent were allowing visitors to interact with the Web sites and 14 percent were collecting demographic data about Web visitors. The focus on news Webcasting ''is a good beginning for establishing Web credibility but they need to go forward,'' Chad-Olmsted said. More interactive and lively content will lead to greater opportunities for advertising, electronic commerce and other unrealized revenues, she said. biz.yahoo.com

To: John Rieman who wrote (39927)	4/19/1999 9:12:00 AM
From: Maya	Respond to of 50808

C-Cube Silicon Powers NewestGeneration of HD Encoders; DiviCom, General Instrument and NDS SelectC-Cube April 19, 1999 08:25 AM LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 1999--C-Cube Microsystems CUBE today announced that DiviCom CUBE , General Instrument Corporation GIC and NDS have selected C-Cube encoding silicon for the next generation of high definition (HD) encoder systems. These encoder systems allow broadcasters, satellite, and cable operators the ability to meet government and market requirements for full commercial deployment of HD digital television programming. The dramatic increase in complexity of the high definition video signals versus standard definition presents unique challenges to system designers. The ability to fit this data into a limited bandwidth and preserve the quality of the signal requires development of specialized processing techniques and an order of magnitude increase in computing horsepower. By leveraging C-Cube's expertise in open digital video silicon solutions, these three companies are able to deliver fully functional HD encoding systems -- readying broadcast stations for the industry's FCC mandated transition from analog to digital. C-Cube's contribution to the DiviCom, GI and NDS products is the market-leading DVxpert(TM) silicon and certain intellectual property under the company's patented PerfectView(TM) algorithm. The DVxpert architecture is flexible and scalable allowing these customers to support the industry's predominant formats for HD transmission, 480P, 720P and 1080I as well as standard definition encoder systems. Importantly, the architecture is also software extensible, allowing them to enhance performance through simple software upgrades via the PerfectView IP rather than make expensive and time consuming hardware changes. About the DVxpert Broadcast Encoder DVxpert is a single-chip multi-format encoder that supports High Level @ Main Profile, Main Level @ Main Profile, Main Level @ 4:2:2 Profile and Main Level @ Simple Profile. DVxpert is scalable to support HDTV formats including 1080I, 720P and 480P. The codec offers special features designed to optimize multi-channel broadcast applications including Statistical Multiplexing and External Reference Rate Control. C-Cube's patented PerfectView algorithm allows broadcast equipment suppliers to achieve the industry's highest compression ratio and image quality, while reducing deployment costs. The algorithm addresses multi-layer motion estimation, error masking, inverse telecine and optimal bit allocation. About DiviCom, Inc. DiviCom, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of C-Cube Microsystems Inc. The company is a leading provider of open solutions for digital television. Products include audio/video encoding, data broadcast solutions, network management systems, consulting and integration services. Based on the MPEG-2, DVB and ATSC international standards, DiviCom products enable digital video broadcasting over a variety of networks including satellite, wireless, fiber and cable. Website: www.divi.com. About General Instrument Corporation General Instrument Corporation GIC is a leading worldwide provider of integrated and interactive broadband access solutions, teaming with its business partners to lead the convergence of the Internet, telecommunications and video entertainment industries. Website: www.gi.com. About NDS NDS, headquartered in the UK, with operations worldwide, provides end-to-end solutions for digital broadcasting through the company's research, development and manufacturing activities. NDS is a recognized leader in digital video compression and conditional access, and has proven systems integration and global support capabilities. Website: www.ndsworld.com. About C-Cube Microsystems C-Cube Microsystems Inc. is the industry leader in the development and delivery of highly integrated digital video silicon solutions that address the communications and consumer markets. C-Cube is headquartered in Milpitas, Ca., with offices in North America, Europe and Asia. Its stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol CUBE. Website: www.c-cube.com. DVxpert is a trademark of C-Cube Microsystems Inc. C-Cube and the C-Cube logo are both registered trademarks of C-Cube Microsystems Inc.

To: John Rieman who wrote (39927)	4/19/1999 12:37:00 PM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

In other related NAB news... NAB '99: DIRECTV Selects HP MediaStream Servers for Castle Rock Broadcast Facility 04/19/1999 Business Wire (Copyright (c) 1999, Business Wire) LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 1999-- NAB99 Multimillion-dollar Contract Based on Reliability and Expandability of HP MediaStream Server 1600 Hewlett-Packard Company, the pioneer in MPEG compression technology for broadcast servers, today announces it has signed a multimillion-dollar contract with DIRECTV Inc., a leading provider of digital television entertainment and information programming. Under terms of the agreement, HP will provide on-air digital storage and playback video-server systems for DIRECTV's uplink facility in Castle Rock, Colo. The announcement was made here at the 1999 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference. HP will provide 12 MediaStream server 1600 units to perform content-receipt, storage and playback functions for DIRECTV's Castle Rock Broadcast Center, which is where the bulk of DIRECTV's programming originates. Programming handled by HP's MediaStream server 1600 will include short-form promotional spots, interstitials and long-form sporting events. DIRECTV chose HP's MediaStream server 1600 for its reliability and expandability and because it integrates easily with DIRECTV's existing software system. In addition, HP's on-air digital broadcast solution was the server of choice for DIRECTV's Los Angeles Broadcast Center, which is due to go online later this year. "DIRECTV's Castle Rock Broadcast Center has been lauded by the industry for more than five years because we have utilized the latest and most innovative broadcast technology available," said Don Jones, vice president and general manager of DIRECTV's Castle Rock Broadcast Center. "By upgrading our facility with HP's leading-edge digital broadcast solutions, we will not only realize significant cost and operational efficiencies, we will also be able to offer additional products and services to our customers." The HP servers will replace Castle Rock's existing tape machines and provide additional storage capacity and backup protection for the entire DIRECTV network. When the installation is complete, DIRECTV will benefit from the MediaStream server 1600 features, including guaranteed file content delivery, and enhanced chroma resolution and image quality made possible by HP's field-proven MPEG 4:2:2 compression technology. "DIRECTV and HP have maintained the highest performance and quality standards in the industry," said Greg Hoberg, general manager for HP's Video Communications Division. "By utilizing HP's MediaStream family systemwide, DIRECTV will be able to cost-effectively maintain the same high levels of broadcast and service quality, while increasing its digital program offerings to customers." Each of the HP servers will be connected via HP's advanced fiber-channel networking, which is capable of delivering file-transfer rates of up to 45 times faster than "real time" (the play length of a video clip). HP's open-systems design and use of standard APIs also allow for seamless integration with other tape- and disk-based systems. Information about HP's broadcast solutions can be obtained on the World Wide Web via hp.com. About DIRECTV DIRECTV is a registered trademark of DIRECTV, Inc., a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation. The earnings of Hughes Electronics are used to calculate the earnings per share attributable to GMH (NYSE symbol) common stock. Visit DIRECTV on the World Wide Web as www.directv.com. About HP Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services for business and home -- is focused on capitalizing on the opportunities of the Internet and the proliferation of electronic services. HP had computer-related revenue of $39.5 billion in its 1998 fiscal year. HP plans to launch a new and independent measurement company consisting of its industry-leading test-and-measurement, components, chemical-analysis and medical businesses. These businesses represented $7.6 billion of HP's total revenue in fiscal 1998. With leading positions in multiple market segments, this technology-based company will focus on high-growth opportunities such as communications and life sciences. HP has 122,800 employees worldwide and had total revenue of $47.1 billion in its 1998 fiscal year. Information about HP, its products and the company's Year 2000 program can be found on the World Wide Web at hp.com. Contact: CONTACT: HP Mary Luciano, 408/553-3835 mary_luciano@hp.com or Golin/Harris International for HP Gary Brotman, 213/623-4200 ext. 728 gbrotman@golinharris.com 11:21 EDT APRIL 19, 1999