OK, one last article on the convergance revolution. This was from the New York Times. As posted a few days ago, with all the companies competeing in this new arena, it is my belief that when it comes to sports (Baseball, tennis, golf, maybe even football and others in the future) Questec will be the key content provider that company "A" will want to set it a part from company "B". We are the only company that can deliver real time tracking of the balls in certain sports, Because we have balls, and companies like Lucent don't, we should be in demand.
here's the article: May 12, 1999
America Online Challenges Microsoft's WebTV
By MATT RICHTEL
Only weeks after completing the purchase of Netscape Communications Corp. -- Microsoft Corp.'s archrival in Web browsing software -- America Online Inc. announced Tuesday that it would take on Microsoft in delivering the Internet over television sets.
The new product, to be known as AOL TV, will compete directly with Microsoft's WebTV, which already has about 800,000 users.
AOL TV will be built around four partnerships announced Tuesday, including a deal with Hughes Electronics, to deliver high-speed access to America Online and the Internet via home satellite dishes.
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The deals reinforce a growing rivalry between America Online and Microsoft, which last week announced that it had invested $5 billion in AT&T to prepare for the convergence of telecommunications and computing.
That convergence, which will among other things bring high-speed Internet access into homes over television cable systems, poses a huge threat to America Online and other Internet service providers. America Online, which was built around dial-up modem technology, stands to lose many of its 17 million subscribers if they find speed more alluring than the comfort of America Online's content, design and features.
In addition to deals America Online announced earlier for local phone companies to provide high-speed access to its members, two partnerships announced Tuesday -- with Hughes Network Systems and DirecTV, both subsidiaries of the satellite giant Hughes Electronics -- pave the way for America Online to be packaged with DirecTV, the most widely used home-based satellite television system, with 7 million users.
America Online also announced partnerships with Philips Electronics to create a set-top box for sending and delivering material from the World Wide Web over telephone lines and other cables. The box will be powered by National Semiconductor's GX processor, a computer on a single chip -- a major break for National, which last week announced that it was abandoning its financially disastrous Cyrix line of processors, which compete with Intel Corp.'s Pentium line.
In yet another snub of Microsoft, America Online announced that it was working with Network Computer Inc., a subsidiary of Oracle Corp., to develop an operating system for AOL TV.
Network Computer already builds set-top box operating systems in Europe and Asia to compete against WebTV. Its alignment with America Online will "add momentum to a competitor to Microsoft," said Van Baker, director of consumer market research for Dataquest. "This clearly reinforces the rivalry between AOL and Microsoft," he added.
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Answering a threat posed by high-speed Internet access.
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Microsoft purchased WebTV in August 1997 for $425 million. It offers two pricing options, a standard service for $24.95 a month and a slimmed-down version for $19.95.
Tuesday's announcement helped boost the entire technology sector, and all participants in the deal enjoyed gains. America Online jumped 13 1/8 to close at 141 7/16, a gain of more than 10 percent. Hughes Electronics, a division of General Motors, rose 2 to close at 60 5/8, while National Semiconductor closed at 20 3/16, up 9/16. Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV gained 1 3/16 to close at 90 5/8.
Microsoft rose 3/16 to 79 7/8.
Baker said the success of AOL TV would depend on what type of content the company planned to deliver over television sets. He said WebTV had learned that consumers were not very enthusiastic about general surfing of the Web. As a result, the company now emphasize content that enhances the television experience, such as highlighting Web pages associated with a given TV program.
Along those lines, Barry Schuler, president of America Online's interactive services group, said his company did not plan simply to stream the service's existing content onto television, but to create "an entirely different service" that would emphasize combining television and the Internet. For example, users could chat with other viewers of the same program or could visit Web sites associated with a program or could shop for, say, an album while watching MTV.
Schuler said the company planned to have a service available sometime next year but had not yet made a decision on pricing.
He said America Online planned to make more announcements in the coming weeks regarding other providers of set-top boxes and partners who would provide technologies to deliver America Online over handheld devices, pagers and cellular telephones.
Schuler said AOL TV would be marketed primarily to the company's existing subscribers. He said members use the service 55 minutes a day on average and were likely to be interested in porting the experience to the TV.
"The computer will continue to be the anchor that people use to get started," he said of the Internet experience, "but as they are incorporating it into their lives more and more, they will use other devices in the household."
As to whether America Online and Microsoft will end up competing or cooperating in the set-top box space, Schuler said he was "anxiously awaiting" word about whether Microsoft would be interested in providing AOL TV over WebTV or through the 5 million set-top boxes it will be producing for AT&T.
William Keating, general manager of the platform division for WebTV, said: "I don't have a position on that. It's a complicated question. I'm sure if we entered into discussions, we'd be happy to talk with them."
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