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- TiVo files for IPO and partners with Sony (8SEP99) (CNET)
- TiVo teaming up with Sony (9SEP99) (WIRED)
- TiVo forms broad strategic alliance with Sony (8SEP99) (PRN)
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TiVo boxes available in U.S. nationwide at Best Buy stores (8SEP99) (PRN)
Best Buy senior vice president Phil Schoonover said, "We expect TiVo will be one of the hot gift items this holiday season." - New Fall '99 line-up of U.S. television shows indicate people understand cyber technology (9SEP99) (UPSIDE)
Various new television shows debuting in the new U.S. Fall 1999 line-up of new TV shows, with the shows' various storylines involving some sort of underlying technology, indicate that TV viewers understand the cyber technology that is becoming more commonplace. For instance, Michael Duggn, the creator of the new TV show "Secret Agent Man," says, "People get it. You no longer have to spend time setting it up and explaining it, especially in a fictional world."
This could translate well as to whether everyday people will actually embrace the new interactive TV technology by buying set-top boxes and advanced television sets as well as paying for interactive services to be accessed via television sets. -ruel - Buyers lining up to buy Sega Dreamcast (9SEP99) (ZDNN)
- Sega Dreamcast message to Sony: "We Are No Pushover" (8SEP99) (MSNBC)
- Sony may give headstart to Sega Dreamcast by delaying launch of PlayStation II "Dolphin" game console until Y2000 (8SEP99) (WIRED)
- Sony Playstation II not to debut until March 2000 (13SEP99) (WIRED)
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Domintel to distribute uniView 310 in Spain (9SEP99) (PRN)
The uniView 310 is a powerful convergence entertainment box. It's built like a PC with an Intel Celeron processor and Win98 as the underlying OS. The uniView 310 has a DVD and is ready for video-on-demand. The box is packaged like a simple to understand set-top box for non-PC consumers, but with underlying desktop computer power for the folks who want more computer functions in their entertainment boxes. So, it's more like what I would call a "power PC-TV box." Good for those who need a box with PC-like power and flexibility which is what uniView wants to provide. uniView has been one of the leading set-top end-to-end solution providers for the hospitality and hotel environment where a powerful and flexible box like the uniView 310 may be required. -ruel -
Websurfer internet appliance software to be put into Inter-Con/PC Totebook set-top boxes (9SEP99) (PRN)
- Citrix strategy is that Net PC back is back as thin client for server-based computing (9SEP99) (PCWORLD)
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America Online and TV Guide announce TV content alliance (8SEP99) (PRN)
TV Guide will be the "premier" provider of TV listings content for AOL, CompuServe, AOL.com, and Netscape Netcenter. TV Guide will also provide content for AOL Channels and collaborate with AOL on new websites. AOL senior vice president Jonathan Sacks said, "This new alliance with TV Guide, one of the most recognizable brands when it comes to television, goes hand in hand with [AOL's] strategy." - AOL to carry TV Guide television program listings (8SEP99) (Boston Herald-Bloomberg)
- AOL to carry TV Guide content (8SEP99) (CNET-Bloomberg)
- Strategis Group sees expansion of Pay-TV and cable modem growth in Latin America from 14.2M in Y1999 to 54.5M in Y2008 (8SEP99) (PRN)
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Shaw deploys General Instrument multiple headend control architecture for distribution of digital services and interactive transactions for western Canada (8SEP99) (PRN)
- Liberty Media in deal to buy stake in European cable company (8SEP99) (NY Times)
- Liberty Media, Microsoft, and United Pan-Europe Communications to buy into UnitedGlobalCom (7SEP99) (CNET)
- Sun Ray network box for corporate users could possibly be adapted for AOL (8SEP99) (WIRED)
- Sun Ray appliance makes network do the work (8SEP99) (CNNfn-Newsbytes)
- The State of Television and what's holding up your HDTV (7SEP99) (CNET)
- Bilingual version of WebTV said to connect Cuba to the rest of the world (7SEP99) (WIRED)
- C-Cube announces HDScan codec for all major high-definition compression formats and international broadcast standards (7SEP99) (TechWeb)
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ChannelSpace and Gavelnet.com to bring TV and Internet auctions together for "Treasures For The Home" collectibles (7SEP99) (PRN)
- Microsoft and Intel said to be developing videogame console (6SEP99) (CNET-Bloomberg)
Videogame maker Acclaim's CEO Greg Fischbach said, "If you see Sony and Nintendo [game consoles] as being the future set-top box, then you would see a motivation for Microsoft to do that," i.e., get into game consoles.
If you have been following these webpages here at Ruel.Net, then you already know that game consoles have been and will continue to be significant devices for the interactive TV future. -ruel - Microsoft to make TV "X-Box" 500 MHz set-top videogame console with slimmed down WinCE (3SEP99) (CNET)
- AlphaStar to become TV webcasting portal (6SEP99) (MultiChannel)
MultiChannel reports AlphaStar Television Network, after going bankrupt, transformed itself into AlphaStar Webcasting for streaming of video for television stations, movies, webcams, and other video sources from around the world. The new AlphaStar has signed up 75 television channels, 50 of which are to be part of the AlphaStar portal's launch. MultiChannel quotes AlphaStar owner Mahmoud Wahba as stating, "The minute you're able to put video on the Internet, you've done three things. It suddenly becomes global. It has the ability to become interactive. And you know who your viewer is and what advertisements he watches.... There are things that can be done on the Internet that can't be done with traditional television."
Wahba provides a little more info: "We are the NEW owners. We bought the company after it went bankrupt under another management and different owenership. We decided to take advantage of the enormous assets of the company and stream global TV and video to the internet, especially with the recent advances in multicasting technology."
There are a bunch of folks working on television video portals. And, in addition to what AlphaStar is offering, there are several interesting and exciting solutions out there. They are all positioning themselves for when video-on-demand becomes a highly demanded service by consumers. On the television side, it's all about watching TV. Think TV. -ruel - Ruel's Spotlight Website: AlphaStar's Test Website at MediaCrossing.com (4SEP99)
- CNET's review of new version of Philips WebTV Classic (3SEP99) (CNET)
- Video-On-Demand: IBM Japan's video through net-via-satellite for PC test as good as TV (3SEP99) (Register)
- Info Device: Nokia announces MediaScreen wireless device for watching TV and receiving data and email (3SEP99) (WIRED)
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NUON next-generation DVD to use Spyglass Device Mosaic for interactive DVD (3SEP99) (PRN)
- Microsoft splits up TV operations into Microsoft TV for client-server software and WebTV for consumer set-tops and access (2SEP99) (CNET)
- Interactive versions of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune television shows for WebTV Plus to debut October 1999 (2SEP99) (eLuminate)
- Digital TV turning off British TV watchers (2SEP99) (SV-Reuters)
On a related note, I was talking to some former TV hardware people, who know digital TV, satellites, and the marketplace, and they are of the opinion that people want variety of channels and do not necessarily want super sharp digital TV pictures. Yes, you can have the better digital TV pictures, but there will have to be a trade off as to how to use the increased digital capacity since people really want content (more channels, more information) to watch. Content is what people want. This is one of the issues that the broadcasters and networks have to deal with when deciding which digital TV standard to use.
I personally think that unless digital TV sets are sold at attractive (i.e., cheap) prices, analog TV may not be shut off as scheduled and/or there will be a lot of set-tops with built-in digital converters being sold to a lot of people who will insist on keeping their analog TV sets. -ruel - Net TV convergence is myth since market slow to adapt (31AUG99) (Register)
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SPEEDIA universal info delivery service to support cell phones, pages, PDAs, fax machines, and internet-enabled cable set-top boxes (2SEP99) (PRN)
- Selling WebTV boxes and other telecom products at superstores (1SEP99) (CNET)
- Ruel.Net website reorganization, but all still the same (1SEP99)
Please pardon the delay with the news. I've been doing some reorganizing of the TV-related webpages here at Ruel.Net. The reorg is pretty much done except for some tweaking and updating that needs to be done. The news postings will continue shortly. Thank you for saving http://ruel.net as one of your favorite websites. -ruel -
PowerVR Technology and VideoLogic Systems to operate as divisions of Imagination Technologies fka VideoLogic (31AUG99) (PRN)
- Intertainer toughest challenge is convincing consumers and distributors to buy interactive TV service (30AUG99) (Los Angeles Times)
- Zi announces licensing agreement with Sichuan for set-top boxes in China (30AUG99) (asia.internetnews)
(alternate link)
- Ravisent announces agreement with Teknema and Met@Box to deliver Teknema Internet TV in Europe (30AUG99) (Teknema)
- More Ravisent TV technology news and information (Biz.Yahoo)
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