-----------------------------------------------------------
The WAVE Report published a short description about CD Radio and its new facility in New York in Wave #907. Here are additional details.
Under the designation of digital audio radio service (DARS) the FCC auctioned spectrum for radio programming via satellite direct to consumers. From April 1 through 2, 1997, the Commission conducted an auction for two SDARS authorizations of 12.5 MHz of spectrum located in the S-band at 2320-2345 MHz. CD Radio submitted a winning bid in the amount of $83,346,000.00 for the 2320-2332.5 MHz portion of the frequency band and American Mobile Radio Corporation submitted a winning bid in the amount of $89,888,888.00, for the 2332.5-2345 MHz portion of the band.
This is a line-of-site system. Given the frequency it will not be impacted by foliage but it will be cut off in tunnels and overpasses.
CD Radio is building 4 satellites of which three will be launched. Launches are scheduled for November 1999, December 1999, and January 2000. Loral will be CD Radio's launch service provider, delivering three Loral FS-1300 satellites in-orbit on a turnkey basis along with one ground spare. Service is expected to begin first quarter of the year 2000. The company has raised $600 million to fund the project and is listed on the NASDQ.
The service has two objectives:--provide music channels on a commercial-free basis, no interruption from commercials; and provide seamless service, where once can drive from coast to coast and always have service.
The company compares their service with the present cable service, which brings additional value and convenience to television by offering a diversity of channels. They see an advantage by providing more radio choices, with a clearer signal, and no commercial time. CD Radio has obtained a license to operate the equivalent of 100 radio stations in every market in the United States.
Arbitron reports that 87% of commuters listen to the radio as they drive. As a result the company will not compete with tapes and CD companies for listeners. Their primary market will be operators of approximately 200 million cars/trucks.
CD Radio expects to compete with traditional radio broadcasts by offering a variety of additional services that will broaden the radio format. They will offer a large selection of finely focused formats and quality. CD Radio will be digital quality stereo audio. The WAVE Report asked CD Radio about the format of the audio service and they would not disclose it.
Music channels will be commercial-free. It is expected that the other 50 channels of non-music formats will have limited commercials. The expected distribution of channels includes the following:
1. Symphonic
2. Chamber Music
3. Opera
4. Top of the Charts
5. '50s Hits
6. '60s Hits
7. '70s Hits
8. '80s Hits
9. '90s Hits
10. Soft Rock
11. Love Songs
12. Singers & Songs
13. Beautiful Instrumentals
14. Broadway's Best
15. Big Band/Swing
16. Classic Jazz
17. Contemporary Jazz
18. NAC Jazz
19. New Age
20. Soul Ballads
21. Contemporary R&B
22. Classic Soul Hits
23. R&B Oldies
24. Rap/Hip Hop
25. Dance
26. Tropical
27. Latin Jazz
28. Boleros
29. Latin Contemporary
30. Merengue
31. Cumbia
32. Mexicana
33. Tex-Mex
34. Rock en Espaņol
35. Country Hits
36. Modern Country
37. Classic Country
38. Folk Rock
39. Alternative Rock I
40. Alternative Rock II
41. Classic Rock I
42. Classic Rock II
43. Album Rock
44. Hard Rock/Metal
45. Blues
46. Reggae
47. World Beat
48. Gospel
49. Contemporary Christian
50. Children's Entertainment
51. - 60. News
61. - 70 Sports
71. - 80 Entertainment
81. - 90 Hispanic
91. - 100 SpecialtyCD Radio has also announced it has hired MediaAmerica, to sell national advertising time on CD Radio's 50 non-music channels.
Consumers will purchase an adapter kit which interfaces to a conventional car radio. The satellite antenna is 2 inches in diameter, wireless and mounts on the back windshield of the car. The interface to the car radio is accomplished either with a plug-in device which looks like a tape cassette or a device inserted into the CD player.
Lucent Technologies will develop and supply communications chips to CD Radio. There are two types of chips: a digital signal processor (DSP) and a radio-frequency chip. Lucent's DSPs will be used in a card that consumers can insert into the cassette slot.
The kit will cost $199, there is a $13 activation fee and the service will cost $9.95 per month.
CD Radio estimates that about one-half of one percent of the addressable market, which represents 1 million subscribers, is the point that they will achieve EBITDA break-even. Profits are expected when they approach a million and a half to 2 million. This means getting close to 1% of the addressable market of 200 million.
The company moved from Washington, DC to Manhattan and in the process cut a good deal. The staff and studios are at 1221 Avenue of the Americas, at 48th Street, where it has 100,000 square feet of space. The move was announced by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. The staff during the summer of 1998 was 13 when it moved from Washington and it plans to add 30 more employees in Manhattan by the end of the year.
The company will spend $25 million to build its studios. It is to receive $939,000 in tax breaks from the city and state if it expands to 43 employees, and if the plan is carried out this would be by the end of 1998. It is projected that in 15 years the employment will reach 400 and when that happens the company will get more than $1 million in additional tax breaks.
***Microsoft and OnRadio to Support Streaming Media for Radio Stations (November 10)
Microsoft and OnRadio announced an agreement where Microsoft will provide the Windows Media Technologies platform to OnRadio's network of more than 550 radio stations nationwide. Rather than providing stations with a simplistic streaming radio toolkit, Microsoft and OnRadio are providing a complete end-to-end business solution. This includes the Microsoft Windows Media Technologies streaming media platform; OnRadio's online content, integration and hosting services; and ongoing maintenance and support. For example, all stations in the OnRadio network will have access to dynamic online content from leading magazines Blaze, Spin and Vibe, as well as from Sony Music's SW Networks, including artist interviews, new music cuts and music industry news.
The number of radio stations with Web sites has increased in recent months, and today OnRadio has over 550 stations in its network. Microsoft and OnRadio expect this relationship will double the number of radio stations with online presence by the end of 1999. The companies also expect that at least 350 of OnRadio's stations will begin streaming by June 1999.
OnRadio, formerly known as ElectricVillage, is a media network that supports bringing the radio industry to the Internet.
***Data Mining & Decision Support Software From Mindmaker Runs on PC (November 10)
Mindmaker, Inc., formerly known as Associative Cognition, announced a software package that lets one visually analyze the contents of a database and extract the knowledge hidden behind the raw data with mouse operations.
The data mining & decision support solution consists of 2.0 versions of DataScope and DecArt. They were developed by Cygron, Ltd. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mindmaker. These software products give high-level data mining & decision support capabilities without extensive training. Operational, financial, customer, product, scientific and other databases can be probed. With DataScope, data can be simultaneously analyzed from different points of view, thus making discovering new facts easier. The software graphically displays the contents of a database and provides tools to explore the relations between records. DataScope transforms the number-oriented contents of databases into analog diagrams. DataScope also uses special visualization techniques which allow the examination of global statistical information, as well as individual records, on the same screen without switching modes. DataScope is the only data mining software that allows one to build a query graphically without a query language. One uses a mouse to build the query. DataScope also imports and analyzes any ODBC compliant data from all popular databases such as dBase, Foxpro, Excel, MS Access and Paradox. Special cut and paste support is included for Microsoft Excel.DecArt, also developed by Cygron, is an add-on component for DataScope.
While DataScope is used to understand and evaluate the patterns and trends that are present in the data, DecArt is an active decision support tool, that presents ranked decision alternatives, taking into account user preferences. DecArt also helps the user understand the reasons behind the ranking, and to selectively adjust the weights that determine the ranking.
The DataScope 2.0 and DecArt 2.0 will ship in January 1999, through the OEM and retail channels. Suggested retail price for DataScope is $99.95. DataScope Pro, which also includes DecArt is $129.95. DecArt as a separate upgrade is priced at $49.95.
***Philips and SkyStream Work Create Open Broadcast Network (November 10)
SkyStream and Philips Digital Video Systems Company announced a working relationship for the integration of SkyStream products into the Philips family of broadcast systems. This will enable the ability to create a fully interoperable DVB and ATSC solution. The new relationship is intended to further the creation of open standards and interoperability in the broadcast environment.
SkyStream's Integrator family, which has been successfully tested and integrated with Philips' family of MPEG 2 encoders, TokenMuxTM multiplexers, CryptoWorksTM conditional access systems, and CleverCastTM DVB PCI receiver cards, will allow broadcasters to leverage both companies' expertise in building content secure video and data broadcast products. Included in the SkyStream products is the company's patent-pending Null Packet Optimization (NPO) software, which allows broadcasters to inject Internet and other high speed IP data into the null packets of an MPEG stream. Broadcasters can reclaim this bandwidth to set up new revenue-generating services such as web caching, high-speed file transferring and corporate data broadcasting.
SkyStream Corporation is a data and video broadcast networking company based in Mountain View, California. The Company's line of Integrator products blend digital video, Internet or IP data, and conditional access information into a single, industry-compliant digital broadcast stream. Through a combination of patented application technologies with open, industry-standard platforms, SkyStream delivers open broadcast networking solutions with scalability, flexibility, reliability and price/performance.
***Travelers Carry Big Bags
(November 10)
According to market research firm INTECO Corporation, 58 percent of Americans who travel on the job haul along a cellular phone, pager or portable PC as part of their baggage. The company found that, while twice as many men than women travel as part of their job, the sexes are equally likely to be carrying some sort of device that helps them stay in touch with the workplace and continue to do productive work. Women are more likely to carry cellular phones and men are more likely to carry pagers. Men and women are equally likely to take PCs along when traveling. INTECO calculates that more than 5-1/2 million American business travelers go on the road armed with PCs.
The most intensive users of technological products among business travelers are the 12 million who stay overnight at least once a month. Seventy-one percent of this group (as opposed to 54 percent of all workers) use a PC, send emails at work, use the Internet or use some sort of electronic organizer to maintain schedules and contact lists. The functionality of cellphones, PCs and organizers are sufficiently distinct that, for the moment at least, travelers will have to continue carrying separate devices, the company said.
INTECO's figures are based on 2,495 interviews conducted in May, 1998 with a sample representative of all U.S. adults.
***Silicon Graphics Will Jointly Market CAVE Systems (November 10)
Silicon Graphics announced its intent to jointly market worldwide CAVE (Computer Assisted Virtual Environment) systems with Pyramid Systems. This new relationship supports the Silicon Graphics Virtual Reality Initiative announced in July 1998 and represents a step towards creating standards for VR applications, specifically in advanced immersive projection systems. The initiative will include standards to ensure the portability of CAVE applications and the interoperability between CAVE facilities.
Configured as a room-sized, cube-shaped facility with stereoscopic graphics projected onto every surface so the images completely surround the users, the CAVE system is an effective immersive display. It enables individuals to interact with and visualize and simulate real-world environments.
This relationship will facilitate the implementation of VR in the high-performance computing (HPC) market and accelerate the use of visual supercomputing in science and industry.
CAVE is the result of collaboration between the University of Illinois campuses at Chicago and Urbana-Champaign. First publicly displayed at the SIGGRAPH conference in 1992, the CAVE system has been installed at 37 sites around the world. These sites include Argonne National Laboratory, EDS and General Motors.
***Hightech Suppliers Introduce 3dfx Voodoo2 Board With 1024x768 Resolution and TV Output for $199 (November 10)
Hightech Suppliers announced the availability of the Flash 3D-II TVpro which is based on the 3Dfx Interactive Voodoo2 chipset.
Flash 3D-II TVpro is a Voodoo2 board to feature professional quality TV output, with 2D and 3D resolutions up to 1024x768. The design adds TV output features to any existing 2D video card. Flash 3D-II TVpro also supports 2 boards together in a Scan Interleave Mode (SLI).
3D-II TVpro will be available direct from Hightech Suppliers for end-users, OEMs and system integrators in the middle of November. Orders may be made by calling Hightech Suppliers direct at 888-450-4444 or order online.
The estimated retail price is $199 US ($299 in Canada).
***One Million DVD Video Players Shipped to Retail (November 10)
The DVD Video Group announced that one million DVD Video players have been shipped to retail.
Some background on DVD Video includes:--DVD Video is now the fastest growing packaged media format in history. Player sales have out paced the VCR 10:1 and the compact disc 4:1 in the same introductory period.
--DVD Video enjoys unanimous support from all of Hollywood's major movie studios, music labels and consumer electronics manufacturers. There will be more than 2,000 titles available and more than 40 DVD Video players representing 30 brands by the end of 1998.The DVD Video Group is a Los Angeles-based, industry-funded nonprofit corporation that exists expressly to promote consumer awareness of the benefits of DVD Video and to provide updated information to the media and the retail trade about DVD Video players, movies and music videos.
***Nearly 600 Million Computers-in-use in the Year 2000 (November 3)
According to Internet Industry Almanac there will be over 579 million computers in use by the end of the year 2000 - up 360 million from the end of 1997. The United States is projected to have 164 million or 28.3% of those computers.
The top 16 countries, making up 70% of the computers in use are the following:
Internet Users
Country----- Rank ---(Millions) ----%Share of TotalU.S. -------------1 ---164.1 --------- 28.32%
Japan ------------2 ----49.9 -----------8.62%
Germany ---------3 ----30.6 -----------5.28%
United Kingdom- 4---- 26.0 -----------4.49%
France -----------5---- 21.8 -----------3.77%
Italy --------------6 ----17.5----------- 3.02%
Canada ----------7 ----16.0----------- 2.76%
China ------------8---- 15.9 -----------2.75%
Australia--------- 9 ----10.6----------- 1.82%
South Korea -----9---- 10.6 -----------1.82%
Russia ----------11----- 9.2 ------------1.59%
Brazil -----------12----- 8.5------------ 1.47%
Spain -----------13 -----8.1------------ 1.39%
Netherlands -----14----- 7.2------------ 1.25%
India------------ 15----- 6.3------------ 1.08%
Mexico--------- 15 -----6.3------------ 1.08%Worldwide shipments of computers will surpass 90 million units in 1998, but only >50% will add to the installed base as nearly half will be replacing existing computers. Over 95% of the computers-in-use now are PCs. At year-end 1997 there were 3.6 computer for each Internet user and this will drop to 1.8 by year-end 2000.
About 5% of the 30 million plus computers sold in the United States in 1998 will be sold via the Internet, which will grow to 10% of nearly 40 million in 2000. In the United States the computers-in-use to Internet user ratio was 2.2 in 1997 and will drop to 1.2 in the year 2000.
These numbers includes all computers, from PCs to super computers, used in business, educational institutions and homes.
The Internet Almanac is available for $50 soft cover and $60 hardcover from Computer Industry Almanac Inc. and in stores such as Computer Literacy, Borders, Amazon.com, Stacey's, and Barnes & Noble.
***Digital Imaging Group Presents New File Format for Standardization (November 4)
The Digital Imaging Group (DIG), submitted a proposal for a file format for the JPEG 2000 image compression system to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) working group in charge of Coding Still Pictures for consideration as a digital imaging standard. The proposal makes use of key elements of the DIG's Flashpix file format and JPEG 2000's image compression technology that will likely be based on wavelet technology. The result is a unification of image file formats that users and developers can use for the new standard, while at the same time combining the benefits of international JPEG standards, Flashpix and wavelet technology.
In preparing its proposal for the JPEG 2000 project, the DIG combined key technologies from the Flashpix file format (like unambiguous color definitions and strong meta-data support) with other international and de-facto standards to create a new format that could facilitate the use of JPEG 2000 image coding data. The resulting file format offers users the ability to load images more quickly with higher resolution in files smaller than current JPEG files. The new file format would simplify the transmission of images over the bandwidth-limited Internet, by allowing users access to only as much of an image as they need while maintaining the integrity of the original image.
The DIG will continue to work with the JPEG 2000 committee to refine its proposal. The JPEG 2000 committee is expected to issue its recommendations in March of 1999.
***Microsoft Announces Windows CE Platform Builder (November 2)
Microsoft has announced Windows CE Platform Builder. Windows CE Platform Builder is the successor to the Microsoft Windows CE Embedded Toolkit for the Visual C++ development system version 5.0.
Windows CE Platform Builder enables a clean separation between the two main software activities involved in embedded system development: operating system design and application development.
· Operating system specialists can define a customized configuration of Windows CE based on the modular nature of the operating system.
· By using the Export SDK feature, the Platform Builder can generate a software development kit (SDK) for each custom embedded platform. The SDK exports all the functionality of the embedded system needed by application-level programmers, be they developers within the corporation or third-party developers.· The SDK is then used in combination with Windows CE toolkits for the Visual Basic development system, Visual C++ or the Visual J++ development system for Java to create the application-level software for the embedded system.
Embedded systems developers are aided by wizards and classes included in Platform Builder that do low-level work. Developers can also apply modules of code from other applications for Windows and modify them to run on Windows CE.
Windows CE Platform Builder is supported directly from Microsoft and through a network of systems integrators and distributors. Microsoft Technical Support offers worldwide online and telephone support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Trained support engineers are available to help resolve questions regarding the Windows CE Platform Builder and the Windows CE operating system.
Windows CE Platform Builder contains the componentized Windows CE operating system version 2.11; Visual C++ 6.0 cross-compilers and IDE optimized for embedded development; and all the tools needed to support designs based upon a broad range of semiconductors, including x86, Pentium II, MIPS, Super-H, PowerPC and ARM/StrongArm processor families.
The Microsoft Windows CE Platform Builder can be ordered through any authorized Microsoft OEM distributor and is scheduled to ship in December. The toolkit will also be available through selected retail channels for an estimated retail price of $999.
***Intertop Allies with HP to Provide Internet Solutions for Windows CE Handheld PC Devices (November 2)
Intertop announced Intertop CE Application Builder, an integrated development environment for creating multi-tier Internet applications running on Windows CE-based handheld devices.
Intertop CE Application Builder, an integral part of the Intertop Application Platform, provides a development environment that allows developers to create small footprint, multi-tier Internet applications for Windows CE-based Handheld PC devices. With Intertop CE Application Builder, can use existing Visual Basic development expertise to develop and deploy Internet applications for the mobile user. Intertop CE Application Builder provides a concurrent development environment that allows a developer to create, test and debug the client GUI, client logic and the server logic within the same session.
Intertop's CE applications run on handheld devices such as Hewlett-Packard Company's HP 620LX and 660LX palmtop PCs, and will support the newly introduced HP Jornada 820 Handheld PC. Intertop will work with developers and systems integrators to provide solutions for corporate customers.
***Autodesk announces AutoCAD Architectural desktop visualization suite (November 3)
Autodesk and its Kinetix division announced the availability of the new AutoCAD Architectural Desktop VIZualization Suite for U.S. customers.
A key component of the new suite is the DWG Linking feature in 3DStudio VIZ R2, that creates a dynamic link between the building model created and edited in AutoCAD Architectural Desktop and 3D Studio VIZ. Through DWG Linking, the suite offers a single, consistent design database that automatically updates 3D Studio VIZ R2 scenes whenever changes are made to designs created in AutoCAD Architectural Desktop software. Conversely, users can export design data from 3D Studio VIZ to AutoCAD Architectural Desktop software to refine technical design details.
The AutoCAD Architectural Desktop VIZualization Suite is available only in the U.S. from Authorized Autodesk Resellers. The Suite is priced at US SRP $5,395. This pricing saves users $995 over purchasing the products separately at US SRP $4,395 for AutoCAD Architectural Desktop and US SRP $1,995 for 3D Studio VIZ R2. Upgrade pricing for AutoCAD Release 12-14 at US SRP $2,295. The VIP Subscription Program is also available for each separate product, priced at US SRP $395 for AutoCAD Architectural Desktop and US SRP $495 for 3D Studio VIZ.
***Sony Music Online Unveils the Beta Release of the Jukebox (November 2)
Sony Music Online and RealNetworks announced the Beta release of the Internet's first pay-per-listen jukebox, containing hundreds of songs available on-demand using RealNetworks RealPlayer.
The Jukebox, designed to accommodate the different tastes and lifestyles, features hundreds of songs by Sony Music artists that can be easily accessed on the Web. The Jukebox enables users to program their own playlists and listen while they work, making it the ideal workplace companion. Best of all, you never have to wait for someone else's song to play before yours!
The Jukebox was developed with the technical assistance of the Los Angeles office of USWeb, a leading Internet strategy and professional services firm. US Web's Entertainment and Media Practice provided strategic consulting and technology expertise to build the site.
Sony Music has partnered with Total E, the premier one-stop online home entertainment super store from Columbia House, for the launch of The Jukebox offering instant retail links to consumers. To access The Jukebox, visitors will need the RealPlayer G2 or the RealPlayer 5.0, available for free. Once the RealPlayer is downloaded, users can browse through hundreds of song titles available and create their own customized playlist. Once the playlist is complete, users submit their credit card number and select the number of song titles they want to hear and select a password. The pricing is as follows: ten selections cost $2.50; twenty-two selections cost $5.00; and 50 selections cost $10.00. Once the process is complete, the user returns to their playlist to listen at their leisure. Songs will be available for a 24 hour period once they have been played. The list of songs available on The Jukebox will be frequently updated.
The beta release of the Jukebox is immediately accessible at
http://www.sonymusic.com/jukebox
http://www.real.com
http://www.totale.com
http://www.sonymusic.com/jukebox
***RealNetworks Announces Radio Toolkit
(November 2)
RealNetworks announced RealNetworks Radio Toolkit, designed to enable radio broadcasters and music programmers to easily create new radio businesses for the Internet. RealNetworks Radio Toolkit will provide many segments of the music and broadcast industries with advertising integration and caching, e-commerce linking, and a set of radio programming features.
RealNetworks also announced that JAMTV/Rolling Stone Network is the first major media company to deliver a custom, interactive radio tuner incorporating RealNetworks Radio Toolkit and RealSystem G2. Additional radio broadcasting and music companies supporting RealNetworks Radio Toolkit and RealSystem G2 include:
ABC Radio Stations, EnterMedia Network Company, House of Blues New Media, iHEAR a division of D.I.R., Imagine Radio, JAMTV/Rolling Stone Network, Qradio, Radio Computing Services, Inc., Spinner.com, TalkSpot.com, and TCI Music/Sonic Net.
"With more than 1700 radio stations broadcasting on the Web and more than 36 million registered users of the RealPlayer, the critical factors are in place for an explosive growth of the Internet radio industry in the coming year," said Rob Glaser, chairman and CEO, RealNetworks, Inc. "This growth, coupled with RealNetworks Radio Toolkit and RealSystem G2, creates a new convention in radio programming and presents significant revenue generating opportunities for broadcasters and music companies."
RealNetworks is working with partners to develop and publish a standardized interactive music programming broadcast format-the Standard Interactive Radio Format (SIRF) -- including monitoring and reporting for advertisers and copyright holders. SIRF defines the set of content elements that make up an interactive radio broadcast and the Internet-radio specific protocols used to transmit the content.
According to BRS Media's Web-Radio there were more than 1,700 radio webcasters broadcasting on the Web during the month of October. Furthermore, the fastest growing segment of webcasting is radio and streaming audio, according to George T. Bundy, President of BRS Media. Currently, more than 85% of all Web pages on the Internet using streaming media use industry leading RealAudio, RealVideo or RealFlash and more than 300,000 hours of live RealAudio and RealVideo programming are available each week. The RealPlayer, with more than 36 million registered users, is one of the most popular software applications used on the Internet.
Pricing and availability of RealNetworks Radio Toolkit will be announced in the second quarter of 1999.
***Harris, Samsung and MICRONAS INTERMETALL to Promote WavePhore's WaveTop (October 29)
WavePhore and Harris, Samsung Semiconductor and MICRONAS INTERMETALL announced agreements to promote WavePhore's WaveTop software with multimedia video decoder chips. Under agreements with each of the three multimedia chip manufacturers, WaveTop will be featured as an enabled application of each chip. WaveTop software and any necessary drivers will be shipped to purchasers along with the multimedia video decoder packages.
Multimedia video decoder chips convert analog signals from video sources such as cameras and video cassette recorders to digital signals that can then be manipulated by PCs. Among many other capabilities, the multimedia video decoders produced by Harris, Samsung and MICRONAS INTERMETALL convert the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of television broadcast signals to digital signals usable by PCs. WaveTop broadcasts its content to users' PCs via the VBI of 264 PBS member stations nationwide.
The new Harris video decoder chips HMP8116 and HMP8117 bundle all the company's patented features that enabled superior performance and ease of design in Harris' last generation decoder chip as well as many new features such as an RGB (red-green-blue) output mode and digital phase-locked loops (PLLs). To display the chips' ability to capture and output enhanced VBI data, each is offered with an evaluation platform that includes application software from WaveTop.
Samsung has partnered with S3 to offer a full-featured Windows 98 ready TV Tuner/Video Capture Board. The package consists of Samsung's KS0127, a Multistandard Video Decoder/Scaler and S3's Savage3D. MICRONAS INTERMETALL's new software and hardware package, MediaCVR, is a video and audio solution for processing TV signals on the PC that can be modified to suit the specific needs of component manufacturers.
WaveTop's PC data broadcast service works by embedding data streams into the unseen portion of existing broadcast television signals using the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI). WaveTop has partnered with PBS National Datacast to broadcast data over the television signals of its 264 PBS member stations. Using a simple browser interface and a broadcast ready PC (a standard PC with a built-in TV tuner or equipped with an add-on TV tuner card), users will interact with automatically downloaded information, entertainment and software. Computers equipped with TV tuners and WaveTop software transparently receive, decode and cache content without the bottleneck of the Internet or tying up a phone line. WavePhore previously announced the launch of its free service for Windows 95 on April 6, 1998. In addition, the WaveTop software is now available for Windows 98 and is included in the Windows 98 operating system. Users will be able to install the WaveTop software directly from Windows 98.
WaveTop content providers include Time Inc. New Media, which includes the on-line versions of People, Time, Entertainment Weekly, Money, Fortune and Sports Illustrated for Kids and ZDNet News, which includes ZDNet News, and the on-line versions of Family PC and Yahoo Internet Life. Also providing content are USA TODAY, The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, CBS SportsLine, PBS ONLINE, Warner Bros. Online, Bloomberg L.P., The Weather Channel, N2K's Music Boulevard, BarnesandNoble.com, Universal Press Syndicate - Comics, Women's Wire and Prevention's Healthy Ideas, Astrology.Net, Dummies Daily and UltimateTV.
WaveTop is supported by leading consumer-brand charter advertisers.
http://www.samsungsemi.com/
http://www.intermetall.de/
http://www.semi.harris.com/
http://www.wavephore.com/
***EAI Posts Record Third Quarter Results
(October 29)
Engineering Animation announced record revenues for the third quarter ended September 30, 1998, of $26,088,000, a 47 percent increase over third-quarter 1997 revenues of $17,746,000. Before non-recurring acquisition-related charges and income tax benefits associated with the previously announced acquisitions of Variation Systems Analysis, Inc. and Transom Technologies, Inc., the Company's net income for the third quarter of 1998 increased 113 percent to $3,135,000 or 25 cents per share, versus $1,473,000 or 13 cents per share in the third quarter of 1997. Including the non-recurring acquisition-related charges, which resulted in additional net expense of $4,685,000, the Company recorded a net loss of $1,550,000 or 14 cents per share for the third quarter of 1998.
For the nine months ended September 30, 1998, revenues rose 49 percent to $70,567,000, compared with $47,417,000 in the first nine months of 1997. Before non-recurring acquisition-related and purchased technology charges and related income tax benefits, net income rose 151 percent to $7,751,000 or 62 cents per share from $3,089,000 or 29 cents per share in the first nine months of 1997. Including the non-recurring acquisition-related and purchased technology charges and related income tax benefits, which resulted in additional net expense of $16,400,000, the Company recorded a net loss of $8,649,000 or 79 cents per share in the first nine months of 1998.
In the third quarter of 1998, EAI completed the acquisition of Variation Systems Analysis, Inc., (VSA), a privately held company in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, and Transom Technologies, Inc., a privately held company in Ann Arbor Michigan. VSA is the leading company dedicated to dimensional management consulting, software development and sales, training and support.VSA markets a line of products for 3D simulation of manufacturing and variation in the digital manufacturing environment under the names VSA-3D and VSA-GDT. Transom Technologies, Inc., is the leading provider of human modeling and simulation software sold under the name Transom Jack.
***Creative Technology Patent Case Against Aureal Proceeds to Trial (October 29)
Creative Technology announced that there have been rulings on two motions in the patent case in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California entitled Creative Technology Ltd. et al. v. Aureal Semiconductor, Inc., Case No. C 98-0770 MMC.
In the first ruling, the court ruled that Creative's patent case will proceed to trial. In so ruling, the court rejected a motion for summary judgment brought by Aureal based on, among other things, Aureal's key defense that proposed a limited reading of the scope of Creative's patent. As to Creative's motion for preliminary injunction, Aureal had argued that entry of a preliminary injunction would mean closing the company. The court therefore ruled that "Plaintiffs' (Creative's) showing of injury is substantially outweighed by the injury to defendant (Aureal) should an injunction be granted and plaintiffs ultimately not prevail." In addition, the court ruled that Creative had "not made a sufficiently strong showing on the issue of infringement to warrant injunctive relief."
"We look forward to proceeding to trial on this case, and we are confident that we will prevail," said John Danforth, vice president and general counsel at Creative Labs, Inc., Creative's US subsidiary. "We are pleased that the court's ruling has rejected an artificially narrow interpretation of our '990 patent. We also believe that we will be able to successfully appeal the denial of our preliminary injunction motion because of this aspect of the court's ruling and, among other things, the admissions of Aureal's own experts."
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