FastCounter by LinkExchange
The WAVE Report is Searchable on
http://www.3dlinks.com
-------------------------------------
***Lucent Digital Radio and Orban Announces Agreement to Test Audio Processing for In-band On-channel Digital Radio (August 23)
Lucent Digital Radio and Orban have announced a joint testing agreement in which the two companies will work to optimize the audio quality for In-Band On-Channel (IBOC) Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB). The Lucent Digital Radio IBOC DAB system, which has passed successful field tests, will be tested with Orban's OPTIMOD family of audio processors, which are installed in more than 25,000 broadcast locations around the world.
Audio processing is a key element in the enhancement of a radio station's over-the-air signal. Lucent's Perceptual Audio Coder (PAC), a high quality audio codec, is used in the Lucent Digital Radio IBOC DAB system and will be tested with Orban audio processors. Because PAC can be enhanced, the tests will ensure that both audio processing and audio coding are mutually developed and optimized.
Lucent Digital Radio recently conducted tests of its IBOC FM system on National Public Radio (NPR) member station WBJB-FM. These tests were the first time that an IBOC system passed a hybrid (both analog and digital) signal over a radio station's antenna and transmitter without affecting the host analog signal.
Lucent Digital Radio's IBOC DAB system is an enhancement to current analog AM and FM radio broadcasting systems. It will provide enhanced sound quality for AM radio, CD-like quality for FM radio, as well as interference-free reception and data services.
Lucent Digital Radio draws on several patented Lucent digital audio and channel coding techniques that provide robust digital signal delivery in an impaired broadcast channel, including Lucent's Perceptual Audio Coder (PAC) technology, which delivers CD-like quality audio at 96 Kilobits per second; Unequal Error Protection, which prioritizes information based on its impact to audio quality; and Multi-Streaming, which provides for a more robust signal in an impaired channel.
The IBOC approach will allow broadcasters to introduce digital audio programming to listeners on their current dial positions using existing transmitters and antennas. IBOC DAB is both backward- and forward-compatible: current AM/FM receivers will still be able to receive the existing analog signals in the new system. When a station elects to turn off the analog signal in the future, IBOC DAB-compatible receivers will operate with the remaining all-digital signal.
Orban is a Harman International Company that creates and offers broadcast and Webcast transmission audio processors and digital workstations.
http://www.orban.com
http://www.lucent.com/ldr
http://www.lucent.com
***IBM and Siemens to Collaborate on Silicon Germanium Networking Chips (August 23)
IBM and Siemens Information and Communication Networks announced an agreement that will apply next-generation system-on-a-chip (SOC) products based on IBM's silicon germanium (SiGe) process technology to high performance mobile network communication systems. As part of this agreement, the Communication on Air business unit of Siemens Information and Communication Networks will gain access to IBM's SiGe technologies currently in development.
SiGe is a process technology in which the standard silicon that forms the base of microchips is augmented with germanium to make the chips operate faster with decreased power consumption. These chips can be designed for application in a range of wired and wireless gear, boosting the performance while reducing the size and power usage of these products. In addition, SiGe provides increased integration capabilities, enabling designers to build chips with more functions.
IBM introduced standard high-volume SiGe chips in October 1998. Since then, IBM's SiGe technology has been adopted by a range of companies for a variety of applications, including RF components in cellular handsets and transmitter and receiver chipsets used in high speed fibre optic phone lines.
IBM Microelectronics is a contributor to IBM's role as the a worldwide information technology supplier. IBM Microelectronics develops, manufactures and markets semiconductor and interconnect technologies, products and services. Its integrated solutions can be found in many of the world's electronic brands.
The Siemens Information and Communication Networks Group has around 60,000 employees and sales of about $14 billion, making it one of the world's leading suppliers of end-to-end solutions for voice, data and mobile networks. Information and Communication Networks provides products, systems, solutions, servicing and support for setting up, operating and maintaining complete corporate and carrier networks. It also offers ancillary services ranging from network planning and financial consultancy through start-up support to user training.
http://www.siemens.com/ic/networks/
http://www.chips.ibm.com
***Point - Counter Point - Is Prime Time TV is Dead?
(August 18)
The ZDNet AnchorDesk by Jesse Berst took a broad swipe at broadcast television from the ZDNet's Anchor Desk. Some of the points seem far fetched to us at the WAVE Report.
Point:
--Dinosaurs became extinct when a comet slammed into earth and they were unable to adapt to environmental changes. Likewise, television networks are being hit by a comet called interactive TV-and they risk extinction by failing to adapt to it.I've told you before that interactive TV is going to be The Next Big Thing. A recent study by Jupiter Communications ranked interactive TV as one of seven technologies destined to restructure the consumer Internet economy.
--Prime time is dead and it's going to be replaced by personal prime time created via interactive TV features. Specifically I'm talking about:
--Hot spots. They'll let you take action (for example, order a pizza or get more info on that disorder Oprah is talking about) as you watch TV.
--Electronic programming guides. Think richer, customizable, paperless TV Guides.
--Programming on demand. When interactive TV began generating buzz, most assumed it would sit on fat pipes to be tapped into at consumers' discretion. But fat pipes are taking longer than expected to arrive and personal VCRs like Replay TV and TiVo are picking up the slack. Click for more.
--Two new deals this week brought the networks one step closer to extinction and these personal VCRs closer to dominance on the interactive TV front. First, America Online and TiVo joined forces to create interactive television applications. Then Replay Networks announced a $57 million strategic investment from media giants Time Warner Inc., Disney and NBC. I've also told you why network TV is faltering when it comes to new media revolutions.
Here's where else the networks made stupid choices:
Networks stupidly cling to the old model of programming, rather than shifting to programming on demand.
Networks should have been developing products like TiVo and ReplayTV, not investing in them at this late date.
These recent dealmakers have a headstart. But interactive TV is still in its experimental stage, so other players are sure to join the race. For instance, lurking around the corner is Microsoft, who wasn't smart enough to hook up with one of these VCR-on-steroids companies to make WebTV a stellar product.Now we know who's going to die. What remains to be seen is who's going to bury the carcass.
Counter Point - WAVE Viewpoint
Although the future may see interactive television playing a big part of home entertainment, the idea that Prime Time television is going to be upstaged is a bit exaggerated. This scenario can be likened to an earlier era of television when cable entered the market (then called pay TV). Broadcasters succeeded in convincing policy makers to restrict cable from penetrating larger cities from 1964-1972 in order to protect themselves. After 1972, cable restrictions were slowly eliminated and in 1984 cable was deregulated. This has not had the dramatic effect on broadcasters that everyone thought. A key component of this is Must Carry which requires cable to carry local broadcasting. As of 1995 the combined prime time ratings of the top twenty basic cable networks was 22.4, less than half that of the combined ratings of ABC, NBC, and CBS. However, the toll of cable is continuing to increase. In 1997 cable's advertising revenues finally gained the lead over broadcast television with $38,643,000,000 compared to $35,025,000,000.
There are several issues:
1 - The value of the TiVo and Replay services. Although both offer rewind type capabilities and the ability to time shift in order to watch the viewer's favorite shows, the real issue is the companies' business models. Both sell for $500-$1000 depending on hard drive capacity. This is an early adopters price. For example, the research in 4th Wave's Information Appliance study showed that 65% of all consumer electronics products are sold for under $70. We wonder if this is not the early adopter VCR phase all over again with less value.
We expect that the TiVo and Replay business models should more closely parallel the cellular model, where devices are practically given away and consumers pay for the service. With this model, cellular systems have grown from 1,231,000 subscribers in 1987 to 69,200,000 in 1998 while their fees have gone from $96.83 to $39.88. Until this happens only an elite group will experience interactive TV through a TiVo or Replay system. The TiVo $10/month service fee is and addition to the cost of the box not a replacement for the investment in it.
2 - Both of these personal television offerings must live off of the content provided by the networks and cable companies. One of the reasons for the recent investments was to protect the value of the content. Yet, there is little from keeping a well-equipped PC from doing much the same functions as both TiVo and Replay. This is where the major threat lies with the networks. That is, an open platform drawing TV schedules from the Internet, being programmed to eliminate commercials and creating videotapes on demand by writing from the hard disk.
3 - Both TiVo and Replay have to show that they provide something of high value to consumers that cannot be gotten in other ways. Lest we not forget, the functions of time shifting were seen 15 years ago as the high value of the VCR. The content companies even went to court over the VCR. Yet, the value of the VCR is not its time shifting but the ability to play movies and show one's own personal videos. The sustainability of a time shifting product business remains to be determined.
The threat to broadcasters is not about TiVo and Replay but their own narrow view of the world. As media shifts to digital including television, the broadcasters cling to concepts of ownership, distribution and value, which match the currency of the "I Love Lucy" show. See WAVE9052 for more details.
***Spatial Rolls Out Beta Version of 3Dmodelserver.com (August 16)
Spatial unveiled the beta version of 3Dmodelserver.com, an engineering software market Web-based software application for repairing and improving 3D models. This application service will provide millions of engineers with a cost-effective Web solution that enables the use of models across multiple, heterogeneous software applications, making them more usable in engineering processes, such as design, analysis, and manufacturing. 3Dmodelserver.com will help minimize the time-consuming task of manually fixing errors found in translated models, resulting in improved time to market, reduced costs, and higher quality products.
Nearly all manufacturers, and their component suppliers, use multiple CAD/CAM/CAE systems to develop their products, making the design process dependent on the extended company's ability to share data. The lack of an effective way to share 3D model data from one system to another-or a lack of model data interoperability-is arguably the single largest software productivity problem facing manufacturers around the globe. It can cause time-to-market delays, bottlenecks, errors, lost data, quality problems, and extensive part rework. This problem is an impediment to the trend of cost-effective outsourcing of design and production in global manufacturing. For the U.S. automotive industry alone, interoperability problems cost at least $1 billion per year, according to the Research Triangle Institute, Center of Economics Research, North Carolina.
As a Web-based application service, 3Dmodelserver.com enables interoperability among manufacturers and suppliers in three ways. First, anyone with a Web browser and an Internet connection can access the service. Second, as a Web-based application, companies do not have to spend time and money testing, choosing, deploying, and updating an interoperability solution throughout their enterprise. Finally, 3Dmodelserver.com can be updated on a daily basis in order to provide users with instant access to Spatial's interoperability technology. 3Dmodelerserver.com provides a globally accessible, 24/7, Web-based application service to solve this problem, enabling the rapid and cost effective transfer of model data across heterogeneous systems.
The pre-release version of 3Dmodelserver.com offers an automated Web-based application for repairing and improving 3D models. Powered by the ACIS 3D Toolkit and Spatial's healing and translation technologies, 3Dmodelserver.com allows users to upload IGES (Initial Graphics Exchange Specification) models generated from virtually any CAD/CAM/CAE system, and ACIS SAT models generated by any of the more than 1.5 million ACIS enabled application seats worldwide. 3Dmodelserver.com then automatically translates and heals the models, making them interchangeable across a broad range of applications.
The 3Dmodelserver.com beta introduces these interoperability services:
· Repair and improvement of IGES and SAT models. The service automatically analyzes and then corrects inaccuracies in a model's geometry.
· Delivery to the user of valid, high-quality models, saved in either IGES or ACIS SAT file format.
· Model translation between SAT and IGES formats.By year's end, 3Dmodelserver.com will support STEP models, as well as proprietary formats of the most non-ACIS applications, such as Pro/ENGINEER from Parametric Technology and CATIA from Dassault Systemes. Future capabilities will provide enterprise-wide model translation and routing functions that will further facilitate the sharing of models in a global manufacturing environment.
Spatial is currently running a closed beta test and is accepting applications for new beta testers on the Web site at:
During the test period, model transactions are available at no charge to users. 3Dmodelserver.com is scheduled to be released and open to the public at the end of the third quarter 1999. Pricing will be based on a cost per model transaction. Users of the site will only pay for successful transactions, eliminating the risk inherent in traditional translation and model healing products.
Registered users can access the beta version with any Web browser by visiting the site:
After logging in, users may upload any 3D IGES or ACIS SAT model for inspection and healing, or a valid file for translation into another format. Once the model healing and/or translation is completed, 3Dmodelserver.com will notify the user by e-mail indicating that they can return to 3Dmodelserver.com to download their improved or translated model, in either IGES or ACIS SAT file format. 3Dmodelserver.com will also send the user an associated log file, detailing the portions of the model that were healed and/or successfully translated.
***Pixelworks Controller Slated for Consumer Apps (August 18)
According to Electronic Buyers Pixelworks Inc. has rolled out the third generation of its ImageProcessor family at about half the price of its earlier devices in an effort to eliminate cost as a consideration for OEMs in need of flat-panel-display controllers.
The move is designed to expand Pixelworks' target audience in the business desktop and professional-class projector segments to include the cost-sensitive consumer market, while readying it for the advent of high-definition flat-panel television.
The PW164 processor-the third such chip the company has introduced in the past year-integrates every flat-panel-controller function except the display interface and video decoder. The device is similar to Pixelworks' earlier PW264 and PW364 controllers-both of which recently began shipping in volume to customers-but drops support for picture-in-picture in favor of a lower price tag. And, as with the company's previous ImageProcessors, the PW164 is slated for a quick market entry.
Two-year-old Pixelworks, which just completed its second round of equity financing, has amassed a $20 million war chest, much of which will be used for customer support and product development. The company's ImageProcessor technology combines a number of display-controller components, including the MPU, video processor, and scaling engine, and also executes gamma correction, frame-rate conversion, auto image optimization, and on-screen display functions.
The company said its first two devices reduced the display's $200 to $400 electronics bill of materials cost to less than $100. The PW164, which at $35 in lots of 10,000 is about half the cost of the PW264 and PW364, should lower OEMs' display electronics BOM even further-to as little as $60, according to Hunkins.
Pixelworks is using Toshiba Corp. as a foundry, manufacturing the ImageProcessors on a 0.25-micron process that includes the use of embedded-DRAM technology. To date, the PW364 has been designed into desktop flat-panel monitors yielding SXGA and XGA resolutions, although the controller is capable of supporting resolutions up to UXGA, the company said. The PW264, meanwhile, has been built into an SXGA monitor and an XGA projector.
With its lower cost, the PW164 is aimed at a range of consumer applications, and will also play to Pixelworks' existing presence in financial markets. The PW164-10 features an optional electronics keystone correction feature for projector applications, integrated frame-rate conversion and frame buffer lower the chip's EMI, and because the company has chosen not to integrate the connector, its devices can accommodate any of the market's various display interfaces.
Pixelworks is shipping a PW164 reference board, and said volume production of the chip will follow in September.
***Cerebellum Releases Version 1.3 to Extend Single-Interface Access to More Data Sources and Platforms (August 17)
Cerebellum Software released the next upgrade to Cerebellum, now in version 1.3, which enables a wider variety of applications to access, integrate and update data located in different data source types. In addition to its ongoing support for accessing major relational databases, legacy systems and flat files through the same interface, Cerebellum 1.3 adds the ability to access VSAM files and DB2 on mainframes running OS/390, Cloudscape, MySQL databases and data sources on the Linux platform.
This version also provides greater flexibility in the types of applications that can use Cerebellum's application programming interface (API) to access and update distributed data, by adding a C++/CORBA API, JDBC API and ActiveX API.
Cerebellum is a Java-based application development platform that speeds and simplifies the development of data-driven applications by providing a single interface and graphical query language for accessing, integrating and updating information from multiple data sources. Cerebellum generates the appropriate code that can be reused by applications for communicating with one or more data sources.
Other Cerebellum 1.3 features and updates include: installation and usability enhancements; advanced SQL functionality; and help documentation improvements.
A 30-day free trial developer's license can be downloaded from Cerebellum Software's Web site at:
A developer's license can be purchased for $995. An enterprise package starts at $40,000. Cerebellum's complete version 1.3 release notes can be found at:
http://www.cerebellumsoft.com/support/documentation/releasenotes/relnotes.shtml
***Canopus Ships DVRaptor for DVCPRO DVCPRO Capture and Non-Linear Editing Solution for Video Professionals (August 17)
Canopus Corporation has announced the availability of DVRaptor with support for Panasonic's DVCPRO format. DVRaptor for DVCPRO is an IEEE-1394 PCI capture and non-linear editing solution that can control and capture NTSC DVCPRO material from the Panasonic dataport. The DVRaptor for DVCPRO provides deck control, full-screen, full-motion video preview and seamless batch capture. DVRaptor lets users capture up to 180 minutes of video into one file, overcoming the 2GB-file limitation of .AVI.
DVRaptor lets users capture digital video and still images from a DVCPRO deck directly to the hard disk. Users can capture, edit, and output without any loss in video quality. DVRaptor is a software CODEC-based solution capable of real-time preview using the hardware CODEC of the DVCPRO deck. Video can be monitored in real-time while it is being captured through the i.LINK connector. The video can also be previewed simultaneously on a video monitor.
Features in DVRaptor for DVCPRO include seamless and batch capture, jog and shuttle controls when using a Microsoft Intellimouse, and support for DV, DVCAM and DVCPRO. Raptor Navigator software uses advanced scene detection to automatically catalog video content from tapes. Catalogs can be arranged and used in batch capture. Raptor Video software allows users to seamlessly capture to multiple hard disks, capture still images with motion filtering, and perform simple cut/paste editing functions, forgoing the time consuming rendering process.
DVRaptor for DVCPRO is available now for a suggested retail price of $1500 and includes Canopus Raptor Video and Raptor Navigator software, the full version of Adobe Premiere 5.1, and Boris FX 3.5 compositing and effects plug-in. System requirements include a Pentium 200 MMX or above, Windows 95, 98 or NT, 32MB RAM, a video rated hard drive, a VGA card that supports hardware DirectDraw overlay, and a Panasonic AJ-D230H DVCPRO deck with a IEEE-1394 interface option.
***Sony Introduces High-Powered Chip
(August 17)
Sony has given engineers a sneak peak at the future of home entertainment, demonstrating the chip that will power the new PlayStation 2. The chip behind the PlayStation 2, named the "Emotion Engine," will be a 128-bit microprocessor designed through a collaboration with Toshiba. Fremont's LSI Logic Corp., which developed the processor for the original PlayStation, engineered secondary components for the design.
The chip will rely on production technology capable of packing millions more transistors on to a single silicon wafer than current techniques allow. Where the original PlayStation processor boasted 1 million transistors, the new chip will be home to more than 10 million. That will give the processor roughly 10 times the computing power of the current chip.
In addition to graphic realism, this technology will lead to games populated by computer-controlled creatures that react naturally and unpredictably to player's actions. Sony's ultimate goal, according to the company, is to create games that involved players on a deeply emotional level. They want people to jump off the couch when a game character succeeds, and cry when it dies.
PlayStation II will hit the streets in Japan this winter, no one from Sony is offering a more specific release date. Sony will begin exporting units to America once the initial Japanese demand is met. The production version of PlayStation 2 is expected to be unveiled in Tokyo next month.
***Cable To Capture $3 Billion From Video On-demand in 2005 (August 18)
A report from Forrester Research predicts that movies on-demand will generate $3.1 billion in revenues for cable operators by 2005, while personal video recorders (PVRs) will provide time-shifted VOD, and the Web will deliver niche and archived content.
Several developments are responsible for VOD's improved prospects. The fiber optic rebuild of existing cable networks makes two-way digital services technically feasible. Meanwhile, shrinking hardware costs are making VOD services an attractive investment for cable operators. Combined with growing consumer demand for expanded viewing choices, Forrester estimates that cable operators may be able to recover the costs of their VOD investments in as little as two years.
Cable-based VOD will spread into homes along with digital cable. By 2002, cable networks will be 72% hybrid fiber-coax, allowing the two-way communication that VOD needs for interactive control. With digital set-top boxes in 25% of households in 2005, Forrester believes there will be 12 million VOD subscribers whose No. 1 choice will be first-run movies priced similarly to video home rental and satellite pay-per-view.
Meanwhile, PVRs that store video programming on an internal hard drive will find their way into 14 million households by 2004. PVRs will promote the VOD experience by acting as a content aggregator that broadens consumers' viewing choices. Although consumers will pay for monthly services and premium downloads, PVRs will not be significant revenue generators.
VOD over the Web will be facilitated by the spread of broadband.
Forrester predicts that 22 million homes will have broadband access by 2003, resulting in an improved viewing experience and larger audiences. Revenues from video on-demand on the Web will depend on the type of content viewed - most niche and archived content will be free, while subscription fees will grow for value-added content like investment advice and adult entertainment.
With 12 million subscribers using VOD instead of cable in 2005, Forrester expects to see as much as 15% cannibalization of the video rental market. To match cable's VOD offerings, broadcasters will automatically deliver content to consumers' PVRs during off-hours. Viewers will pay to unlock chosen content, effectively creating a local pay-per-view service. Meanwhile, consumer electronics manufacturers will scramble to create devices that take advantage of these content offerings.
***MGI Software Launches MGI PhotoSuite III - Platinum Edition (August 19)
MGI Software introduces MGI PhotoSuite III - Platinum Edition. MGI PhotoSuite III - Platinum Edition allows users of any experience level to effortlessly get, prepare, compose, organize, share and print their photos. MGI PhotoSuite III contains more power, effects, content, and two applets, Stitching and PhotoTapestry. Stitching allows users to create a single panorama from a series of photos taken of a subject, such as a tower or horizon that could not have been captured from the same vantage-point in a single shot.
PhotoTapestry replicates a photo by combining many small thumbnail-photos in the form of the original. This applet works by analyzing the original photo's hue, saturation and brightness, then using a large database of thumbnails, selects the best photo thumbnails to represent each area of the original. In addition to the applets, photo-quality templates have been added to MGI PhotoSuite III's content arsenal (which totals over 1200 templates), for creating both home and business projects, and the effects now bolster the program's Special Effects area.
MGI PhotoSuite III has a clean, sleek design that houses a logical workflow including thorough step-by-step guides that make it easy even for novice users to achieve photo perfection. All of MGI PhotoSuite III's functions are readily available and simple to use, whether the user is repairing treasured photos, making the photo ordinary the photo extraordinary, or using the Internet as an enriching part of the PC photo experience. The user interface has been optimized for speed allowing users to navigate through the program as well as apply effects and perform edits. While catering to the needs of the novice user, MGI PhotoSuite III also ensures more advanced or experienced users are able to accomplish tasks through the inclusion of a Tool Bar, which allows them to instantly access editing tools.
MGI PhotoSuite III is built using an embedded browser, which allows web viewing from within the program. This ability lets users save photos from the web directly in the application by simply dragging them off the web page into the photo library that is part of the MGI PhotoSuite III interface. Pictures can then be immediately edited or used in a photo project. In addition, users have a seamless connection to online photo services, as well as to the MGI web site, where additional templates and content can be downloaded. MGI's site will also allow users to send customized Postcards and Greeting Cards over the web, get valuable tips and tricks, and learn about the latest PC photo news. MGI PhotoSuite III users also can take advantage of an online offer that allows them to post photos, albums or creations to the Web for free to their own password-protected Web page.
MGI PhotoSuite III is separated into seven Activities (Get, Prepare, Compose, Organize, Share, Print, and Browse) or functions for working with photos on a PC and the Internet.
Get is for getting photos into the PC from peripherals such as digital cameras and scanners (directly or through TWAIN), from the Internet, online photo services, as well as from hard drives (file preview available), CDs, DVDs and other removable storage media.
Prepare contains all of PhotoSuite III's photo editing tools that allow for painting on photos with full control of transparency levels and soft edges; the enhancement of photos with lens and special effects; the transformation of photos through warp; the touchup and repair of photos such as removing red eye, blemishes and scratches; and cutting out objects in a photo using a number of different tools including Edge Finder with adjust nodes. Prepare also includes Photo Stitching and PhotoTapestry.
Compose includes over 1200 professionally-designed, photo-realistic templates for creating home and business projects. Business projects include items such as signs, labels, stationary, business cards, certificates, and promotional materials, while home projects include items such as posters, calendars, magazines, greeting cards, sports cards, and photo collages. In addition, frames, edges, and photo-quality props can be added to a photo and fun body switches can be performed. Compose supports an "Object Manager" that keeps track of the individual components that make up the project. Each component can be individually sized, positioned, rotated, its order in the project changed, or a drop shadow added. Additionally, each component can be edited further in Prepare. Once edits are completed in Prepare, the component in the project is updated to reflect the changes.
Organize consists of a Master Album that keeps track of all the albums created. Individual albums allow for the organization of photos and other multimedia content into thumbnails, adding fields and descriptions to each item. Once descriptions have been added, albums can be sorted and individual photos or a series of photos can be searched based on the descriptions entered. The album can span beyond the user's local drive to include cataloging pictures from CDs and other removable media.
Share includes Save and Save As options, the ability to email a photo, an album, a project or slide show. Items can be emailed as is, as a .jpg file or as a PhotoSuite III e-mail slideshow with sound, which is packaged as a self-contained executable file. Photos can be uploaded to an online photo service, converted into Web Pages or set as the Windows wallpaper. Share also houses PhotoSuite III's slide-show capabilities that allow users to create multi-media presentations complete with sound, transitions, and voiceover narration. In Share, users can automatically connect to an area of the web where they can post their photos for free.
Print allows users to print their creations and photos on a home printer, or connect to the web to utilize a photo lab. Print allows for package printing as well as printing to specialty papers by Kodak and Avery.
Browse is PhotoSuite III's gateway to the Internet. Users can search for images on the Internet from within the program, by simply dragging photos from a web page into PhotoSuite III's Library and edit it or use it in a project. PhotoSuite III links directly to: http://www.PhotoSuite.com which is the user's connection to downloadable content, updates, as well as support, talkback, news, interesting photo links and more.
MGI PhotoSuite III requires Microsoft Windows 95, 98 or Windows NT 4.0 (or higher). The minimum system required is a Pentium 166 MMX (266 MMX recommended) computer, with 32MB RAM, SVGA Video Card, 800x600 Screen Area, True Color (24-bit color), CD ROM drive, mouse, and 130MB Hard Drive Space. PhotoSuite III also is Pentium III SSE enhanced. Available in September '99, MGI PhotoSuite III - Platinum Edition will carry an estimated street price of US$49.95.
***Microsoft Announces Gas-Station Internet Access (August 18)
According to Newsbytes, motorists will soon be able to check weather, traffic, and news, and possibly even update their portfolio while they fill up their cars on Microsoft Windows CE-equipped gas pumps, thanks to a deal announced between BP Amoco PLC and fuel-pump manufacturer Tokheim Corp.
The BP Amoco gasoline pump/Internet kiosks will also feature advertising and will be programmed to e-mail their keepers when they are due for maintenance. The Web browsers will be equipped with Microsoft's Windows CE operating system, officials said.
BP Amoco feels the potential for advertising and electronic commerce is secondary to savings in equipment management because features can be added to the pumps without replacing existing hardware or writing software, since Windows CE is already an integral part of the corporate platform.
BP Amoco execs say they opted for CE primarily because it worked well with the NT software that is already installed in the convenience stores at about half of their 900 company-owned gas stations in the US. The application reflects Microsoft's strategy of linking Windows CE to Windows NT operating systems.
The deal is important to Microsoft, which has faced stiff competition from 3Com Corp.'s Palm operating system. The compact operating system for non-PC devices lags behind the Palm operating system in the palm and hand-held computer market.
BP Amoco is testing a variety of e-commerce applications strategies in Los Angeles and other cities and hopes to capitalize on this shopping capability. The pumps are slated to go live at some BP Amoco stations early next year. The deal comes during the same month that America Online announced a plan to equip gas pumps with its own browsers, as a result of a partnership with Radiant Systems. AOL has announced its $10 million purchase of a 4% stake in Atlanta-based Radiant Systems, a company that develops point-of-sale hardware for service stations and other retail establishments.
--------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1999 4th WAVE, Inc.
To subscribe to WAVE go to
And Click on the Subscribe Button
Or
send an email message with SUBSCRIBE in the body of the text to
To unsubscribe also use the 4th Wave Home page or send a message
with UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the text to
Previous issues of WAVE, as well as other info can be found at
http://www.wave-report.com
http://www.3dlinks.com
Comments on or questions about WAVE may be sent to:
or any of the individuals below:
John N. Latta:----------jnl@fourthwave.com
Kamela Hutchins-------khutchins@fourthwave.com
Amanda Rogos--------arogos@fourthwave.com
The WAVE Report may be redistributed in full for individual readership and posted to news groups, Web, and FTP sites. This publication may not be reprinted or redistributed for profit. Short quotes are permitted but must be attributed to the WAVE Report. 4th Wave retains the copyright to the WAVE Report.