PC and TV Will Merge To Serve The Net. New consumer
Ray Van Eng (01/10/97)
At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas (Jan 9 -12), the consensus among computer firms and consumer electronics giants seems to be - let's put TV and PC together into a blender, churn out some new gizmos and whiz-bang technologies, make a gazillion dollar and carry all of us into the 21st century. We have all heard about the WebTV (which will become available in Canada in early 1997), and now the company says that they have the best Houdini inspired digital video compression scheme in town that can actually deliver real-time full screen TV quality video over the Internet via just a regular telephone modem connection. National Geographic is impressed with the technology, known as VideoFlash. A spokesperson for the producer of premium quality nature magazines and television shows says that VideoFlash can "deliver a visual experience on the Internet comparable to the imagery, drama and depth we offer with our television programming."
Not only are MS and Big Bill himself investors of WebTV, the Redmond, Washington based company also said that they will have software development tools available soon to help everyone from hardware and software vendors to content providers to create interactive programming that can be delivered on PC and TV hybrid products (big screen PC monitors and Web-enabled television sets etc.) WavePhore is partnering with Microsoft to deliver Internet multimedia content to users via the TV by making use of the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) technology to blend data within the portion of the broadcast television signal that is reserved for such transmission as close captioning. Intel Corp. has similar ideas. They have worked with NBC-TV to distribute Internet content using VBI during the 1996 Oylmpic Games in Atlanta, Ga. WavePhore, a wireless data broadcasting firm, is also working with with the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) member stations and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to beam computer data that could reach 99% of TV households in the U.S. and Canada. Zenith Electronics seems to figure that the best way to tame the Net is to rely on their all-in-one NetVision Internet television set or their own TV set-top box designed to hook up to a regular TV. Special Internet software from Netscape Communications (Navio TV Navigator) and Oracle Corp's Network Computer (NC) division will help users point and click their way around their TV sets in cyberspace using Zenith's Z- Track track-ball controller. Akai is also onto the same vein with Zenith. Akai will be offering TV set-top boxes designed to link up regular TV sets to the Internet. The set-top box, dubbed Internet Connection has a built-in smart card slot (for Net access and e-commerce), a 33.6Kbps modem, a printer port, browser software with support for RealAudio sound and Shockwave multimedia files over the Internet. Oracle's NC system software will also be used to run the whole gig. A wireless keyboard is optional, the Japanese consumer electronics maker says. Not to be left out in the cold (literally), Canadians in Manitoba will also be having something special in getting Internet services via a dedicated personal Internet information TV channel to keep them entertained with unique Canadian content. E-mail with friends and families right from the living room couch is also part of the deal. On-TV, as the system is known is a joint venture between
MTS Advanced, Inc., a subsidiary of Manitoba Telecom Services, Inc. and
ViewCall America Inc. |
© Copyright Ray Van Eng 1997 - 1999. All Rights Reserved.
If
you think that Microsoft would nose-dive into this huge PC and TV market,
you are right.