WILL KALEIDA GO THE WAY OF CLARIS?

When the news came down late last month that Nat Goldhaber had been deposed as president of Kaleida Labs, many were dismayed to hear the (ostensible) reason: that Goldhaber had wanted to take the company public, but IBM and Apple — Kaleida’s parent companies and chief source of financing — had nixed the proposition.

Those familiar with the personal computer industry may have immediately thought that Kaleida would go the way of Claris Corp., Apple’s once high-flying wholly owned subsidiary that has since completely lost its edge after Apple decided to reabsorb it into the larger corporation.

But Michael Braun, the IBM VP of multimedia and Fireworks Partners that took over Goldhaber’s position last month, said that taking the company public is not out of the question. “The IPO is a timing issue, that’s all,” he said.

Goldhaber’s departure came at a curious time: Kaleida had just completed a very public, well-received unveiling of an operational version of ScriptX at June’s Digital World conference.

Braun wouldn’t discuss rumors about behind-the-scenes politicking inside Apple and beyond that supposedly led to Goldhaber’s departure and Braun’s new position, but he said he did have some short-term goals for the company to help restore morale and renew the company’s focus.

First, he’ll make some minor adjustments in how the company perceives itself. Today, he said, Kaleida perceives itself as a multimedia technology company. It is not, according to Braun. It is a system software company. And its business is not creating standards, he says, but selling products — products in the form of custom ScriptX ports for individual hardware manufacturers.

A renewed sense of corporate mission cannot do anything but help Kaleida right now, which has been nose to the grindstone bringing ScriptX up to snuff. However, Braun did not address how Kaleida intends raise its flag as a system software company when its two parents are both in the same business, or what will happen when Kaleida and Apple lock horns over their competing interactive TV systems. He certainly has his work cut out for him.

CONTINUUM SHIFTS FOCUS, ARNOLD GOES TO MICROSOFT

In a surprise shakeup earlier this month, Continuum Productions Corp. — once known as Interactive Home Systems, also known as “Bill Gates’s other company” — has sold much of its technology and product development to the motherland at Microsoft.

Continuum’s president, Steve Arnold, is also expected to move to Microsoft as part of the shift. When announcing the change in direction for the Bellevue, WA-based company, Gates claimed that only some “previously unannounced research and product development” would be moving to Microsoft. It’s widely speculated that the research and product development he was referring to included most of the nascent work that Continuum was doing in the titles arena. More than half the staff will stay at Continuum and continue to acquire rights to digital media, while the other half will move over to Microsoft.

Continuum is actively searching for a president to continue the company’s foray into developing digital archives and “mediabases” of photographic images, video footage, sound clips and other media types. The company already has several contracts with museums and libraries to digitize their archives.

Though the sale certainly must be causing upheaval inside Continuum itself, the shift of technologies to Microsoft is probably a prescient move. As Continuum proceeds with plans to develop interactive multimedia titles, it increasingly treads upon Microsoft’s turf, and with Gates as chairman of both companies, there was bound to be a day of reckoning with Microsoft’s shareholders.

NINTENDO’S SERVICE FOR CAPTIVE AUDIENCES

Nintendo of America Inc., the U.S. arm of the Japanese game manufacturer, which is the largest in the world, recently revealed its plans to move beyond the home entertainment market.

As Digital Media was going to press, the company announced its Nintendo Gateway System that when completed is expected to deliver a broad range of entertainment services, including video games, movies, CD audio, telephone, shopping and informational services, such as airline gate and baggage data, to travelers on airplanes, cruise ships and in hotel rooms around the world.

The system, which has been in development at Nintendo’s research labs in Redmond, WA, for 18 months, is based on a special version of Nintendo’s popular 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System combined with “digital communications technology.”

According to Nintendo, Hughes-Avicom International has contracts with Northwest, Virgin Atlantic and China Airlines to install the Nintendo Gateway System, which requires that an LCD -based monitor be installed in each of the seat backs on the plane.

As a test, a Northwest Airlines 747 has already been equipped and more than 20 additional planes are scheduled for installation before the end of the year. Negotiations with several other carriers are ongoing, according to Nintendo.

(It also sounds very much like the system that IBM Corp. has in development, and that Robert Carberry of IBM’s Fireworks Partners detailed at the Digital World conference in June. See Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 5.)

Hotel and cruise ship applications are being introduced initially by LodgeNet, an international organization that supplies entertainment services to 250,000 hotel rooms in North America. LodgeNet will be installing the system in 10 hotel sites this fall from its network of 1,900 locations, which include Sheraton, Doubletree and Embassy Suite Hotels, among others.

LodgeNet’s initial sea-based contract is with Holland America Line-Westours Inc. The 120-year-old company runs cruise ships throughout the Caribbean, South Pacific, Orient, Europe and Alaska.

“We’ve selected the traveler for the first application of this technology because it simply isn’t available to them now in a unified package,” says Russell Braun, Nintendo’s manager of engineering. “By the end of the first full year of operation, we will deliver services to 20 million people away from the home.”

Braun added that widespread installation of fiber-optic cables and improvements in the digital compression of video signals could lead to “even wider potential applications of this same SNES-compatible system in the years to come.” That sounds very much like a Nintendo settop box to us.

AT&T BUYS INTO SIERRA NETWORK

AT&T, which has formed more than 20 strategic alliances for interactive services, recently announced the purchase of a 20 percent equity stake in The Sierra Network, an interactive game network for personal computer users that is owned by Oakhurst, CA-based Sierra On-Line.

The Sierra Network, which has 40,000 subscribers, will be renamed The ImagiNation Network, Inc. The agreement allows for AT&T eventually to assume a controlling interest. (This is similar in principle, at least, to AT&T’s investment in McCaw Cellular.)

The deal is part of a larger strategy at AT&T to redefine its business and enter new markets, especially networked interactive multimedia entertainment. AT&T is an equity investor in the 3DO company. The company also recently entered into an alliance with Sega and PF. Magic to launch a low-cost platform, code-named The Edge 16, which would allow multiple-user video game play over regular telephone lines.

By terms of the agreement, AT&T will provide an additional $3 million for The ImagiNation Network to support access via The Edge 16 and from the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer.

In addition, AT&T will pay Sierra On-Line $5 million to develop content for the network. The network will be managed by a board of directors representing AT&T, Sierra On-Line and General Atlantic, a private investment firm that recently purchased a 20 percent equity stake. No changes in management at The ImagiNation Network will be made at this time, according to AT&T.

Rick Selvage, AT&T Consumer Products VP and general manager of interactive systems, is responsible for the coordination of development efforts between AT&T and The ImagiNation Network, as well as with other alliances in this area. (Selvage is the former president of SkyPix, the direct broadcast satellite company that’s now in Chapter 11. He joined AT&T in May.)

In the announcement, Bob Kavner, AT&T executive VP and chief executive officer of the newly named Multimedia Products and Services Group, addressed AT&T’s strategy. “This alliance is exactly the type of relationship AT&T’s recent reorganization was meant to promote,” he said. “Our group’s charter is to pursue opportunities — even new industries — that result from the convergence of computers, communications, consumer electronics and entertainment.”

HBO INVESTS IN CRYSTAL DYNAMICS

Home Box Office, a division of Time Warner, is banking on interactive video games having a place in our future. America’s most successful pay-TV service recently invested a rumored $7 million in Crystal Dynamics, a Silicon Valley-based startup that builds shoot ‘em up type driving and flying video games.

Similar to AT&T, which purchased 20 percent of The Sierra Network (see previous item), Time Warner is attempting through such investments to line up the key proven applications that will pay for the new digital technology. And games — based on today’s soaring sales charts — are an obvious winner.

“This deal will secure our position in the evolving multimedia landscape of home entertainment,” said Michael Fuchs, chairman and CEO of HBO, which now holds a 10 percent equity in Crystal Dynamics. “As we see it, Crystal Dynamics will be pioneers in this marketplace, and we’re excited about playing a part in what we believe will be a highly successful venture.”

We doubt Crystal Dynamics will be a pioneer in this marketplace, unless something drastic is about to change. To date, the Palo Alto, CA-based company has only demonstrated titles that are entirely typical of standard-brand video games — mindless and violent. It will be interesting to see if HBO’s involvement in the company — Jeff Bewkes, president and COO of HBO will now sit on Crystal Dynamics’ board — will shift the focus of Crystal Dynamics’ content development.

TIME, DISNEY, COLUMBIA PICS AVAILABLE ON AOL

America Online has done it again. The Vienna, VA-based publicly held online information service, which is recognized as the fastest growing electronic service of its kind in the United States, recently announced that Time magazine and Disney Adventures magazine have joined the growing number of media organizations now distributed through AOL’s media alliance program.

Time, which is expected to go online next month, will be the first general interest magazine to provide an electronic forum in which readers can actually chat with the writers and editors of the publication online. (Though how anyone on a magazine staff has time for such back-and-forth, we don’t understand.) For $9.95 a month, subscribers to Time Online will have five hours of access to the electronic version of the magazine —before it hits the newsstands — the electronic bulletin board, where they can carry on two-way conversations with the staff from Time, and various other services. Additional time (pun intended) will cost $3.50 an hour.

On the lighter side, AOL will also distribute Disney Adventures, magazine for kids (ages 7–14) with a readership of more than 4 million. The publication, which features celebrity interviews with people such as Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson and Cindy Crawford, is expected to be available through AOL this month.

In addition to delivering the actual magazine’s stories online, the Disney Adventures staff plans to hold daily focus groups involving 20 to 30 kids to talk to about newsworthy issues or ideas.

Larger “auditorium” sessions that could potentially include thousands of AOL subscribers are also in the works. Disney plans to use these open forums for special events such as live celebrity interviews and how-to sessions, such as how to publish a magazine, create a comic strip or write articles.

In addition to bringing traditional print media online, AOL, in conjunction with Teleflix, recently launched the Hollywood Online service, which will feature sneak previews of current films.

Subscribers who enter the Hollywood Online forum can download movie posters, free passes and full-motion trailers of hit movies, such as Columbia Pictures’ In the Line of Fire. In addition, individuals who want to know all there is to know about the film can access production notes, still images, and background material on the stars of the film.

According to AOL, upcoming features include clips from Needful Things, adapted from Stephen King’s best-selling novel; Martin Scorsese’s Age of Innocence; and Striking Distance, which features Bruce Willis.

According to some of the more than 170 subscribers who have used the Hollywood Online service, it might be quicker and cheaper to actually go to the movies if you really want to watch the previews. On average, it takes about an hour to download a clip from In the line of Fire.

KERREY CHAMPIONS ELECTRONIC LIBRARIES

U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey (D-Nebraska) introduced a bill to Congress that would allocate money to states to develop electronic library systems. The bill, called the Electronic Library Act of 1993, or S. 626, would encourage states to develop interactive electronic archives and multimedia information systems in conjunction with schools, libraries, local government and the private sector by providing start-up funds to state programs that follow the bill’s guidelines.

Funding would be administered by the National Science Foundation, which would work with other federal agencies, including the Department of Commerce, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Department of Education.

Kerrey called for an allocation of $10 million in fiscal year 1994, $25 million dollars for 1995, and “such sums as may be necessary” in each following year. One of the requirements of the bill is that at least 30 percent of the total cost of the grant be matched by state or private funds in cash or kind.

The electronic libraries envisioned by Kerrey’s proposal would provide computer hardware and software technologies that allow access to educational programs; federal, state and local government information; university research data; and bibliographic information from the Library of Congress. There would also be production facilities for the creation of computer graphics and customized educational software programs.

These systems would be connected to the Internet and the National Research and Education Network (when it is established), and allow dial-in access from homes, schools and community outlets. In addition, each plan granted funds through this bill would commit to participate with the National Science Foundation (NSF) in ensuring interoperability of the different systems.

S. 626 is one of many pieces of legislation that has been introduced to integrate new technologies to the many problems facing this country. In introducing the bill to Congress, Senator Kerrey made clear that this legislation “does not focus exclusively on schools. State electronic libraries will be a resource for schools, businesses and households.”

A critical component to the bill is the access not only to educational information for schools, but also state and local political databases and other information made available through data networks like the Internet, for all citizens.

He was also clear that there are enormous problems in implementing technology today, when communications and technology are changing so quickly, funding for such projects in communities and schools is at its lowest and not enough people understand what can be accomplished with it.

However, “the worst thing we could do is to create a cult of technologists,” he said. “The most important element of this entire program is to make certain that human values determine use. Human beings were meant to be more than efficient shoppers and informed selectors of the latest game or entertainment choice. Communications technology should serve higher needs, too.”

The bill, submitted jointly by Kerrey and Senators Exon, Moynihan, Bradley, Hatfield, Daschle, Bingaman and Lieberman, was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, where it will be debated before moving on to the full Senate.

SONY’S MINIDISC FOR DATA: IT’S ABOUT TIME

Two years after the introduction of the MiniDisc audio system, Sony announced it is developing a data storage system based on the technology. Sony hopes the new data storage medium, called MD DATA, will become a standard in the portable computing and personal communications industry. (We, of course, suggested this when Sony launched the MiniDisc in 1991. See Vol. 1, No. 1.)

The MiniDisc is a 2.5-inch disc that can hold up to 140 megabytes of data, or 2,000 frames of still color images. Both writable and prerecorded versions of MD DATA will be developed, according to Sony.

Three disc types are under development: a premastered MD DATA, called MD-ROM, for electronic publishing and prerecorded software applications; a recordable format, called Rewritable MD, for personal storage applications; and a hybrid disc, called Partially Rewritable MD, for interactive applications.

MD DATA is facing an uphill battle for widespread acceptance. First, Sony must convince third-party optical media and drive manufacturers — that have survived the continual format wars of the computer and consumer electronics industries — to adopt yet another new standard. Sony believes the new format has a strong chance for success based on the company’s success in licensing the MiniDisc audio technology. According to the company, more than 60 hardware and media manufacturers, including Aiwa, Sharp and Sanyo, have licensed the system. (For a review of the MiniDisc audio system, see Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 23.)

The real question is who will buy the new system. In its favor, the medium is compact and stores more than 100 times the capacity of a floppy diskette. As with manufacturers, Sony must convince consumers to adopt MD DATA as a standard.

The medium also has some limitations that may hinder its acceptance. It has a relatively slow data transfer rate of 150 KB per second, meaning access times are slow and it does not support full-motion video. Additionally, the 140-MB data storage capacity will not accommodate much video. (Double-speed CD-ROM drives have data transfer rates of 300 KB per second and 640 MB of storage capacity. However, 5-inch CD-ROMs are considered too large to serve the mobile computing market.)

Sony claims the MD DATA file system will facilitate compatibility between different platforms and operating systems. Once MD DATA system software is installed into the computer, information written onto MD DATA discs can be retrieved and modified by both Macintoshes and PCs, according to the company.

No cost projections for portable MD DATA recorders and players have been released. MiniDisc audio systems sell for a suggested retail price of $749 for a consumer recorder/player unit and $549 for a player system. According to Sony, blank MD DATA discs are expected to cost “slightly higher” than MiniDisc audio, which sells for a suggested retail price of $17.

MOTOROLA AND CABLELABS DEVELOP PCS FOR CABLE

As handheld personal communication devices and mobile computers arrive in markets, the communications and computer industries are exploring possible options for sending wireless data and voice transmissions. The cable industry has been active in research and development of cellular and personal communication services, or PCS, technology that would enable its coaxial, cable-based system to offer such services.

To advance this effort, CableLabs, research and development clearinghouse for the cable industry, is teaming up with Motorola, one of the largest manufacturers of mobile radio equipment in the world, to evaluate alternative solutions for the integration of cellular and personal communications services mobile radio systems with cable’s broadband network.

The project will include theoretical analysis of PCS and cellular technologies as well as field trials in CableLabs’ headquarters in Boulder, CO.

In early stages, the teams will focus on the definition of suitable cable architectures for transmission of PCS baseband and RF signals utilizing fiber-optic and coaxial distribution technologies. Further along in the project, field trials will be conducted to test theoretical findings and to find ways of optimizing performance of cable-specific system configurations. No specific timeline was given for conducting the project.

The term PCS refers to 20 MHz of radio spectrum that the FCC ruled last year would be allocated for personal communication services technologies. The FCC is analyzing a number of different service options, including unlicensed and licensed wireless systems.

Unlicensed or user-supported PCS are envisioned as extensions to LAN networks in offices and universities, and would be limited in transmission range. Licensed PCS would be operated by a communications entity like a cellular phone system, and would work over large geographic areas. (For more on PCS technology, see Vol. 2, No. 6, p. 17.) The FCC has granted licenses to test PCS at a number of locations. Rules for PCS are expected to appear sometime this fall, according to the FCC.

Cable companies are also pursuing cellular technologies as a way to deliver wireless voice and data transmissions. Comcast Corp. is the most active cable company in the area, having purchased several cellular service companies, including Amcell and Metromedia. Comcast offers a range of cellular services and is involved in the Motorola-CableLabs tests as well.

APPLE TO DISTRIBUTE TIME WARNER TITLES

Apple’s Personal Interactive Electronics division signed a deal with the Time Warner Interactive Group (TWIG), formerly Warner New Media, to comarket and distribute the complete line of TWIG titles. The three-year, non-exclusive agreement provides that the companies will work in “a very close collaborative effort” to market TWIG titles alongside Apple products, including Newton and Power CD, says Craig Moody, VP of TWIG.

The distribution agreement involves Apple’s new interactive publishing division, which was launched in June. The division was founded with a mission to “expand the new media market” and develop software for its hardware, according to Ken Wirt, head of the new publishing group.

It was these objectives that attracted Time Warner to the deal. “There was a strong motivation on both sides to do something [together] to get interactive entertainment into the home,” says Moody.

Moody believes the TWIG-Apple pairing has potential in the consumer market because, unlike many new multimedia brands, Time Warner and Apple are names many consumers know and trust. “That’s the type of comfort level that the consumer really needs to see in this market,” says Moody.

Apple plans to distribute TWIG software products through its direct sales force and approximately 2,000 retail outlets. Additionally, Apple will offer the product line to higher education, K–12 markets and the general business market. TWIG’s product line includes 21 titles, with an additional eight to be released in 1993.

TOTAL CLEARANCE FOR MEDIA PRODUCERS

For many multimedia producers, licensing clips of video, sound and other elements to incorporate into their titles is at least as painstaking as designing its look and feel. Negotiating rights to use clips for digital multimedia, a medium not considered at the time the work was created, can be a long and tedious process.

Jill Alofs, former producer at Lucasfilm, founded Mill Valley, CA-based Total Clearance to handle such negotiations for producers. Total Clearance’s services include identification of legal clearance issues involving the copyright holder and most creative talents as well as approaching rights holders and negotiating use rights on the producer’s behalf. At Lucasfilm, Alofs was responsible for identifying and securing necessary approvals for clip rights in connection with a variety of projects.

Alofs sees the rise of complex digital technologies as causing an increased demand for rights negotiators in this area. The trouble with rights acquisition for many multimedia producers is that “you have to reinvent the wheel every time you want to license a new piece of media,” she says. Total Clearance hopes it will circumvent this process.

Although Total Clearance deals with companies of all sizes (Alofs is working on a couple of projects with Lucasfilm), Alofs sees a need for the company’s services among smaller firms in particular. “Unless you are a big company and you have a group that handles this in-house, there is nowhere for the smaller producers to go,” she says.

FLAT PANEL TARIFFS FINALLY LIFTED BY U.S.

The U.S. Commerce Department has revoked the import duty on active-matrix liquid crystal displays used in laptop computers and other equipment. The tariff has been a point of contention among two segments of U.S. businesses — those developing advanced display technology and those, such as Apple, AT&T and IBM, that incorporate displays into their products.

It was levied in February 1991, with the intention of protecting U.S. businesses from foreign competitors (primarily Japanese) that were selling displays in U.S. markets for below cost. (Japanese companies often try to build markets this way.) It was ruled that this practice constituted “dumping” and a 63 percent tariff was imposed.

The immediate result was to shift manufacturing of notebook computers and other devices that use active matrix displays out of the U.S. Laptop computer and other manufacturers who rely on the active matrix technology also argued that the steeper prices they were forced to pay were then passed on to consumers and that this limited their ability to compete abroad.

Only a handful of fledging advanced display manufacturers have emerged in the U.S. And although several companies hope to enter the market, only one American company, OIS Optical Imaging Systems, in Troy, MI, is producing active matrix panels.

In June, an independent report by the Council of Competitiveness concluded that the policy had done as much harm as it had good for U.S. industry.

A final blow came last fall, when OIS, the organization that originally demanded the protection, requested the tariffs be dropped. OIS claimed it could not meet the needs of the laptop computer industry. It suggested that the U.S. redirect its efforts to focus on whether the duties were fair to the computer industry.

NOVELL ACQUIRES FLUENT TO NETWORK MULTIMEDIA

Novell, Inc., a leading computer networking company, recently acquired Fluent, Inc., for $17.5 million in the hopes of building advanced multimedia networks. Fluent, a privately held company in Natick, MA, develops video-networking products that integrate video and audio into networked applications.

Novell plans to leverage Fluent’s Netware-based software products to deliver video over computer networks.

Network services for multimedia will be available in phases beginning in 1994. The first network server-based video playback will integrate existing client-desktop multimedia standards including Apple’s QuickTime and Microsoft’s Video for Windows. Applications written for these environments will be compatible with Novell’s multimedia services. Novell also plans to support desktop video conferencing.

The company claims it is working with Apple, Intel and Microsoft to ensure certain applications developed by these companies can be integrated into its system.

TV ANSWER NOW ‘EON,’ SIGNS ON NEW PROGRAM PARTNERS

In preparation for its proposed 1993 launch, TV Answer, one of the many companies attempting to develop a national, two-way television system, recently changed its name to Eon Corp., an identity it felt would play better among consumers and on TV screens.

In addition, the company, which plans to employ radio spectrum and satellite broadcasts to deliver interactive TV into the home, signed agreements with 40 retailers, banks and television production companies to offer their services on the Eon system. JC Penney, Publishers Clearing House, Meridian Bancorp, Journal Graphics, 800 Flowers and Bose Music Express are among those companies that have agreed to provide content on the Eon system. Eon is hoping these services will entice customers to spend $450–500 for the Eon settop box and remote control. (For a review of the Eon system, see Vol. 1, No. 9, p. 17.)

The latest company to sign on to the Eon system is Intuit, makers of Quicken, the popular personal finance program. The service is expected to allow users to organize personal finances, reconcile and update accounts, check outstanding transactions and review the financial records of selected accounts on their TV screens.

Although details of the service have not been solidified, the way the system is expected to work is that customers will be able to download the financial software onto their settop box, says Paul Sturiale, spokesperson for Reston, VA-based Eon. Numerical data will be entered by clicking on an onscreen calculator pad via a wireless joystick.

Sturiale says the company is looking into transactions, such as banking and bill payments, which could be conducted by sending financial data over the Eon system. The nationwide system conducts such transactions by sending individual users’ responses over specially allocated radio frequencies to a local cell site. At the local cell site, the transmission is beamed via satellite to the Eon transaction processing facility in Reston, VA.

The sending of such sensitive transactions over vast networks has a tendency to make users of such systems nervous (or if it doesn’t, it should). To assuage such concerns, Eon cites its three-step security system. The system relies primarily on a DES encryption scheme, which gives users a personal identification number much like bank ATMs. Second, information is encrypted before it is sent out from individual user sites, versus at a local cell site or a location remote from the user. And third, the system monitors all sites and will automatically shut down an individual unit if tampering is detected.

Launch date for Eon is expected to be announced after Sept. 15, the date that the FCC will begin issuing licenses for Interactive Video and Data Services (IVDS) in nine major cities. These cities include New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Dallas and Houston.

BUSINESS WEEK 1000 ON CD-ROM

On the heels of Newsweek InterActive’s CD-ROM publication, Business Week magazine recently unveiled Multimedia Business Week 1000, a CD-ROM version of its publication highlighting the top 1,000 companies. The CD-ROM, which should be available in August, is a collaboration between Business Week and Standard & Poor’s Information Group, both divisions of McGraw-Hill, and Ehrlich Associates.

For fans of the annual BW 1000 print publication, the CD-ROM title offers all of the original format’s content as well as extensive financial data from S&P’s, and added video, graphics and sound. Approximately 50 percent of the content is provided by S&P’s, according to Mary Hilley, director of planning and new products at Business Week. Ehrlich Associates was responsible for software design.

There are seven “chapters” in the title, including an editor’s introduction, Profile of the BW 1000, BW 1000 Database, Behind the Numbers, 25 Executives to Watch, Executive Roundtable and a multimedia essay. The Executive Roundtable features video interviews with 13 top executives, such as Bob Kavner of AT&T and Stan Jaffee of Paramount. The first multimedia essay is on Chrysler Corporation.

If price is a factor, this product may not be for you. While the Business Week 1000 issue sells for $4.95 on newsstands, Multimedia BW 1000 sells for a suggested retail price of $399. The jump in price is due to the addition of S&P’s data, which sells for premium prices, according to Hilley.

Both Macintosh and PC versions will be available. Primary distribution of the title is through direct mail and catalogs. The title will also be available in limited distribution through bookstores.

Business Week has yet to determine whether the title will be published annually, semi-annually or quarterly. The company is looking into a tiered offering and online distribution. “We’re open to any possibility,” says Hilley.

HOME SERIES TARGETS DO-IT-YOURSELF BUYERS

Multimedia has often been labeled as an answer in search of a question, but it seems that trend is changing with the development and successful launch of interactive do-it-yourself applications such as Design and Build Your Deck, from Palo Alto-based Books That Work (see Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 50). Autodesk, maker of the AutoCAD 3D modeling software that’s built into Design Your Deck, plans to sell titles into that emerging niche as well.

Home Series Release 2, an update to Autodesk’s Retail Products Division’s original 1991 series, was shipped in July. It includes four titles called Home, Kitchen & Bath, Landscape and Deck. Although product manager Tina Alexieff won’t say how many units of the original series were sold, she says it was popular enough to merit the new release.

Similar to Design and Build Your Deck, the Autodesk Home Series is based on a computer-aided design (CAD) construction that allows you to assemble and view objects in two and three dimensions. The package allows for measurements to 1/16 of an inch. The software will not prevent you from building an unsturdy design, however. (Your Deck does.) For this, you will have to rely on a contractor. Basic drawings of designs can be printed to 8½-by-11-inch paper.

Home Series is intended for do-it-yourself home owners and small remodelers who work on several projects a year, but who aren’t inclined to spend the time or money on a full-fledged CAD program. The Home Series can be integrated into all Autodesk CAD programs, however. So if after tinkering with the Home Series you decide to opt for a more powerful upgrade, you can take your original models with you.

A number of features are included in the program, including 550 pre-drawn symbols, such as corner sinks, smoke alarms and pool tables, which can be viewed in up to 64 colors. An undo and redo function remembers your last 25 steps. Printed manuals contain step-by-step instruction on how to use the software and some design tips. Like Your Deck, each of the titles in the Home Series will automatically generate a detailed shopping list of materials needed to complete construction.

The Home Series is available for MS-DOS computers for $69.95. Autodesk is considering developing a Macintosh version as well.

CABLE ACT SAVES USERS, COSTS TCI

The FCC, Congress and customers of Tele-Communications, Inc., the nation’s largest cable operator, are undoubtedly delighted by a recent announcement from TCI that the Cable Act will do just what it was intended to do: decrease prices for customers. TCI estimated consumers would save close to $1 billion annually. The cost to TCI will be as much as $160 million a year, the company said.

“If the intent of Congress and the FCC was not only to limit future cable rate increases, but also to roll back current prices for elements of our basic service, they have succeeded beyond any question,” said Brendan Clouston, TCI COO, at the announcement.

“Judging from TCI’s size and experience with these regulations, the total savings for cable customers nationwide will be very close to the $1 billion target that the FCC set for itself,” he said.

This announcement came the day after the FCC ruled that the Cable Act would begin Sept. 1. The public announcement was intended to assure the public and investors that the setback was temporary.

Barney Schotters, TCI’s senior VP of finance, put the loss of revenue in perspective. TCI’s revenue last year exceeded $4 billion. However, during the last four years TCI has lost some $700 million. In the first quarter of this year, TCI reported its first profit of $52 million.

To offset the $140 to $160 million dollar losses TCI is anticipating, the company says it will aggressively market services, such as pay channels, which are not regulated by the act.

The Cable Act continues to be staunchly opposed by small cable operators. The regulation threatens to wipe out many smaller companies, which often pay more for programming than large operators like TCI and are generally up to their necks in debt as a result.

The companies recently banded together to form a volunteer organization called the Small Cable Business Association to lobby for relief from the regulation. The group claims more than 200 members, and the FCC has stated that it will do its best to address their legitimate concerns.

IT NETWORK ENTERS ITV MARKET

The Dallas-based IT Network, which delivers audiotext services into more than 32 million homes and businesses in the U.S., now has plans to enter the interactive television market. The five-year-old company recently announced that it is developing the IT Network Interactive Channel, which, according to the company, will deliver audio and still-video images to consumers through standard coaxial cable television and telephone networks. It plans to roll out the Interactive Channel by early in 1994.

IT Network is based on technology developed by an IT majority-owned company called Cableshare. When a viewer makes a selection, the system transmits instructions via telephone lines to a programming storage site, where programming is assembled and delivered back to the television set through standard cable television. At this time the service company is still negotiating contracts with prospective content providers as well as companies developing settop box technology. The company declined to comment on which of the settop box manufacturers, if any, it is in discussion with.

While still in the early stages, the IT Network says it is exploring several ways to handle transactions and requests for information. The company says that feedback from trial sites has shown that consumers do not want to conduct transactions for expensive items, such as airline tickets, through their televisions without talking to an agent.

To that end, the company is working on linking certain services to phone service, similar to the way QVC operates today. “That’s kind of the low-tech way, but it’s what consumers want right now,” says Patrick Peters, director of product development at IT Network.

IT is conducting trials of the Interactive Channel with Booth Communications in Birmingham, MI, and, beginning this fall with Sammons Communications in Denton, TX. A third trial with an undisclosed party is also set to start in this year, according to the company.

To date, IT Network has signed preliminary agreements with Ameritech Publishing to develop electronic Yellow Pages; Freedom Newspaper to develop electronic advertisements; Aulstads, a golf cataloger, to develop an electronic catalog; and Wunderman, Cato, Johnson as well as Foote Cone Belding to develop interactive advertising.

The company’s most recent agreement is with Official Airline Guides Inc. (OAG), a clearinghouse for travel and travel-related data. According to the companies, they are developing an interactive travel information, reservations and ticketing network that will allow consumers to compare airline flight and fare information, as well as receive still images and audio descriptions of hotels and resorts.

The monthly cost to consumers for the Interactive Channel will probably be around $2, according to a company spokesperson.

SONY’S VISCA VIDEO PROTOCOL MOVING FORWARD

Sony Electronics is continuing to move its Video System Control Architecture (VISCA) protocol forward with an agreement with Microsoft, as well as a new lower-priced hardware offering. The VISCA protocol, announced more than two years ago, is a platform-independent device-control language that allows two-way communication between personal computers and consumer video devices.

Microsoft plans to incorporate the Sony video protocol in the Windows operating system via a Media Control Interface device driver. An MCI-VISCA driver will allow consumer camcorders and VCRs to be used as components of Windows applications, such as Video for Windows.

The Microsoft MCI-VISCA driver should be available in late August from Sony’s Bulletin Board Service at (408) 955-5107. There is no charge to download the driver software.

Apple, Macromedia, Diva and 50 others support VISCA within their products, and nearly 100 developers signed up to work with the technology, according to Joyce Chung, special markets manager for Sony’s Computer Peripheral Products Division.

To take advantage of the VISCA functionality, users must have one of three Sony products: the Vbox, priced at $230, which enables computers to connect to the consumer devices; or the Hi8 or 8mm Vdeck, priced above $1,000, which allows advanced editing functionality. These products interface with computers to convert VISCA commands to LANC control, a command language understood by most Sony consumer video products.

Sony’s Computer Peripheral Products Division recently announced the Vdeck 500 8mm VCR, which will be available in September for $1,099. It is aimed at lower-end desktop users who have source tapes in 8mm format and want advanced editing capabilities, such as frame accuracy.

The Vdeck 500 can be controlled through software with VISCA protocols or used as a standalone product. The drive has inputs for other video and audio devices as well. VISCA allows up to seven devices to be daisy-chained through the serial port of a computer.

The Vdeck is optimized for 8mm format, and has a resolution slightly better than standard VHS video tape quality (250 lines of horizontal resolution as compared to approximately 220 lines for VHS). It will also play back Hi8 tapes.

The other video deck in this line, the CVD-1000 Hi8 Vdeck, is designed for Hi8 format. It has 400 lines of horizontal resolution. This product is intended for the high-end video editing market. The price was recently lowered from more than $2,000 to $1,740. (For more on the Hi8 deck, see Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 16.)

CORRECTION

In our coverage of Digital World (see Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 49), we incorrectly stated that HyperBole Studios had been purchased by Media Vision. The two companies have recently signed an agreement for HyperBole to move to Media Vision’s Seattle-based offices and produce several interactive media titles under the new Media Vision label; however, Hyperbole remains an independent multimedia publishing house. The terms of the agreement between the two companies are not being disclosed. We regret the error.