|  Oct 15, 2000

VHS-quality video streaming at modem data rates may be coming your way shortly after the first of the year, if Campbell, California&ndash;based <A HREF="http://www.motiontv.com/">MotionTV</A> can make good on its promise. More than 20 months in development, the technology is the jewel in the crown of the Silicon Valley company, which claims that it will deliver full-screen video at data rates below 200 kilobytes per second (kbps).

 |  Oct 15, 2000

Long heralded as one of the most promising video technologies, the flat-panel display could get a big boost from a recent agreement between <A HREF="http://www.pixelworks.com/">Pixelworks, Inc.</A> and <A HREF="http://www.analog.com/">Analog Devices, Inc.</A> to integrate their respective technologies in a new generation of products.

 |  Oct 15, 2000

Interactive TV (iTV) is about to become a reality, according to a new study released by <A HREF="http://www.StrategisGroup.com">The Strategis Group</A>. The study, "Interactive TV: Platforms, Content, and Services," projects that, by 2005, the majority of US households will be iTV-capable, and that active usage will reach over 41 million&mdash;a dramatic rise from the 1 million households using the service this year.

 |  Oct 08, 2000

Another DVD hurdle is jumped: 10 million DVD-Video players have now officially shipped to market, according to the <A HREF="http://www.dvdinformation.com">DVD Entertainment Group</A> (DVDEG). The announcement was made last week at the annual DVD Forum meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona.

 |  Oct 01, 2000

High-Definition Television is getting a big boost this season, thanks to a partnership between <A HREF="http://www.panasonic.com/">Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company</A> and the <A HREF="http://www.cbs.com/">Columbia Broadcasting System</A>. Seventeen of the network's 18 weekly comedy and drama shows will appear in the new format, according to a schedule released Wednesday, September 27. A sponsorship from Panasonic is making possible an almost-complete schedule of primetime HDTV programming from CBS, a unit of media conglomerate <A HREF="http://www.viacom.com/">Viacom, Inc.</A>

 |  Oct 01, 2000

Sales and rentals of digital video discs (DVDs) are exploding this year and will lead to a resurgence of growth for the overall retail movie market in the decade to come, according to a series of reports prepared by <A HREF="http://www.adamsmediaresearch.com">Adams Media Research</A> (AMR), and published in the bi-weekly <I>Hollywood Aftermarket</I> newsletter. The report adds that, after just three years on the market, DVD players are on track to penetrate 12% of US homes by the end of this year, making this the fastest rollout of a consumer entertainment technology since black-and-white television in the 1940s.

 |  Sep 24, 2000

If the first week of Olympic Games coverage is any indication of <A HREF="http://www.nbc.com/">NBC</A>'s performance in Sydney, the best the network can hope for in the race for viewers is a bronze medal. The network's carefully orchestrated tape-delayed broadcasts aren't pulling in sports fans the way live action from Atlanta did in 1996. Even the Barcelona games in 1992 attracted more viewers, according to polls conducted during the first week of the Sydney Games.

 |  Sep 24, 2000

Factory shipments of video products reached 4.9 million units for the month of August, an 8% increase from last month, according to figures released recently by the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA). The organization says that year-to-date growth resulted in double-digit gains that boosted dealer sales to 38.7 million units, a 13% increase over 1999 figures.

 |  Sep 24, 2000

Direct-broadcast-satellite service <A HREF="http://www.echostar.com/">EchoStar Communications Corporation</A> will be first in line to buy Hughes Electronics Corporation, if parent company General Motors decides to spin it off. Hughes operates EchoStar's competitor, <A HREF="http://www.directv.com/">DirecTV</A>. The acquisition would create a virtual monopoly in the skies, according to analysts who attended the <A HREF="http://www.sbca.org/">Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association</A>'s SkyForum conference in New York on Thursday, September 21.

 |  Sep 10, 2000

Thanks to an agreement announced September 8 by <A HREF="http://www.philips.com/">Philips Electronics NV</A> and software giant <A HREF="http://www.microsoft.com/">Microsoft Corporation</A>, "Enhanced TV" is coming your way. "Philips will license Microsoft TV software and collaborate with Microsoft on the development of a range of set-top boxes based on the Microsoft TV software and Philips Nexperia&ndash;based hardware platform," said the joint press release.

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