 | July 1, 2000 |
Blurred vision
Partnership further obscures TV/PC distinctions
The lines between the PC and TV have become less clear with the just-revealed Microsoft-Thomson-DirecTV partnership. The promised result will be an RCA DirecTV receiver—due for the holiday season—which integrates dual tuners, a hard drive, and PVR (personal video recorder) capabilities, plus Microsoft's Ultimate TV (formerly WebTV) services.
The dual-tuner design allows simultaneous PVR operation and viewing as well as picture-in-picture capabilities, although the unit can't separately output two pictures. Moreover, the PVR function is limited to DirecTV programming; the unit can't encode or record programming from other sources.
DirecTV will provide more than 500 hours per week of interactive programming, allowing users to respond to promotions and even play along with game shows. The system will support Internet access and email through an integrated 56-kbit/sec modem. The price has yet to be set, although consumers will likely see a palatable purchase price because they'll be signing on for services.
—Maury Wright
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