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Face Off: Step-Up DVD Players
Mike Wood  |  Feb 28, 2000  |  First Published: Feb 29, 2000
Mike Wood Conducts a Five-Way Face Off of Step-Up DVD Players. Christmas may be over, but tax day is only a few months away. You know what that means? Refunds! Assuming you file your tax return correctly (or cheat), you should be getting some money back, and we know just the way to spend it: Buy a new DVD player! This format has skyrocketed by leaps and bounds. By this, I don't mean the typical "Well gee, DVD has started off better than CD's or VHS's launch," even though it has. I'm talking the "according to one source, DVD sales are up at least 300 percent over last year" kind of skyrocketing. Three-hundred percent! Everyone else is obviously doing it, so why aren't you? If you haven't witnessed the startling visual and audio clarity available with the shiny little discs, you need to jump on the bandwagon.
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Audio Video News
EchoStar Teams up with OpenTV for All-purpose Set-top Box
Barry Willis  |  Feb 27, 2000

Versatile, low-cost set-top boxes are coming soon, thanks to a joint venture announced February 23 by digital television software developer <A HREF="http://www.opentv.com/">OpenTV</A> and direct-broadcast satellite service <A HREF="http://www.echostar.com/">EchoStar Communications Corporation</A>. The device will incorporate both interactive features and a hard-disk recorder, and may be rolled out by EchoStar's DISH Network by the end of the year.

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Audio Video News
DISH Network Begins Local Feeds via Satellite in Florida
Barry Willis  |  Feb 27, 2000

Television viewers in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area of Florida now have a real choice between their local cable system and direct broadcast satellite services. On February 21, <A HREF="http://www.echostar.com/">EchoStar Communications Corporation</A> announced that its <A HREF="http://www.dishnetwork.com/">DISH Network</A> had begun offering local WFTS-ABC (Channel 28), WTSP-CBS (Ch. 10), WFLA-NBC (Ch. 8), and WTVT-Fox (Ch. 13) by satellite television to 10 counties in the region.

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Audio Video News
Cable Systems and DTV: Happily Ever After?
 |  Feb 27, 2000

More than two-thirds of American television viewers get their programming by cable. They may soon be able to receive digital television signals over their existing systems, if all goes according to an agreement signed February 23 by the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> and the <A HREF="http://ncta.org/">National Cable Television Association</A>.

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Audio Video News
Companies Demonstrate Real-Time DVD+RW Recording
 |  Feb 27, 2000

In a unique collaboration, <A HREF="http://www.hp.com">Hewlett-Packard</A>, <A HREF="www.news.philips.com">Philips</A>, <A HREF="http://www.ricoh.com">Ricoh</A>, <A HREF="http://www.sony.co.jp">Sony</A>, and <A HREF="http://www.yamaha.com">Yamaha</A> took part in a demonstration at last week's CeBIT show in Hanover, Germany, intended to publicly reinforce their commitment to 4.7 Gigabyte DVD+RW technology. Thomson Multimedia also revealed its support of DVD+RW technology at CeBIT.

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Audio Video News
Video Chain Reveals What Folks Wear When Returning Videos
Jon Iverson  |  Feb 27, 2000

Most of us have had to return videos to the rental store, sometimes making a mad dash late at night while still in our loungewear or worse. But if you thought nobody was noticing, think again.

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Audio Video News
Sage to Acquire Faroudja
Jon Iverson  |  Feb 27, 2000

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.sageinc.com/">Sage</A> (a supplier of digital display processors) and <A HREF="http://www.faroudja.com">Faroudja</A> (a developer of video processing technologies) announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for Faroudja to merge into a wholly owned subsidiary of Sage in a stock-for-stock transaction. The stockholders of Faroudja will receive approximately 3.9 million shares of Sage common stock, valued at approximately $155 million. The transaction, which will be accounted for as a purchase by Sage, has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close in the quarter ending June 30, 2000, subject to approval by each company's shareholders.

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Audio Video News
America Online and Blockbuster Get Cozier
Barry Willis  |  Feb 20, 2000

Welcome to <I>Mating Dance of the Giants</I>, brought to you by <A HREF="http://www.aol.com/">America Online</A> and <A HREF="http://www.blockbuster.com/">Blockbuster Video</A>. The world's largest Internet service provider (soon to be AOL Time Warner) and the world's largest video sales-and-rental chain are expanding the symbiotic relationship begun a few months ago. The two behemoths announced February 17 that their multi-year alliance will grow in several directions, all of them intended to cement their already unshakable grip on the marketplace.

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Audio Video News
Philips Restructures Consumer Electronics Division
 |  Feb 20, 2000

Five 'transparent businesses' will emerge from a reorganization of <A HREF="http://www.philips.com/">Philips Electronics</A>' consumer electronics operations, the company announced in late February. "The new organization will allow the businesses to react more quickly to their distinct market conditions and will allow for more flexibility in the structure," a company press release stated.

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Audio Video News
TDK and iFire Join to Develop, Market New Flat Display Technology
Jon Iverson  |  Feb 20, 2000

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.ifire.com/">iFire Technology</A>, a subsidiary of Westaim, announced it has entered into a $25 million strategic partnership agreement with <A HREF="http://www.tdk.com/">TDK</A> for technology collaboration and production of iFire-based flat-panel displays. iFire claims to be developing an inorganic electroluminescent display technology, with applications targeting consumer markets and the automotive display sector.

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