Jon Iverson

A new country has taken the lead position in the modern media world. Is it in Europe or Asia? Africa? Australia? Nope, the newest media moguls on the block reside on the small South Pacific group of atolls known as Tuvalu.

For decades, <A HREF="http://www.disney.com">Disney</A> has dominated the animated feature-film business. Recently, Dreamworks SKG, which scored a hit with this summer's <I>Saving Private Ryan</I>, jumped into the fray with the film <I>Antz</I>, about the life of an idealistic ant who feels trapped amoung his colony's soldiers and workers. Considered better than any other animated feature released so far this year, <I><A HREF="http://www.antz.com/">Antz</A></I> needed an early start out of the gate, as Disney had planned a big splash for their own insect story.

The annual Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) show has just vacated New Orleans, leaving several interesting announcements for home-theater fans in its wake. Custom-installation products and home-automation technologies usually cram the aisles, but among the in-wall speakers and specialized wiring systems were plenty of new consumer-electronics products.

Video-on-demand (VOD) got another boost last week when <A HREF="http://www.mediahawk.com">Concurrent Computer Corporation</A> and <A HREF="http://www.sciatl.com">Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.</A> announced that they have sealed their agreement to jointly develop and supply "full-function true VOD systems." The agreement finalizes a letter of intent announced in May and follows an April 1998 VOD agreement between Scientific-Atlanta and SeaChange International (profiled in a <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?138">previous story</A>).