Computer Industry Report articles from February 1996

Computer Industry Report archives from February 1996

Business burgeons on the Net: a shakeout looms.
February 15, 1996... 1995 will be remembered as the year the Internet carved out permanent space in the cyber landscape of mainstream computer users. The number of active World Wide Web users surged from 1 to 8 million. Much of that growth came in the last half of...

The IDC Internet Commerce Market Model. (International Data Corporation)
February 15, 1996... To address the question of how commerce over the Internet will evolve, IDC has developed the industry's most complete and comprehensive model of Internet usage dynamics and demographics: The IDC Internet Commerce Market Model. The model is...

Mass market interactive services: modest gains, irregular traffic patterns, slow speed ahead.
February 29, 1996... In 1995, video-on-femand (VOD) was heralded as the first curl of a new wave of lucrative consumer-targeted interactive services. Trials and alliances were set up to guide transport providers, managers, and server suppliers through the...

AT&T, the technology resource.
February 29, 1996... Although AT&T is a major enabling force in the several video dial-tone (VDT) and interactive trials under way, its focus recently has been on other areas, namely wireless, satellite, and global-type networks such as the Internet. AT&T's...

AT&T, the technology partner.
February 29, 1996... AT&T's technology leadership has led to its featured role in several new interactive trials. AT&T and Samsung Electronics signed agreements to support the integration of the Microsoft interactive television (MITV) platform in tests and...

Bell Atlantic.
February 29, 1996... During 1995, Bell Atlantic concluded its Stargazer video-on-demand market trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. Currently there are an estimated 1,000 subscribers. The Bell Atlantic Video Services (BVS) trial was conducted over HFC, using...

Ameritech. (Ameritech Corp.'s interactive TV service development)
February 29, 1996... Ameritech's initiatives have been dogged by delays. The schedule for interactive trials has moved from the end of 1994 to early 1996. The initial rollout continues to be based on hybrid fiber/coax (HFC), using analog signals, but will migrate...

US WEST. (U S WEST Inc.'s interactive TV services development)
February 29, 1996... During 1995, US West went through a number of changes in its approach toward the evolution of its own interactive trials. In May, US West asked the FCC to suspend review of its interactive network plans until its market trial in Omaha,...

GOtv: US West, Orlando Sentinel plan interactive TV guide.
February 29, 1996... US West Interactive Services Group and the Orlando Sentinel will launch an interactive entertainment guide called GOtv in November 1995. Customers of Time Warner's Full Service Network will have access to previews of movies playing at local...

Pacific Bell. (video-on-demand trial)
February 29, 1996... Pacific Bell will begin its first VOD trial in San Jose, California, in the fourth quarter of 1995. The plan is to attract up to 200 subscribers. Commercial offerings are planned for the first quarter of 1996 in San Jose and San Diego,...

GTE. (GTE Telephone Operations Inc.'s video dial-tone network)
February 29, 1996... While the deployment of GTE Telephone Operations' video dial-tone network is proceeding in both Florida and California, the final form of the services to be provided remains unresolved. GTE is forging ahead with establishing the infrastructure...

BellSouth.
February 29, 1996... BellSouth originally planned to begin its interactive video services trial in Chamblee, Georgia, in mid-1995, but the rollout has been slower than expected due to the ongoing evolution of technological, financial, and regulatory issues. The...

Frontier Corporation. (abandonment of interactive TV trials)
February 29, 1996... Frontier (formerly Rochester Telephone) abandoned its video dial-tone trials after only four months, even though the FCC had approved the trial for another six months. Approximately $1 million was invested in the venture with USA Video with...

SNET. (Southern New England Telephone Co.'s interactive video services)
February 29, 1996... Southern New England Telephone (SNET) initiated its interactive video trial in April 1994 by offering video dial-tone services to 1,250 homes in West Hartford, Connecticut. The ongoing trial has gained 350 subscribers and offers traditional...

NYNEX entertainment and information services. (NYNEX Corp.'s video dial-tone system)
February 29, 1996... NYNEX concluded the first trial of its VDT system in Manhattan in July 1995 and plans to conduct a new trial of an advanced digital technology system in 1996. The initial analog trial, which began in January 1994, included 50 customers and...

Interactive television trials.
February 29, 1996... The promise of the television as an interactive gateway into the home has fueled investment by IT suppliers in the segment of the market known as interactive television. Beginning in 1995 and continuing through 1996, high-profile trials have...

The interactive TV conundrum: melding attractive price points with sustainable profits.
February 29, 1996... Time Warner, with the much-hyped test of its Fur Service Network in Orlando, and TCI/Microsoft, in the Seattle test, expect that consumers win pay an extra $50 per month for advanced television services such as customized news programs, movies on...