Big Blue Ramps Up for Digital Assault on Hollywood.IN the race to help Hollywood go digital, clear a lane for IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) Corp. Big Blue's local outfit has been ramping up, unveiling an array of high-tech products that it is targeting at the entertainment and media industry. "Media and entertainment hasn't been a focus area or one that they've talked about," said Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. (NYSE: BSC) is the parent company of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., one of the largest global investment banks and securities trading and brokerage firms in the world. & Co. analyst Andrew Neff. "But IBM's whole agenda is to identify new markets that they can target." Since April, the Armonk, N.Y.-based company has rolled out a range of new products and services -- including digital encoders, storage drives, flat-panel screens and software products like IBM Media Production Suite -- that are targeted at entertainment and media companies. The goal is to become a high-tech supermarket to an industry that is poised to go digital. "IBM is really a portfolio company with a hardware and software piece, services and consulting and a technology piece," said Steve Canepa, a vice president of IBM's local Media and Entertainment Industry division. "We are applying that entire portfolio to the media and entertainment industry." IBM becomes an attractive choice for fiscally cautious entertainment and media company chiefs at a time when most tech providers are struggling to make ends meet. Besides ongoing customers in L.A. like Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin For the former company, see . Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a leading multinational aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. Corp. and Edison International Edison International (NYSE: EIX) is a public utility holding company based in Rosemead, California. Its subsidiaries include Southern California Edison, and un-regulated non-utility assets Edison Mission Energy, a power producer, and Edison Capital. , IBM is now getting the attention of media moguls. It announced last month that AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. Time Warner's CNN CNN or Cable News Network Subsidiary company of Turner Broadcasting Systems. It was created by Ted Turner in 1980 to present 24-hour live news broadcasts, using satellites to transmit reports from news bureaus around the world. will use Media Production Suite to digitize To convert an image or signal into digital code by scanning, tracing on a graphics tablet or using an analog to digital conversion device. 3D objects can be digitized by a device with a mechanical arm that is moved onto all the corners. the news channel's vast videotape library. In March, IBM announced its partnership with NeTune Communications, a broadband provider funded by Hughes Electronics Corp. that uses digital satellite and fiber optic networks to move and manage digital content for Hollywood. IBM took an undisclosed equity stake in NeTune. The alliance includes a five-year outsourcing agreement in which NeTune will pay IBM about $112 million for a wide range of Blue technology, including hardware, software, storage and tech support. IBM will also lend marketing support to NeTune. "We're not in the media business," Canepa said. "We're here to enable. Our customers are aware of that. We're helping them extend their brand." |
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