MoreCom Demonstrates Enhancements to Cable-Friendly Broadband Internet Over TV and Enhanced TV Service.CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 14, 1999-- Supports More Settop & Headend Platforms - Showcases Best of Breed Content - Provides Intuitive User Interface for Interactivity MoreCom Inc. (www.MoreCom.com) announced today that they will demonstrate the latest version of their innovative service for Internet Over TV and Enhanced TV Enhanced TV (ETV) is one example of interactive TV. It is used in particular in reference to Two-Screen Solutions TV + PC services. Generally users of these ETV services have their TV and computer in the same room, and navigate their web browser to a particular program-specific Web in the MoreCom booth No. 1954 at Cable '99, the tradeshow of the National Cable Television Association, in Chicago this week. The demonstration will showcase new features and enhancements in MoreCom's cable-friendly service that provide increased flexibility and deployability for MSOs and improved content and navigation for users. The MoreCom service delivers high-speed Internet See broadband. access, Email, video-on-demand, electronic program guide, and Enhanced TV to digital settop boxes over a digital video network. The service leverages MoreCom's unique patented client and server technology to provide a low-cost, scalable, standards-based solution for delivery, processing, and presentation of HTML-based Internet content through an end-to-end digital TV platform that is OpenCable and DVB-compliant. The MoreCom platform includes servers in the headend to support Webcasting, Internet Access See how to access the Internet. , Web-based Email Web-based email or webmail is a term referring to an e-mail service intended to be primarily accessed via a web browser, as opposed to through an application such as Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, Mozilla's Thunderbird or Apple's Mail. , Web-based Video-On-Demand, and Enhanced TV. An efficient, downloadable HTML HTML in full HyperText Markup Language Markup language derived from SGML that is used to prepare hypertext documents. Relatively easy for nonprogrammers to master, HTML is the language used for documents on the World Wide Web. browser in the set-top enables users to watch TV at the same time they surf the Web, read or write email, or use interactive services. It supports enhanced TV applications with simultaneous display of TV and HTML content as specified by ATVEF (Advanced Television Enhancement Forum) A consortium of broadcast, cable and computer companies founded in 1998 that developed the ATVEF Enhanced Content Specification, an HTML and JavaScript-based format for adding content to interactive TV. (Advanced Television Enhancement Forum) standards. Building on the balanced, scalable architecture they originally introduced in late 1998, MoreCom has added specific improvements - support for additional settop box platforms (Scientific-Atlanta's Explorer(R) 2000) and headend platforms (Harmonic Inc.), and refinements in how computing resources are allocated between server and client - to make the MoreCom service more flexible and deployable for MSOs. These improvements give cable operators wider choice in the number of platforms on which they can deploy the MoreCom service and support integration of the MoreCom service in deployments where different settop models with differing levels of capability are deployed in the same system. Support for mixed settop deployment enables cable operators to provide compelling Internet-based services on today's digital settop boxes and to extend their offering to tomorrow's next generation of settops with no risk of obsolescence ob·so·les·cent adj. 1. Being in the process of passing out of use or usefulness; becoming obsolete. 2. Biology Gradually disappearing; imperfectly or only slightly developed. . For users, the improved MoreCom service includes new broadband content from content providers representing a broad array of entertainment, news, and information. To navigate the content, MoreCom is also unveiling a new user interface that is easy and intuitive to use. The MoreCom user interface showcases MoreCom's unique capabilities, including Picture-In-Web display (TV and Internet at the same time), Enhanced TV, and Web-based Video-On-Demand. For example, the MoreCom Enhanced Electronic Program Guide (EEPG EEPG European Engineering Planning Group ) provides video clips to preview programs from the guide. The user interface features a portal with up-to-the-minute news and weather and links to primary web channels for news, sports, business, entertainment, and life populated by brand-name content providers. The MoreCom portal also includes advertising opportunities and an area for co-branding with the MSO (1) (Multiple System Operator) Typically refers to a cable TV organization that owns more than one cable system, but it may refer to an operator of only one system. . Content on the portal can be customized for the MSO to address the localized needs and interests of their subscribers. With the improvements in the latest release, MoreCom demonstrates more clearly than ever that they are the most cable-friendly Internet Over TV solution available: -- MoreCom's services don't draw viewers away from watching TV. By enabling display of TV and Web content at the same time, they provide an enhancement - not an alternative - to core video programming. -- The MoreCom service was designed from the ground up by experts in digital cable TV, not force fit from existing PC-based Internet technologies. -- The MoreCom service provides a low-cost, easy-to-deploy solution that delivers non-video-based services for immediate ROI (Return On Investment) The monetary benefits derived from having spent money on developing or revising a system. In the IT world, there are more ways to compute ROI than Carter has liver pills (and for those of you who never heard of that expression, it means a lot). on HFC 1. (networking) HFC - Hybrid Fiber Coax. 2. (hardware) HFC - hydrofluorocarbon. plant upgrades. -- The MoreCom service leverages the full capabilities of the digital CATV (Community Antenna TV) The original name for cable TV. It used a single antenna at the highest location in the community in order to deliver a quality signal to homes in areas with hilly terrain or other interference. network and set-top box The cable TV box that sits on "top" of the TV "set," although it is often located several feet away in an equipment rack. The set-top box descrambles the premium channels and provides a tuner for the higher cable numbers that very old TVs did not support. in a balanced client/server architecture that scales easily and does not require huge investments in additional headend gear. -- The MoreCom service integrates easily with the digital cable system, including headend, subscriber management, and conditional access systems. -- The small footprint client software is downloadable for no truckrolls and does not require extra memory in the set-top. -- A customizable MSO home page showcases localized news, sports, and weather content. o The MoreCom technology embraces open standards to provide a solution that is deployable today and will remain viable tomorrow. About MoreCom MoreCom Inc., a privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania Horsham is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 14,779 at the 2000 census. Horsham is located entirely within Horsham Township, Pennsylvania. , is positioned to be one of the world's leading providers of Broadband Internet See broadband. Over TV and Enhanced TV delivered through the digital cable TV infrastructure. MoreCom was founded in April 1997 by a team of pioneers in broadband digital TV, interactive settops, and network software to develop open standard compliant products that enable the convergence of broadband digital television and Internet technologies. As a result of MoreCom's innovative approach, their technology enables much more than TV-based high-speed Internet access and Email. By exploiting the strengths of both the digital TV and Internet platforms, MoreCom has enabled a new class of services that are more tightly integrated with the Web than anything previously available through TV, and more viewer-centered, entertainment-oriented, and video-rich than anything previously available through the Web. To schedule a demonstration at Cable'99, please contact Debbie Noll at 312-791-7761 or Terri Swartz at 215-882-2576. MoreCom is a trademark of MoreCom Inc. Harmonic is a trademark of Harmonic Inc. Scientific-Atlanta and Explorer are registered trademarks of Scientific-Atlanta. |
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