WebTV founder introduces new set-top technology.

Steve Perlman, the founder of WebTV who sold his business to Microsoft for $400 million four years ago, is back in the game with new set-top technology and another gamble on interactive television.

At CES in January, Perlman introduced the Moxi Media Center, a multifunctional box which attaches to a TV and offers a number of entertainment features: a hard drive to store digital music; a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) with 60 hours of programming storage; a DVD player; and a cable/DSL modem and Internet gateway with a built-in firewall.

Perhaps even more important, the Moxi MC is not simply a stand-alone device. Using Moxi's Media Center Extensions (small, router-like devices), it is designed to be networked to as many as four televisions--each with its own audio/video stream--via cabling or a wireless home network. The company also announced a deal with satellite television provider EchoStar Communications to put the boxes in homes by 2003--the Moxi MC will not be sold directly to consumers, at least not initially.

While the broad array of features is certainly a first for such devices, much depends on whether (and when) DBS and cable providers will buy in to third-party set-top box technology. The partnership with EchoStar is a promising development, but Moxi will need support from major cablecos like AOL Time Warner and Comcast for its version of interactive TV to take off.

In addition, Moxi is likely to be fighting off incursions by deep-pocketed rivals within the cable industry itself (AOL Time Warner in particular), as well as outsiders like Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp., both of whom are expected to go after this market via their gaming consoles.

No OEM pricing for either the Moxi MC or the Media Center Extensions had been announced at press time.

www.moxi.com