Samsung, Digeo in Cable Box Deal
Posted on: Monday, 4 April 2005, 06:00 CDT
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Samsung Electronics Co. will use Digeo Inc.'s next-generation Moxi Media Center technology in cable TV boxes that the companies say would rival the features of personal computers designed for living room entertainment centers.
The Moxi II Media Center, which will be available in the fall, will combine the functions of an advanced video recorder, jukebox, photo viewer and Internet telephone in a single unit. Cable providers, however, ultimately decide what features to offer.
To bring down the price and improve performance, the latest version incorporates a chip that integrates several functions previously handled by multiple chips. Digeo also has improved the graphics and bumped up the speed of the microprocessor from 733 megahertz to 1 gigahertz.
"The first product ... is the first in this family," said Michael Markman, Digeo's senior director of marketing. "But the architecture, the design will allow for much further growth."
Next year, the boxes will be able to serve up video and other features to multiple televisions around the house. Unlike the standalone video recorders made by TiVo Inc., an existing home network is not required.
Moxi also can record high-definition television, unlike most TiVos.
Cable box makers face stiff competition from PC companies that are now selling entertainment PCs running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP Media Center Edition. The latest PC models now support multiple-room viewing as well as HDTV.
Both Charter Communications Inc. and Adelphia Communications Inc. have agreed "in principle" to use the Digeo-based Samsung boxes. The nation's No. 1 cable company, Comcast Corp., is testing Digeo's first-generation Moxi platform in Huntsville, Ala.
Digeo is backed by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc. Allen also is chairman of Charter.
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
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