While Gateway 2000 is grabbing the headlines and WebTV is lining up backers, a small start-up is laying the groundwork for a national presence at retail.

NetTV's WorldVision 2900, which retails for anywhere between $2,995 and $3,295, will soon be on the shelves of Micro Center, CompUSA and Computer City, according to Kirk Keys, director of channel sales and marketing.

Since September, the three-piece keyboard, console and 29-inch monitor set has been available at Fry's on the West coast and Communication Expo in Dallas.

NetTV also is lining up some big-name partners, Keys said, and plans to take over a smaller company that makes software for PCTV applications.

With RCA's Genius Theater release still months away, WorldVision 2900's only direct competition in the PCTV niche is Gateway 2000's Destination, which also hit retail in September.

For several reasons, NetTV feels it has a superior product to Destination. Among them:WorldVision 2900 has a flat screen, Destination's is rounded; WorldVision 2900 has a switch on its remote for straight TV transmission, Destination does not; WorldVision 2900 has a built-in stereo speaker system, Destination offers a separate, $700 solution; and, most importantly, Keys said, WorldVision 2900 offers a versatile platform-users can plug it into cable, ISDN or POTS, and also add a DVD player or a digital satellite dish.

NetTV also has plans to add new software functions to the next version of its product (to be released in Q1 1997) that would let users interact with TV in unprecedented ways. For instance, viewers may be able to grab a URL that is advertised on TV and go immediately to its corresponding Web site. NetTV is also working on improving the digital monitor picture, which suffers in comparison to the standard analog TV picture, and plans to add a videophone feature. NetTV is also keeping up with software technology on the PC side with support of Microsoft's ActiveX, which enhances Web pages.

Company founder and chief executive officer Ron Perkes said the company will provide the software upgrade free to users.

Hardware improvements include streamlining the console box and adding 33-inch and 37-inch monitors. Hardware upgrades will not be available for existing users, Perkes explained.

Perkes said he came up with the idea for WorldVision when he was walking through an airport, looking at one of the flight information monitors. "I thought there must be something better we can use them for," said Perkes.

Perkes, a computer designer by trade, designed a prototype in 1994 and formed a company around it. But the company didn't swing into gear until earlier this year, when it started ramping up the WorldVision 2900.

The current model features upgradable Pentium processors from 120MHz to 200MHz, 16M bytes to 32M bytes of RAM, an 8X CD-ROM drive, a 33.6K-bps modem and 1G byte to 1.6 G bytes hard drives. The monitor features a 125-channel cable-ready tuner and a Thomson dark-tube CRT that provides twice the resolution of a conventional TV CRT, the company said.

With an infrared (IR) keyboard remote, the system presents a viable alternative to new Web TV consoles offered by Sony and Philips. But those systems retail for about one-tenth the price of WorldVision.

Perkes said Web TVs are an exciting alternative to conventional "dumb" TVs, but, ultimately, consumers will find them limiting. "Once you get that, you're locked into a browser and you have to go through their ISP," Perkes said. "There's a lot of excitement about Web TVs, but I don't think people know what they can and can't do."

Perkes is also undaunted by Thomson's looming PCTV release. "I understand it's going to be more high end," he said. "Besides, we have a good relationship with Thomson."

Other competitors in the Internet/TV market include Sega's Saturn Net Link, an Internet-cruising game console shipped Oct. 31, for $199; Pippin@World, a similar product expected to be released by Bandai Digital Entertainment this month for about $700; Internet TVs without built-in, full-fledged PCs from Sharp, Mitsubishi and Samsung for early Q1 1997; and Zenith's NetVision, another Internet TV, due later this year for $1,099.

Other products include Toshiba's high-end Infinia PC, which has an installed TV tuner, for $2,799, and Intel's Intercast technology, which delivers broadcast transmissions over the PC. Though Intel launched an Intercast agreement with NBC this August and offered the technology in select Compaq models sold at CompUSA stores in Atlanta, Intercast probably won't be widely available until next year, according to an Intel spokesman. With the impending deluge of products from top-tier vendors, NetTV would seem to be in a precarious position. But Perkes is optimistic that WorldVision will find its niche.

"Think of how many SKUs there are for television sets," Perkes said. "We don't have to control the category. We just want to get a running start."

Though the company claims WorldVision is a high-margin item for retailers, Perkes said NetTV barely shows a profit on what it sells. "We're trying to build presence at this point. I want NetTV to be like Kleenex, a brand name you think of when you think of the product."