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NETCHANNEL ANNOUNCES THE FIRST INTERNET SERVICES SUITE
FOR THE ORACLE N/C PLATFORM
July 29, 1996
Laguna Niguel, CA -- NetChannel
Inc. today announced the formation of a suite of consumer services that
can be deployed across all Oracle N/C TM compatible devices. The Acorn NetStation
TM, launching this fall as a television accessory, will be the first N/C
device signed on to utilize the NetChannelTM personalized service suite..
"NetChannel is bringing the Internet home.", says Hermann Hauser,
NetChannel's Chairman, "NetChannel will enable everyone to have easy
and affordable access to the Internet with personalized information and
a wealth of new experiences -- all from a remote control or wireless keyboard
in the comfort of their very own easy chair."
The NetStation, based on the highly
acclaimed Oracle Network Computer
(N/C) reference design, is affordable and easy to use. Simply plug it into
a television set , a phone line and a power source, insert the NetChannel
"Personal Access Card" and you're on your way to faster, more
convenient access to Internet sites and services.
"NetChannel will revolutionize the way we interact with televisions
and the World Wide Web," says Jerry Baker, President - Network Computer
Inc. (NCI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Oracle Corporation. "A
premier launch partner, NetChannel's grasp of the consumer market and understanding
of the importance of delivering compelling end-user experiences, will make
them a market leader in this new emerging industry of Internet consumer
devices and services."
The N/C platform will be the premier Internet access device to come to market.
It will, in conjunction with NetChannel services, be the most elegant, easy
to use "race horse" for accessing the Internet. The NetStation
will be the first of these devices for accessing the World Wide Web on the
TV, sending and receiving e-mail, playing games and shopping online. Using
the ARM RISC chip, which
is the basic chip for millions of devices worldwide, a 33.6kbps modem, and
picture enhancing techniques, the NetStation will be fast, technologically
advanced and easily upgradeable -- showing a crisp, flicker-free picture
on your TV set.
NetChannel's team of communication
industry and consumer market experts will lead the way in this new market.
Dave Atkinson, the former AT&T Multi-Media Products and Services Vice
President, will be the company's CEO and President while Philip Monego leads
the teams' services group as President of NetChannel Services. Philip has
a well documented history in the consumer and services markets in former
roles at both the ImagiNation Network and most recently at Yahoo!. Steve
Rand, who has been instrumental in launching numerous consumer and technical
products and is a veteran of the Direct Broadcast Satellite business will
take on the sales role as Senior Vice President with the help of Harriet
Donnelly, also an ex-AT&T executive who launched the highly acclaimed
AT&T Safari notebook computers, as Vice President of Marketing, to round
out this sales and marketing team.
Blending television programming with real-time access to the World Wide
Web will accelerate the launch of the Internet into the prime-time consumer
market. Web pages will be transformed into web channels. The ten-foot internet-on-television
experience will be a new medium for content developers, advertisers and
merchants as they directly engage consumers, capture imaginations and fulfill
purchase transactions", says Atkinson. " The rapid deployment
of the low-cost, easy to use N/C architecture in the consumer market will
establish the first viable economic model for the internet."
NetChannel joins a list of over 50 corporate
supporters for the N/C that includes Acorn, Motorola, Apple, SUN, Netscape,
Matshushita, DEC and IBM.
NetChannel is located in Palo Alto, California.
NetChannel and NetStation are trademarks of NetChannel Inc.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.
