Quantcast
Subscribe to magazine

TV Signals Bring the Web to Your PC--Stay Tuned for Further Developments

WaveTop downloads Web pages via your PC's TV tuner.

  • 0 Yes
  • 0 No

Web via VBI

The technology making all this possible employs a TV tuner card, inserted in your PC, and software to decode Web pages transmitted over an unused portion of the TV signal known as the vertical blanking interval (VBI). WavePhore of Phoenix, Arizona, first developed the technology three years ago, and Intel's free Intercast service has been using it since 1996 to deliver Web content related to shows on such major cable services as CNN, QVC, and MTV.

Now WavePhore is introducing its own free software and service, WaveTop, that works with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 to deliver Web pages from selected major sites, at least 17 hours a day, with updates as often as every 15 minutes. They're stored on your hard drive, so there's no wait to see the front page of USA Today or the latest box scores on CBS SportsLine. The software requires a Pentium-90 or better (P-133 recommended) PC with 16MB of RAM, at least 100MB of disk space, and Windows 95.

WaveTop is about to become ubiquitous: Microsoft, hedging its bets on the future of PC/TV convergence, plans to incorporate WaveTop software into Windows 98's WebTV for Windows, a feature of the forthcoming operating system that uses a TV tuner card to receive Web-based programming delivered via TV signals.

  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

Print 65% more pages than with refilled inks. Trust Original HP Inks. Hit Print Reliably.

Featured APC Accessories For Your System
10% Off Entire Cart at Online Store

  • APC Back-UPS ES Safeguards your equipment from damaging surges and spikes that travel along your utility & data lines.
  • APC SurgeArrest Performance Highest level of protection for your professional computers, electronics and connected devices, as well as provides surge protection.

People who read this also read:

  • 2007 Microsoft Office Suites Comparison This paper compares and contrasts four suites of the 2007 Microsoft Office system: Microsoft Office Standard 2007, Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007, Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 and Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007. This paper is intended to help organizations understand the applications and capabilities offered, and to identify the suite that best fits their needs.
  • Windows Vista Migration: The Business Proposition It's not so much a matter of "if" but "when" for most organizations regarding migration to Windows Vista. Laying the groundwork now for this migration can yield higher ROI than waiting until later. This Computerworld Technology Briefing explains it all.

PC World's Marketplace