Mitchell Derman
Edelman PR (for HNS)
202/371-0200
mderman@edel-dc.edelman.com
Michele Reina
Hewlett-Packard
408/447-5334
mreina@cup.hp.com
In a press conference today broadcast to PCs at sites throughout the country, the three industry leaders announced a solution that demonstrates the first enterprise use of HNS' DirecPC(TM) satellite delivery service, Starlight's multimedia networking software, and HP's computer and network systems to affordably deliver high-bandwidth MPEG multimedia applications, including video-based content from the worldwide web, in real time to remote sites and over corporate networks and intranets.
In addition, users can take advantage of the popular Netscape browser to play full frame, high-quality MPEG video content from the Internet instantaneously at their desktops -- without having to wait for it to download.
DirecPC's multimedia delivery service makes it affordable and feasible for the first time for companies to make exciting multimedia content instantaneously available to users at their desktops throughout the enterprise. It gives companies a direct, secure channel to reach their intended audiences (employees and customers) -- for electronic commerce, document imaging, public information dissemination, corporate communications and broadcasts, long-distance training, etc.
HNS, HP, and Starlight have entered into a sales and marketing agreement to jointly support sales of the DirecPC broadcast solution. It will initially be available throughout the United States and Canada, with availability in Europe and Japan in mid-1996. It will be sold through the sales forces of all three companies. Customers wanting information can call 1-800-637-7740.
"We are now making it feasible for companies to cost-effectively deliver high- bandwidth, high-quality MPEG multimedia and large document files to all of their locations using DirecPC's satellite delivery service and Starlight software,╙ said Tom McPherson, vice president and general manager, Satellite Broadcast Products and Services, Hughes Network Systems. "DirecPC provides a framework to integrate Internet content on company intranets with new media and existing applications, and create a unified, collaborative computing environment. Multimedia can now be an integral element in the corporate infrastructure, making existing applications come alive and opening the door to new, interactive possibilities."
"DirecPC will revolutionize how we use the Internet," claimed Dan Abouav, managing director of HP's Interactive Media Solutions Group. "Video and audio on Home Pages will become commonplace. Companies can now bring their home pages on the worldwide web to life, and know that their audience will experience the full impact of dynamic imagery and sound. DirecPC makes electronic commerce viable using a private network that makes secure transactions possible. Finally, we can realize the full potential of the Internet to directly reach audiences."
Jim Long, president of Starlight Networks, said, "The ad hoc growth of corporate intranets, along with new multimedia-based applications, has created a new problem for corporate IS -- how to integrate Internet services with all of these other, disparate corporate applications and create a unified, collaborative environment? This is the new intermedia market. What we're announcing today with DirecPC provides a feasible solution for an integrated, interactive, InterMedia environment. Information providers have an opportunity to create a whole new class of interactive applications for corporate networks, intranets and the Internet."
Enliven sales and marketing presentations with dynamic video images. Broadcast updated video of products to retail information kiosks. Bring your online quarterly report to life with a videotaped address from your company CEO.
Starlight's multimedia networking software technology enables the transmission of high-bandwidth applications via the DirecPC satellite, synchronizing audio and video, and assuring that transmission quality is maintained. DirecPC uses a full Ku-band transponder on a Galaxy satellite to provide broadcast channels totaling 12 Mbps, making it superior for handling the high-bandwidth demands of multimedia data.
The broadcast may be scheduled any time, from weeks in advance to urgent, immediate corporate messages. Companies provide their content to Hughes through terrestrial connections, tape, disk or via satellite.
The DirecPC computer becomes a mixed media server when installed with Starlight's StarWorks(TM) software, which manages the delivery, bandwidth reservation, and server storage functions required to distribute the incoming multimedia data to users on the network. The incoming broadcast can be distributed immediately or stored for later retrieval. This is advantageous where files do not need to be delivered in real time. Instead, information can be transmitted at a lower bandwidth over a longer time at non-peak times for less cost. The mixed media server hardware and InterMedia network clients are provided by HP. The HP/UX or NetServer running Starlight's StarWorks multimedia networking software provides the mixed media server to store and manage the multimedia data broadcast from Hughes' DirecPC service, and HP's Vectra PCs provide the InterMedia network clients or servers.
The DirecPC mixed media server can be connected to the network using standard network connections. Companies can use their existing networking technologies, including Ethernet, but may need to examine the ability of the network to handle their bandwidth load, choosing to upgrade to higher bandwidth options, such as FDDI, 100VG, 100BaseT, etc. The DirecPC receiving platform is equipped with a DirecPC board and cable connection to a 24" satellite antenna, and it can receive multiple addressed channels (to a maximum of 99). Each client on the network runs Starlight's client software.
The Starlight-based 'mixed media' server not only receives transmissions from the DirecPC service (including its Turbo Internet service), but it manages the delivery of InterMedia information to users on the network from other sources as well, for example, from a Notes server, Internet server, multimedia server, etc.
You can use your current Internet connection to play Internet multimedia from the desktop. A user identifies a URL from his Netscape browser to initiate a search. The request is made via modem to the DirecPC Turbo Internet service, which downlinks the requested file, delivering it via satellite to the DirecPC computer. From there, delivery of the multimedia file is managed over the network to the client requesting it by Starlight's software. The file can be delivered over the network as it is being transmitted or it can be stored to the server for later retrieval.
Information providers can use Hughes' Turbo Internet service to make their multimedia web sites available to users to browse and play content located on Turbo Internet on an ad hoc basis. Companies can cost-effectively use interactive content to educate, advertise, publish, merchandise, support, collaborate and communicate with their targeted audiences--internally with employees over the company intranet and externally with customers--directly through their worldwide web Home Page.
DirecPC provides a secure, private network for confidential electronic commerce transactions. Information providers can reach and conclude transactions directly with their intended audiences. Multimedia provides the middleware interface for personalized communications.
Welcome new employees the first day on the job with a personal videotaped greeting from the company CEO that can be opened through their web browser. Bring your web page to life with a live videotape that gives online viewers a more personal, experiential picture of your products and services.
Multimedia presents an exciting opportunity to bring existing applications alive, to make them dynamic. New middleware solutions are arising that allow companies to integrate all of these disparate applications and make them available across the network to users at their desktops, locally or at remote sites. Multimedia then becomes a powerful, collaborative ally.
DirecPC provides an InterMedia solution that combines this mixed media panoply in an interactive, collaborative environment spanning the corporate communications network both internally (intranet and LAN) and externally (Internet and WAN).
See the following links for related articles:
StarWorks and StarWare are registered trademarks, and Starlight and Starlight Networks are trademarks of Starlight Networks, Inc. DirecPC is a trademark of Hughes Network Systems, Inc. All other products are trademarks of their respective owners.