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Issue 6    July 19, 2000 Be Press Releases July 17, 2000 Be Incorporated and Metricom Team to Arm Internet Appliances with Wide-Area Wireless Web Connectivity July 19, 2000 Be Incorporated Reports Second Quarter Results return to top The Market for Digital Media Playback Devices Part II, Visual Media Brennan Spies, Sr. Market Analyst In part one of this installment, I talked about entertainment appliances dealing with audio playback. This week I am going to cover devices that deal with visual media, again with the focus on taking the power of computing technology from the general purpose desktop and putting it into easier-to-use and affordable appliances. The first convergent devices to emerge in this area have been from TiVo and ReplayTV (the Playstation 2 also fits into this area but is not yet being truly promoted as such). PVR (personal video recorder) (or DVR (digital video recorder)) technology offers an enhancement of the television viewing experience, allowing the user to pause/replay live programming, access television listings and suggestions, and provide feedback on programming in addition to basic VCR recording functionality. A nice feature set, but only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what will eventually become the visual entertainment appliance. Coming Attractions Given that digital video recorders have just begun to hit the market, it may be a bit early to ask "what's next", but there is a good deal of other features that can be added to a home media appliance, including: DVD playback. DVD technology has already reached critical mass in the consumer marketplace and will continue to displace the VCR as the home video playback device of choice. DVD-RW technology is still a few years away, but will be highly desirable to fill the need for recording and storing video. Digital photo uploading and editing (via USB port and software). Digital cameras are falling in price and increasing in popularity. According to Jupiter, 73% of consumers are interested in e-mailing or online sharing of photos with family and friends. Online photo sharing communities like Zing.com and Photoaccess.com offer custom photo pages, e-mailing of photos, postcard creation, and other services such as production of 35mm-quality prints. Digital video uploading and editing (via Firewire port and software). DV camcorders are still relatively pricey, but as all things go digital and prices eventually come down, consumers will want to store high-quality video either on a hard drive or DVD-RW. They will also like the ability to edit their movies with easy-to-use software. The iMac DV does this now, but still requires a $1299 purchase in addition to the camcorder. With increased bandwidth, online interactivity similar to photo sharing (More)Interactive TV. This is not just browsing the Web through your television, but getting suggestions for new movies, albums, and TV programming according to what you already like, reading or posting reviews, downloading movie trailers and animation shorts, ordering movies on demand, and a host of other services built around your personal media preferences. Also, with connectivity to digital cameras and camcorders comes the ability to upload photos and home movies to online photo and movie sharing communities. Streaming Video. With a broadband connection to the Web, streaming short-length video of good quality becomes a reality. Home video device owners can enjoy catching up with the latest news or sports highlights, or even view streamed videos and slideshows from far-away family and friends. Consumer Awareness and Interest in PVR Presently 1% or about 1 million U.S. households own a PVR. Consumer awareness of the product is still pretty low, although marketing campaigns by Sony, Panasonic, and Philips may change this over the next few months. In a telephone survey of 1000 U.S. adults (18+) in April, eBrain found that: As with other convergent products, the awareness and interest level is higher with technology familiarity. Internet connected households had a stronger interest in almost every aspect of PVR, while non-Internet connected households tended to be more content with the VCR they already owned. 11% of the respondents planned to purchase a PVR within the next 12 months, with an additional 22% planning to purchase in the next 2 years. 59% of respondents expressed interest in the ability to pause/resume TV programming 51% of respondents expressed interest in the ability to rewind a scene or do instant replay 46% of respondents expressed interest in accessing online programming guides 43% of respondents expressed interest in selecting additional information about a program or product when watching television Digital Cameras The growth of digital cameras in the U.S. between 1998-1999 was 75% with year-end sales topping 2.1 million units. Infotrends Research predicts that sales of digital cameras will reach about 6.7 million by the end of this year, growing to 42 million by 2005. According to eBrain, ownership of digital cameras facilitates the sharing of experiences via photos. 80% of digital camera owners have e-mailed photos, 42% have posted them to a Web site, and 26% have used their TV as a display for the photos. Digital Camcorders Digital camcorders went from 0% to 6% of the camcorder market in the first 18 months after they hit the market. In the U.S. over a half a million were sold in 1999. The Consumer Electronics Association projects that annual unit volume will be 4.7 million in the U.S. by 2003. DV camcorders offer some unique benefits over their analog counterparts, including digital electronic zoom and image stabilization. The Upshot The ideal "convergent" home media device is itself a nexus for digital cameras, digital camcorders, television, and the Internet. Ultimately it will be more affordable than a PC and more geared toward the way people use electronics in the home. Imagine, for example, having friends and family over to view a photo slide show displayed on your television (hooked up to a home media device). Now imagine the same scenario where everyone is huddled around a computer monitor. Which experience would you prefer? return to top Jean-Louis Gassée Column by Jean-Louis Gassée There is no column from Jean-Louis this week. If you have not read last week's column, "The Victim Microsoft," you can find it here. return to top Using a Keyboard as a Pointing Device by Nathan Schrenk, Director, Applications Have you ever tried to use a computer and found the mouse cursor frozen when you moved the mouse around? This has happened to me many times, perhaps because I've been doing some maintenance on my computer and have forgotten to plug the mouse in, or because I was using a keyboard/mouse/video switchbox to control multiple computers with one keyboard and mouse and the switchbox scewed up the synchronization between the PS/2 mouse and the computer. In these situations, I'd like to be able to control the cursor so that I can continue to use the machine. Unfortunately many programs aren't very usable without a mouse, among them applications and system components included with BeOS. So when the mouse stops working, I can't use the computer productively. One obvious solution is to enable the keyboard to emulate a mouse. One day, annoyed that BeOS did not provide a way to emulate a pointing device with the keyboard, I wrote an Input Server add-on named KeyCursor to do just that. You can download the source code at ftp://ftp.be.com/pub/samples /input_server/KeyCursor.zip. I think that it works pretty well and is even more usable than one of the pointing devices on a prototype IA that I had the misfortune of using. KeyCursor has two parts:a BInputServerFilter subclass that watches the stream of keyboard events for the key presses that move the cursor around and generate mouse clicks, and a BInputServerDevice subclass that simulates a pointing device by generating movement and button events. For more information about how the Input Server works in general, and how the BInputServerFilter and BInputServerDevice classes work in particular, consult the Be Book's chapter on the Input Server - http://www-classic.be.com/documentation/be_book/The%20Input%20Server/index.html If you examine the source code to KeyCursor, you'll find that the keys used to move the cursor and to generate button clicks are hardcoded. The arrow keys control the cursor and the space bar is used to click. Pressing the space bar while holding the shift key simulates clicking with the second mouse button. You can turn KeyCursor on and off by pressing and releasing the Option key (sometimes known as the Windows key). You'll know that it is activating or deactivating when you hear the system beep. If you don't like the default keys, you'll have to edit the code. I realize that this isn't very user friendly, but I haven't gotten around to making KeyCursor more configurable and writing a preference panel for it. If you feel like making KeyCursor easier to customize, I'd love to find an improved version on BeBits some day. As long as I'm dreaming, I'd like to see a version with a preference panel that allows the user to select which keys to use for activating KeyCursor, moving the cursor, simulating various button clicks, and changing cursor speed or acceleration. As with all code that Be has released under the Be Sample Code License, you can take the KeyCursor source code and modify it and redistribute your modified version as long as you honor the few requirements of the license. I hope you find KeyCursor useful for situations when you need it. return to top Statements contained in this Newsletter that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" including without limitation statements regarding the demand for, future market penetration and market acceptance of BeIA and BeOS, the shipment dates of Be's products, and the future operating results of Be Incorporated. Actual events or results may differ materially as a result of risks facing Be Incorporated or actual results differing from the assumptions underlying such statements. Such risks and assumptions include, but are not limited to, risks related to competition, market acceptance and market penetration of Be's products, ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships, the benefit of Be's products to OEM and Internet appliance manufacturers. the continued availability of third party BeOS applications and drivers, and the ability to establish and maintain strategic publishing relationships. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by the "Risk Factors" and other cautionary statements included in Be Incorporated's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, and other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The BMessage Copyright (c) 2001 by Be, Inc. All rights reserved. Be, Inc. 800 El Camino Real, Suite 400 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Tel: (650) 462-4100 Fax: (650) 462-4129 Web: http://www.be.com/ Be, BeOS and BeIA are trademarks or registered trademarks of Be Incorporated in the United States and other countries. Other brand product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders. All rights reserved. The BMessage is sent to subscribers of one or more of the Be mailing lists. For more information about subscribing/unsubscribing, see the Be web site: http://www.be.com/world/mailinglists.html. The Be web site also offers a complete set of current and back issues of Be Newsletters: If you have any comments about The BMessage, please e-mail them to:newsletter@be.com.

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