The first Internet TV service that obtained widespread distribution of its set-top boxes in the retail channel. Developed in 1996 by WebTV and acquired by Microsoft in 1997, it originally used only an analog modem and telephone line to deliver the Web and e-mail to the TV set. In 2004, MSN TV 2 debuted for high-speed Internet users and provides audio and video streaming from the users's PC or the Internet to the TV. For information, visit www.msntv.com. See Internet TV and AOLTV.
Set-top Box
Sony was one of the first to license the technology and build a set-top box for it. The unit with a built-in modem and remote control is shown here sans keyboard. (Image courtesy of Sony Corporation.)
First Home Page
This is the home page in its first year as WebTV. (Image courtesy of Sony Corporation.)
Set-top Box
Sony was one of the first to license the technology and build a set-top box for it. The unit with a built-in modem and remote control is shown here sans keyboard. (Image courtesy of Sony Corporation.)
First Home Page
This is the home page in its first year as WebTV. (Image courtesy of Sony Corporation.)
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- CRM 2009 Forecast: How'd I Do in 2008? Gimme A High Four!
- Usually, when I begin my forecast for the coming year, I like to look at how I did the previous year - which is usually disconcerting to say the least. So, in honor of my first non-intro post for this ZDNET blog, I'm going to be nakedly transparent and show...
- Blog posts 2008-11-18
- More tidbits about electronics recycling and e-waste
- Goodness, they did it. As debate continues over nasty e-recycling behavior and the role of the government, businesses and the average U.S. citizen in fixing the situation, Massachusetts asset disposition company Converge has delivered on its promise to expand its international network with responsible partners. The company says it has...
- Blog posts 2008-11-18
- Adobe lands MLB.com deal
- updated: Adobe has reportedly landed a Flash deal with MLB.com upending Microsoft's Silverlight. Andy Plesser at Beet.tv reports: Adobe has landed a two-year agreement with Major League Baseball to stream its 2,500-plus spring training, regular season and post-season games live to MLB.com's 1.5 million subscribers. Games...
- Blog posts 2008-11-17
- Unemployed? Five reasons to build your resume with FOSS contributions
- It looks like we've gone from speculating whether we're headed into recession depression, to speculating just what that depression is going to look like. Yihong Ding, over on the Thinking Space blog,predicts that we'll have a "Golden Age" of the Web thanks to millions sitting at home with little else...
- Blog posts 2008-11-17
- Top 10 Web Brands for September 2008 in US
- Brand Audience, 000 Time Per Person 1. Google 120,294 1:21:20 2. Yahoo! 115,165 3:25:26 3. MSN/Windows Live 98,989 2:21:54 4. Microsoft 93,634 0:39:31 5. AOL Media Network 87,366 3:40:56 6. YouTube 76,696 0:51:51 7. Fox Interactive...
- Blog posts 2008-11-15
- Netbooks, mini-notebooks, ultraportables and semantic fun with AMD
- AMD is targeting what Intel calls the netbook market, but not completely. Here's a tale of semantic fun on Friday night. When I read Brooke Crothers report on how AMD wasn't entering the netbook market I was shocked. After all, I was one of those people that...
- Blog posts 2008-11-14
- AMD's Extreme Makeover: What the new roadmaps reveal
- Lost in all of the inaccurate commotion yesterday about AMD entering the netbook market were much broader changes in the company's product plans as it struggles to regain profitability and keep up with a deep-pocketed Intel. In the past year, AMD has announced plans to spin-off manufacturing, abandoned efforts to...
- Blog posts 2008-11-14
- The silver bullet of preventive care
- The public debate will center on costs and mandates, but behind it will lie faith that Internet technology, if applied universally, can do what all those TV commercials telling you to watch your weight and stop smoking failed to do. Restore discipline. by Dana Blankenhorn
- Blog posts 2008-11-14
- The UrbanSpoon effect
- The ultimate promotion that an iPhone app can receive is to be featured in an Apple TV commercial. Witness the new iPhone commercial featuring UrbanSpoon iTunes, a free application that allows uses GPS and the iPhone accelerometer to find a place to eat. It's a combination of Magic 8 Ball...
- Blog posts 2008-11-14
- Top sports Web sites for August 2008
- Site Aug 2007 audience Aug 2008 audience Growth, % Sports Category 33,405 42,252 26% Yahoo! Sports 8,820 18,727 112% ESPN 10,314 11,936 16% FOX Sports on MSN 6,824 7,714 13% SI Digital Sites 3,913 6,490 66% CBS Sports...
- Blog posts 2008-11-13
- 34% of US households have an HDTV
- LRG found that 34% of households in the United States have at least one high definition television HDTV set – approximately double the share of households that had an HDTV set in 2006. The growth of HDTV sets was largely driven by on-going consumer purchasing of TV sets coupled with...
- Blog posts 2008-11-13
- The domestic digital divide
- We've heard a lot recently about how poor our broadband penetration is in this country. It's true, in fact, that too great a percentage of our students simply don't have access to high-speed internet at home like their European and Asian counterparts. What we all too often overlook...
- Blog posts 2008-11-13
- HTC announces world's first GSM/WiMAX mobile phone
- HTC is arguably the most innovative company when it comes to mobile phones, in particular those running the Windows Mobile operating system. Today, they announced the HTC MAX 4G device that is the world's first GSM/WiMAX headset. The device will be available in Russia on the Yota Mobile WiMAX network....
- Blog posts 2008-11-12
- Vudu takes HD lead; enough to stay alive?
- Vudu, the product and service that brings downloadable movies to TV sets, is chugging full-speed-ahead when it comes to adding HD titles to its on-demand video service. This week, there were reports that Vudu's catalog now has more than 1,100 HD titles, leading a pack that includes AppleTV and Xbox....
- Blog posts 2008-11-12
- CIO Sessions: Netflix Chief Product Officer: Neil Hunt
- Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer of Netflix talks to ZDNet correspondent Sumi Das about transforming the company's movie rental service from DVDs by mail to online delivery. He also discusses how the company is using digital rights management solutions, developing new delivery platforms and bringing its movies to Mac users....
- Blog posts 2008-11-12
- News to know: CES preview, Google tracks flu, NebuAd sued, Ad porn blocker
- Here are today's notable headlines. You can get News To Know via email alert and RSS daily: Andrew Nusca: CES 2009 Preview: All quiet on the gadget front Sean Portnoy: Third-quarter HDTV sales pace slows, plasmas show new signs of life ...
- Blog posts 2008-11-12
- Third-quarter HDTV sales pace slows, plasmas show new signs of life
- Research firm DisplaySearch has released its third-quarter report on the state of the TV market, and it shows that the crummy economy is finally starting to erode sales growth for HDTVs. Manufacturers shipped 6 percent more sets to retailers than in the second quarter, while year-to-year growth is 12 percent....
- Blog posts 2008-11-11
- Top Web brands in August 2008
- Brand Audience, 000 Time Per Person 1. Google 123,690 1:25:18 2. Yahoo! 117,702 3:22:31 3. MSN/Windows Live 103,953 2:21:25 4. Microsoft 93,558 0:38:39 5. AOL Media Network 93,070 3:33:46 6. YouTube 75,442 1:01:01 7. Fox Interactive...
- Blog posts 2008-11-11
- Streaming movies right to your TV
- Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer of Netflix, believes that the future of movies is going to go right back to the television. With bigger and better digital televisions, what people want is to be able to download movies right to their sets via high-speed internet. Netflix has taken a step...
- Blog posts 2008-11-11
- Netflix Chief Product Officer: Streaming movies right to your TV
- Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer of Netflix, believes that the future of movies is going to go right back to the television. With bigger and better digital televisions, what people want is to be able to download movies right to their sets via high-speed internet. Netflix has taken a step...
- Videos 2008-11-11
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
- Intel Xeon 7400 highlights available now!
-
With key platform innovations built-in, the Intel Xeon processor 7400 series offers more headroom, reliability, and the highest expandability for large-scale server consolidation. See highlights from Summer IDF, SAP Tech-Ed, VMWorld, and more.
- Get blogs, videos and more from past tech events >>
Fusion
- There’s a new energy coming from the people of AMD. Its the power of Fusion.
- Learn about the power of fusion at work and the industry-changing impact of accelerated computing.
-
- View AMD video, case studies, blogs, forums, and more on ZDNet »
-
