The day after Tele-Communications Inc said it would license Sun’s PersonalJava for use in its next-generation set-top box, Microsoft Corp CEO Bill Gates took to the stage Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and announced its own deal with TCI which will see Windows CE installed on the devices as well (CI No 3,233). On a call, TCI said between 65% and 100% of its 10 million cable subscribers will use the high-end cable box, due early next year. TCI promised Microsoft it will ship Windows CE and WebTV technologies on at least five million of them and although it gave Sun no minimum commitment it talked about PersonalJava running on up to 12 million of them. No equity changed hands as a result of the deals but the Wall Street Journal reports Microsoft will help TCI finance its purchase of the cable devices by paying a set amount towards the cost of each set-top box which far exceeds what TCI is actually paying Microsoft for Windows CE. Meantime, PersonalJava is expected to add up to $10 to the cost of the devices because of the added processing power required to run it. Sun is reported to be getting around $1 per box in license fees. The cable devices are intended to provide two way, high-speed communications into the home, delivering digital television, video games, electronic shopping and banking, video telephony, DVD playback, email, and internet access. The jury’s out on which industry or technology will win the race to supply homes with these services but the cable companies have marked their territory; set-top boxes and coaxial cable. The telcos and satellite broadcast companies also have designs on the space, while PC companies are seeking supply the dominant home entertainment device. The cable companies have 63 million subscribers between them – TCI and its partners alone have 35 million of these – while 40 million US households have PCs. Sun has always said its interest is providing products which deliver Web Tone services for all kinds of devices.
