NChannel Ltd, the firm formed to sell and distribute the Acorn Computer Group Plc NetStation Internet access set-top box has announced an October launch date and target prices. The new company, headed by Acorn founder and non-executive director Hermann Hauser, will sell the basic model for $619, plus a monthly fee for Internet access. Each user gets an electronic mail address and Smart Card for shopping on-line and pay for goods electronically. There is very little to differentiate the two companies’ basic kit, with both designed around the Advanced RISC Machines Ltd ARM RISC processor, but the firm is an early technology partner with Oracle Corp’s Network Computer vision, and the NetStation conforms to Oracle’s standards. NetStation comes complete with a hand-held remote control unit and cables to transform a standard television set into an Internet surfing device, via a proprietry browser that tailors information to the user, and every unit will provide an electronic mail address. NChannel intends to keep track of its customers’ movements with what it calls a customer profiling service, and this in formation will in turn be passed on to marketing companies – potentially a very lucrative business. The company is aiming for the mass home market, and hopes if the NetStation proves to be a success, the technology will reverse into the corporate sector. Acorn has a 44.5% stake in Cambridge, UK-based NChannel, 35.5% has been allotted to an employee trust, both for nominal contributions. Titan Computers Ltd will take the remaining 20% – for 800,000 British pounds, about $530,000 cash.
