[icernet] Internet TV returns after 7-yr hiatus

[Arul Selvan]

  Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. introduced a digital television 
with an Internet connection and new Linux-based OS, the Yomiuri Shimbun 
reports. Matsushitas Internet TV enables users to access Tnavi, their 
newly-launched portal. Tnavi contains 22 Web sites, listing schedules 
for programs and information on families general interests. Users can 
navigate by either using
the TVs remote control or typing in the keyboard displayed on the 
screen. An official from Matsushita says: 
Its like a TV version of 
I-mode. Weve tried to introduce new functions for TV.
 Currently, there 
is no telecommunication technology standard for these televisions. The 
digital TV study group, which Matsushita formed with Hitachi, Sony, 
Sharp Corp. and Toshiba Corp. in April is planning to establish a 
standard for digital TV hardware and software. To trace the history, 
while media convergence, a combined TV and computer monitor with a net 
connection, has been attempted since the mid 1990s, it has met with 
little market success. One obstacle was that dial-up download rates were 
insufficient for TV multi-media content. The idea of Internet TV was 
reborn as broadband connections gained wide acceptance and open source 
code was a cheap and easy option to build a pre-installed OS.

Source:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20030617wo62.htm