From Issue #3 , Page #26 | By John Day

Cable system operators have been gnashing their teeth for the past several years as they watched providers of satellite TV services encroach on what had been cable's exclusive territory. Digital cable may have matched the picture quality available via satellite, but did little to help traditional MSOs (multisystem operators) regain lost ground. Well their luck may be about to change, thanks to a new cable-specific platform called Moxi, developed by Digeo, Inc.

A LITTLE MOXI

Digeo offers two-tuner, high-definition-ready digital video recorders (DVRs) with a user interface unlike any other currently available, according to cable industry executives. DVRs allow you to record programs on a hard drive similar to those found on computers. The new two-tuner design allows subscribers to tape a program on one channel—either in HD or a standard broadcast—while watching another channel.

"Cable companies are really excited about Moxi because they believe it will help them win back customers," notes Michael Markman, Digeo's senior director of marketing. "What makes cable different from satellite, but hasn't really been exploited as yet, is cable's potential for two-way communication between the customer and the cable system; also the fact that all cable head-ends are local, which makes it easier to provide local programming."

Digeo designed Moxi to leverage cable's two-way broadband connection, integrating a cable modem into each of its boxes. Markman says the firm also worked closely with Motorola and Scientific Atlanta to ensure that Moxi boxes are compliant with each firm's standards.

While Moxi's HD capability and the user interface are the hot buttons now, Moxi also has the ability to function as a broadband media center (BMC), thus making a television receiver an electronic photo album, a jukebox, a game box, and more, in addition to an outlet for Seinfeld reruns.

BONUS POINTS

A few dozen Digeo employees including Markman are testing a "ticker" application. "It lets you bring up an information ‘crawl' under any show," he says, with information including weather, sports scores, news, and a business summary. Moxi's ticker is also interactive, however, "and if you want to go past hockey or golf to entertainment, you can," Markman explains. "If you see a headline that interests you, you can press the OK button; a text window opens and the TV picture is squeezed into a corner of the screen." In other words, Moxi gives TV receivers some of the interactive benefits of a PC.

Digeo folks are also testing a series of games. And a multiformat, plug-in memory card reader, attachable to a Moxi box via a USB port will turn the box into a photo viewer. "Take the memory card out of a camera, upload photos to the hard drive and show them on TV," Markman explains. "It's very nice presentation." Also in test mode at the moment is Moxi's jukebox. Markman says customers will be able to play their own CD collection, whereupon Moxi will "rip" them and store the music tracks on optical disk in MP3 file format, with the track titles displayable in the Moxi interface format. Markman promises that in addition to playback in sequence, or with songs shuffled, users will be able to hear music by genre, etc.

SO WHERE IS IT?

Markman expects that as early as this summer, cable companies will let some of their customers try the extra Moxi services to see how they like them. "All [the cable companies] need to do is flip a switch at the head end," he notes. Charter Communications launched Moxi service in April to customers in Rochester, Minnesota. Both Adelphia and Comcast plan to test-market the technology with customers as well.

"It's important to have DVR available, and Moxi is a key strategic element in the arsenal of products we want to deliver to customers," says Jeff Kapner, regional director of marketing strategy for Adelphia in Southern California. "It has a very cool, very slick interface with a lot of very recognizable broadcast and digital cable channel logos and icons."

Mark Hess, Comcast's VP of digital TV, says his firm expects to have one market up and running on Moxi this summer. While cautious in his assessment, Hess ranks Moxi slightly ahead of competing alternatives based on its interface, flexibility, robustness, and expansion capacity.

Cable executives are tight-lipped about what applications in addition to DVR are likely to surface in what sequence, and at what rate. They are cautious in gauging what their customers want and how much they'll pay. Games are readily available, for example, but require dedicated players, and the overarching trend is toward consolidating hardware and reducing wiring complexity.

It remains to be seen whether or not Digeo will be successful in leveraging its early lead, but the company is certainly steeped in the necessary cachet. Steve Perlman, a co-founder of WebTV, formed Rearden Steel Technologies (a name familiar to fans of Ayn Rand fans) in January 2000; he relaunched the company as Moxi Digital two years later. Shortly thereafter, Moxi merged into Digeo, a company funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Vulcan, Inc. Keep an eye out for Moxi in your local cable lineup, and if you already have it, give us your thoughts on this upcoming technology!