Video Without Boundaries Ships New MediaReady Receiver

Meanwhile, VWB partner CAC Media continues to develop its Content Delivery Network that was to be part of the MediaReady 4000 ($449) last fall, Exec. Sales & Mktg. Vp David Novak told us this week at the DigitalLife conference in N.Y.C. At the same time, VWB has moved to aggregate and distribute its own content. Novak said he couldn’t provide timing for the availability of CAC programming.

Last fall, VWB said CAC would develop “channels” -- Celebrity Gossip, Console Game Review and Yoga Instruction -- for launch this year. The delivery network was a part of VWB plans for both video-on-demand (VoD) and subscription VoD. It was expected to reach 5,000 “pilot” households in 2004, hitting 250,000 this year, according to a quarterly report Video Without Boundaries filed with the SEC last Nov.

Meanwhile, the MediaReady 5000 has 256 MB RAM, a Via Technologies 1.2 GHz processor and a Sigma Designs MPEG-4 processor, Novak said. About 145 GB of the 160 GB hard drive is available for storage, with the rest given over to a Linux-based operating system (OS) and other applications, Novak said. VWB’s Web site sells it, though the goal is to expand retail distribution, Novak said. The MediaReady 4000, which remains in the line, is being sold through Tiger Direct. The new model continues to be made in China by Lung Hwa Electronics, company officials said.

At the same time, eMagin has shipped the first of its Z800 3D Visor head-mounted displays to commercial customers for flight simulation and begun filling consumer back orders, a spokesman said. The head-mounted display ($899) contains eMagin’s 0.61” OLEDs with 800x600 resolution and 1,000-2,000 units were expected to be available at launch (CED May 27 p5). EMagin also continues to work with Rohm to develop a 0.24” OLED for use in viewfinder applications, although a delivery date hasn’t been set, the spokesman said.

Peerflix will launch a series B round of financing this fall as its peer-to-peer service, which lets members swap used DVDs via mail, emerges from beta, a spokesman said. Peerflix isn’t saying what it will seek to raise in the new round, but proceeds will go to market the service, he said. Peerflix members pay 99 cents per trade or $4.95 monthly for access to an online site designed to match buyers and sellers of used DVDs. It has a library of 40,000 titles, the spokesman said.

Peerflix, which launched last summer, closed its first funding round in Nov. for an undisclosed sum with BV Ventures and 3i, company officials said. It was founded by Billy McNair and Daniel Robinson, who sold rkSpinway.com to Kmart’s Bluelight subsidiary in 2000. The company has 15 employees based in Menlo Park, Cal., and Vancouver.

One-time peer-to-peer service Napster expects to release a 3.5 version of its software this fall, a spokesman said. Company officials declined to release details on the software, but said it could involve improvements in how Napster’s library of titles is presented or how searches are conducted. Meanwhile, Napster has signed an agreement with the U. of Wash. that will give 3,000 dormitory residents free access to its basic service this fall. Napster has similar pacts with 13 other colleges and universities, but U. of Wash. Deal marks the first time it has worked with a hardware supplier -- Dell -- to install servers on campus to store music, a spokesman said. Six of 13 colleges and universities offering Napster have servers dedicated to the service, a move designed to take the strain off broadband networks, he said. As of late March, colleges and universities accounted for 56,000 of 410,000 Napster subscribers.

Pepper Computer expects to start shipping a wireless handheld PC ($850) by month’s end featuring a 20 GB 1.8” hard drive, 8.4” Toshiba-sourced LCD with 800x600 resolution and 624 MHz Intel XScale processor. The handheld also has 256 MB SDRAM, 16 MB of flash, MontaVista’s 3.1 Linux OS and 802.11b wireless connectivity. It’s packaged with AOL’s Mozilla Web browser as well as Pepper’s Desktop 2.0 software applications including greeting cards, scrapbooks and photo albums.

Amazon.com has been taking pre-orders for the handheld since April and has an exclusive on its sale through summer’s end, Pepper Sales & Business Development Vp Jon Melamut said. Solectron is manufacturing the device at its plant in Canada, he said.