Alerting all couch potatoes, VideoGuide Inc.’s state-of-the-art television enhancement service delivers real-time news and information, wirelessly, and is a seven-day TV program guide and one-touch VCR recording device all in one.
VideoGuide’s Bedford, Mass., computer facility receives news, weather and sports information, compresses it and sends data packets embedded within a paging TNTP protocol on MobileComm’s paging frequencies to its subscribers. MobileComm recently was acquired by MobileMedia Inc.
News information is broadcast each night, when the networks are least active and therefore least expensive, said Tom Westberg, VideoGuide chief technical officer. The company sends local, regional and national news from the Associated Press, United Press Inc. and other sources. Play-by-play sports scores and game schedules originate from The Sports Network, said VideoGuide. Weather reports are tailored to a user’s location.
To start VideoGuide service, users need a universal remote control and set-top box, which receives paging signals, and an infrared receiver/transmitter that communicates with the remote control. Users subscribe to VideoGuide program guide and information services.
To activate service, VideoGuide’s on-screen instructions prompt users to enter their zip code, which is processed by a microcomputer inside the VideoGuide set-top receiver box. This allows the system to determine which cable-TV provider serves that market and what regional sources of news are available. For people living in an area served by more than one cable-TV provider, VideoGuide will recognize the choices and request they select which company serves them.
Once a paging signal enters the receiver, the computer’s gate array interprets the news information, explained the company. A custom gate array generates the video signal that appears on the TV in four-color, high resolution images.
Once the computer stores the area’s channels, it learns which channels particular users watch the most. A “smart sorting” feature prioritizes channel information in order of popularity.
The program guide provides detailed descriptions for every program, said Westberg. To record programs on a VCR, users press a button on the remote control, then scroll through time and channel selections. Infrared signals inside the receiver box transmit a record command to the VCR at the correct time of recording.
The VideoGuide receiver box and remote control are available for about $100 at consumer electronics stores, said the company. Subscriptions for news and sports cost 50 cents each per week and the program guide costs a dollar.
VideoGuide was founded three years ago by Doug Macrae, and the service began last October. Sanyo invested $6 million in VideoGuide and is manufacturing the VideoGuide receiver box. Marubeni Corp. invested $3 million in the company.
Macrae previously founded General Computer Inc., which designed and licensed consumer electronics products, including Ms. PacMan, Centipede and Asteroids video games. Westberg worked alongside Macrae at General Computer. Other senior staff at VideoGuide hail from Philips Electronics.
