Philips To Introduce Web Tvs In Europe

Electronics giant Philips plans to introduce a device that would allow Internet surfing with a TV set in Europe before the end of this year.

Internet TV will be first introduced in Scandinavian countries followed by test runs in the UK and Germany, according to a Philips spokesperson in Hamburg.

Web TV was initially introduced in the United States in late 1996, and has been making slow but steady headway in the consumer marketplace. In the US, Webtv Networks, a venture of Microsoft, has become the leading provider of Web TV. Designed to work with Webtv, both Sony and Philips offer set-top boxes which make it possible to access the Internet through a television. According to Philips, Webtv currently has some 3,00,000 subscribers in the United States, and hopes to increase that number to one million by the end of the year.

 

Philips Web TV- like those of competitors - is currently aimed at buyers who do not wish to spend up to a thousand dollars for a personal computer primarily to surf the Internet. Web TVs are also often used by family members who wish access to E-mail but do not want to face the learning curve inherent in a personal computer. Also, Web TVs or Internet TVs- such as the latest devices from Sony and Philips - offer capabilities that computers do not. By extracting data embedded in TV signals, Web TVs open up new possibilities for integrating the two most important information resources in the home - the TV and the web. The result can be smarter, more interactive TV.

Philips is currently offering two versions of the Internet box in the US. The basic model - Webtv classic, priced at $99- was designed for E-mail and simple Internet applications. Webtv Plus, priced at 199 dollars, is equipped with a hard disk, a printer port and a TV tuner.