American Interactive Media to Bring Affordable Internet Access to the TV without a PC

"There's no question that the Internet is the most important information source emerging today," explained Michael J. Salaman, AIM's president and CEO. "For the mass consumer, however, the cost of a PC to tap this rich source of worldwide information can be prohibitive. Our goal is to democratize technology, to put the power of the 'Net in consumer's hands at an extremely low price."

At the heart of the design is MSU's proprietary iSP chip that revolutionizes Internet technology. The chip's multimedia capability provides high-resolution graphics, 65,000 colors, 16-bit stereo and an integrated high speed modem. The chip's design allows for a fully functional Internet access device that can be used with a TV at a price well below $500.

For consumer convenience, the system will come preloaded with a complete software suite, including a WWW browser compatible with HTML 3.0, email, a dialer and a printer driver. The chip can support up to 16 MB of 32-bit DRAM, making the design possible to support Intenet applications such as Java. Future operating system software upgrades can be downloaded over the Internet. Other examples include high quality pay-per-play video games, browser upgrades, Real Audio and edutainment software.

Although exact terms of the agreement were not disclosed, it gives AIM global manufacturing, marketing and distribution rights for its products developed with MSU's technology.

Most important, consumers can use any existing TV set, rather than replacing them with newer, more expensive units. AIM intends to develop a family of products with varying capabilities that will emerge from this relationship. The first product is anticipated for delivery during the 1996 holiday buying season. Price points for the initial product were not disclosed.

"If electronic commerce is to come of age, consumers must have a convenient, easy-to-use, affordable device that will allow them to conduct business on the 'Net," Salaman continued. "If the process is too technically complicated or expensive, consumers will stick with conventional buying patterns and the true value of the 'Net as a sales or distribution medium will be slow to materialize. We expect our product to provide the answer.

American Interactive Media, Inc. develops and markets software products targeting home office businesses, young families, and small business owners and creates transactional content and products for global Internet marketing and distribution. The company's goal is to provide products that will simplify the ways consumers access and obtain information and products via the Internet.

Note: All company and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.