eVilla

From: Håkon Wium Lie (howcome@opera.com)
Date: Sun Jan 07 2001 - 13:25:32 PST


Somebody referred to BeOS in the past tense? SONY disagrees.
Opera inside.

  http://interprod.imgusa.com/son-431/prView.asp?pPressReleaseId=62
  http://www.evilla.com/html/index.html

SONY SIMPLIFIES -- AND MAXIMIZES -- THE INTERNET WITH NEW e Villa
NETWORK ENTERTAINMENT CENTER

High-Resolution Portrait Display and Stereo Sound Create Ideal
Internet Experience
 
LAS VEGAS, CES, Booth #N109, January 5, 2001 -- For a time-crunched
professional, a family facing an Internet traffic jam at home, or an
Internet novice, Sony has developed the e Villa Network Entertainment
Center, an easy-to-use yet powerful new device to take advantage of
the best the Internet has to offer.

     The e Villa model (NTE-D101) is a display, keyboard and mouse
bundled with a service that helps users instantly access email; tune
into Internet radio stations; view videos and digital still pictures;
navigate the Web; and enjoy customized local, financial, sports, and
lifestyle information; and more.

     "Using the Internet through a PC can be a slow and frustrating
process even for the most computer-literate consumer," said Mark
Viken, president of Sony Electronics’ Personal Network Solutions
Company. "Sony’s e Villa unit eliminates the common hassles of
connecting to the Internet, like having to boot up and dial in just to
see if there’s new email, or trying to manage multi-media plug-ins. We
haven’t just made it easier, but we’ve also made it more fun by
emphasizing the audio and video entertainment aspects of the Internet
through both the e Villa hardware and service."

Waiting to Boot-up and Dial-in is a Thing of the Past with Easy-on
Feature

     Users can log-on anytime with unlimited access. Additionally, the
e Villa service dials up each night - or at a time the user
specifies -- and downloads email and customized information organized
into channels like shopping, sports and local news. An indicator light
lets the user know if he or she has new email. With a touch of button,
email can then be instantly accessed, along with the customized
information updates behind each channel - without having to dial
in.

     The nightly download also automatically updates multimedia
plug-ins as they become available to e Villa users so they can
interact with popular music, video and animated Web sites. The e Villa
service also organizes Internet radio stations into formats, such as
country and rock, and makes use as simple as a push-button car radio.

Keep Family Peace with Four Users Per Account and Off-line Mode

     For families with multiple email users, the e Villa helps keep
the peace by allowing four independent users per account, each with
separate email addresses, passwords, bookmarks, and preference
settings. And a busy phone line isn’t a problem, because the e Villa
Network Entertainment Center also allows users to create email, view
pictures and videos, and listen to music in an off-line mode.

Same Crisp Clarity as Sony’s Wega TVs

     The e Villa has a 15" (14" viewable) FD Trinitron display,
employing the same flat display technology used in Sony’s popular Wega
line of televisions but with a twist. The ultra high-resolution
display stands in a vertical portrait orientation, to provide up to a
third more Internet page viewing area than a typical horizontal PC
display.

     The unit includes built-in stereo speakers along with an
audio-out jack to optimize the digital music from the Internet with
external speakers or headphones.

The e Villa unit is also equipped with:

-A Memory Stick slot: Uses removable Memory Stick media for
virtually unlimited storage. Memory Stick media allows e Villa users
to share and transfer digital photos, videos, music, text and other
digital files from dozens of different electronic devices.

-Two USB ports: e Villa supports external Iomega Zip drives for
extra storage, and 15 different popular printers for printing out
photos, Web pages, emails and more.

-On-line storage: In addition to Memory Stick and Zip disc storage
options, e Villa users have up to 10 MB of on-line storage.

-Two ways to connect: The unit has the fastest available dial-up
modem, and for future broadband access, an Ethernet port.

-Easy-On/Easy-access: Three buttons on the front of the display take
the user to the Web; to their email in-box; or to the e Villa Net
Guide, a gateway to seven channels of information updated daily or
whenever you dial in.

-Full-size keyboard and scroll mouse: To navigate smoothly and
comfortably.

     The e Villa Network Entertainment Center will be shipping in
April. It is expected to sell for about $500, and carry a monthly
Internet service charge of $21.95 for unlimited access.

Additional product specifications:

Display: 15" (14" viewable) Sony FD Trinitron, 800 x 1024
resolution

Operating System: Be Inc.'s BeIA

Web Browser: Opera (4.0 HTML-based)

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