Microsoft, Tandy Go Multimedia : Technology: The electronics company and the software firm team up on a device that will play video games and run educational programs.
In the latest effort to push “multimedia” computing into living rooms, partners Tandy Corp. and Microsoft Corp. on Thursday unveiled technologies for easy-to-use machines that will play a new genre of video games and educational software programs.
The companies are vying with Philips, Commodore International and a joint venture between Apple Computer and IBM to establish industry standards for consumer multimedia systems.
At the same time, Tandy and Microsoft hope to show that there is a broad market for machines that plug into a television set and play programs ranging from encyclopedias to sports games to travel guides.
Although electronics companies have high hopes for multimedia systems, which handle sound, images and text, many analysts believe that the technologies are not yet good enough and cheap enough to appeal to a mass market.
Tandy, owner of the Radio Shack consumer electronics stores, said it will start selling its machine in October for about $700. Zenith Electronics announced that it will market the machine under license from Tandy and Microsoft. The aim is to bring as many consumer electronics manufacturers as possible into the fold.
The Tandy announcement poses a challenge for Philips, which has been struggling for a year to gain acceptance for a consumer multimedia system known as CDI. Philips last week lowered the price of the CDI, which is now selling at retail stores for about $600.
Unlike CDI and Commodore’s similar CDTV system, Tandy’s video information system is based on industry-standard computer technology. The machine, which resembles a compact disc player, uses an Intel 286 computer-on-a-chip--the standard for older versions of the IBM PC--and the Microsoft software is a stripped-down version of the popular Windows program.
The use of such standards does not mean that programs made for the VIS system will play on a personal computer, or vice versa. But Peter Black, president of the Los Angeles multimedia company Xiphias, noted that the standards make it “a whole lot easier” to create programs for the machines.
“What people care about is having a large collection of high-quality software,” said Michael Grubbs, marketing director at Tandy. “This provides a way to bring (PC software programs) to the living room at low incremental effort.”
The announcement represents Microsoft’s first attempt to move from the traditional personal computer business into the consumer arena. Microsoft and other PC companies once hoped to persuade people to buy full-blown PCs for use at home, but such efforts have been a disappointment.
Apple has also been struggling to find its way out of the office and into the living room. The company next month will launch a new line of PCs aimed at the home buyer.
