The movie was a hit, the CD-ROM a dud; software bites Disney; 'Lion King' glitches show just how far Hollywood is from Silicon Valley; crestfallen on Christmas day
Article Abstract:
Walt Disney Co's products are familiar to parents and synonymous with quality, but parents looking to please their children on Christmas 1994 were disappointed with the company's new Lion King CD-ROM and its technical problems. The CD-ROM video freezes mid-frame and Disney has been accused of a slow response to the problem. Disney's entrance into the market is proof of Hollywood's continuing fascination with the multimedia CD-ROM business, but entertainment companies have much to learn when compared to Silicon Valley companies such as Broderbund and Electronic Arts. Although Disney has been in the entertainment software business since 1988, it is poised to build a computer software division, which it estimates will be worth $1 billion in five years. Disney spent $3 million on advertising to announce its Lion King CD-ROM, based on the highest grossing animated film of all-time. The company has promised to solve all problems associated with the CD-ROM.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1995
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Times Mirror tries to lock in its gain on stake in Netscape by offering 'Peps'
Article Abstract:
Times Mirror is offering innovative new premium equity participating securities (Peps) tied to Netscape Communications stock in an effort to lock in a gain from an early investment in the Internet software company. The securities will be made available through a public sale managed by Morgan Stanley & Co. The sale is intended to extract a measure of the profit that Netscape has generated since its successful IPO in Aug 1995 and protect Times Mirror against the dramatic fluctuations of Netscape's stock. The Peps reach maturity five years from purchase-date and will carry a small coupon rate. The move ensures that Times Mirror will not sustain further loss on its overall Netscape profit, but neither will the company benefit should Netscape stock rise after the sales of the Peps. The Peps procedure is innovative in that it provides for equivalent cash transactions for stocks that cannot themselves be legally sold.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1996
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At startup Advanced Recognition, talk is cheap
Article Abstract:
Advanced Recognition Technologies Inc. has the software that Lucent and several other chip and cell phone makers want. ART, based in Tel Aviv, is suddenly the hot ticket with a chip that requires very little memory and allows voice-activated phone dialing. The company has been in business since 1990, starting out with handwriting recognition. Motorola was the firm's first cell phone customer in 1996. Then Samsung started using the voice technology in cell phones and the demand was high. Now its handwriting-recognition products may be taking off as well. ART recently learned that somewhere in China there was an attempt to steal the company's proprietary code; this made the technical people feel very flattered.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1998
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