A cyberspace front in a multicultural world

Article Abstract:

Countries around the world fear the American-dominated Internet will crowd them out of the information age, but there is hope. The inability to understand English blocks the majority of the world's population from exploiting the Internet. English seems to be establishing itself as the standard for the computer industry, and the majority of information on the Internet is based on American culture. The fear these circumstances cause is being addressed by the development of Unicode, a digital code that allows representations of characters from all languages. Developed by a consortium of American companies, Unicode uses units of 16 ones and zeroes to assign a unique sequence to each character. Translation software is now available for the PC, and products are in development that will translate an E-mail message en route. The language barrier has not completely inhibited Internet growth, as Internet sites increased from two million in Jan 1994 to five million in Jan 1995. Fifty percent of Internet domains are not within the US.

Usage, Internet, Information management, Internet access, International markets, Information accessibility, World Market, Technology Information

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Big makers agree on single format for the videodisk: a late 1996 target date: player would be able to run a digital movie, a CD-ROM or music compact disk

Article Abstract:

Coalitions headed by Sony and Philips on one side and by Toshiba on the other side settle on a single format for digital video disks. The two sides merge approaches to avoid confusing customers and sparking a marketplace battle. The videodisk will hold as many as 4.7GB of video, audio, software and computer data. The agreed format more closely resembles Toshiba's proposal, in which two 0.6-millimeter layers are bonded in a two-sided disk. Video compression will conform to the MPEG2 standard. The coalitions hope that videodisks and videodisk players will replace both CD-ROMs and VCRs. IF videodisk does replace the other two, the companies forecast sales of 60 to 80 million players annually. The videodisk players will run existing CD-ROMs, but they cannot record broadcast programs. The companies have yet to decide on a name and must resolve how royalties will be shared.

Radio & TV communications equipment, Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing, Integrated Record Production/Distribution, Prerecorded records and tapes, Digital Audio Discs, Digital Video Processors, Toshiba Corp., Computer peripherals industry, Sony Corp., Compact discs, Video processing equipment, Video capture boards, Broadcasting equipment, Digital television equipment, CD-ROM disks, Cooperative agreement for product development, Alliances and partnerships, Videodisk players, Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken N.V., CD-ROM Technology, Videodisc systems, Company Business And Marketing

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Sound bites and then some

Article Abstract:

ATR Interpreting Telecommunications Research Laboratories has developed a voice synthesis program called Chatr. Chatr takes pieces of a recording of an individual's voice and then breaks them down into short sounds such as letters or syllables. It then restrings them together to create completely new sentences. There are legal ramifications that need to be address before this new system can be used, such as framing or blackmailing with fake recordings. ATR's goal is not to create a system for impersonating, but rather to improve the quality of synthetic speech for the purpose of translating telephone calls, for example to speak English on one end and hear another language on the other.

Prepackaged software, Software, Telecommunications industry, Communications industry, Voice communications software, Company technology development, Sound processing, ATR Interpreting Telecommunications Research Laboratories

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