Multimedia on the Web

World Wide Web sites with nothing more than text and static pictures are quickly becoming relics of the past. Now the Web is a gateway to multimedia experiences where you can view enhanced television programs, hold online meetings with family and colleagues, listen to audio clips of CDs at online music stores, and more. You can even battle remote computer-game opponents at venues such as the MSN® Gaming Zone.

·                     UltimateTV

·                     MSN TV

·                     Windows Media Player

·                     MSN Gaming Zone

·                     Shockwave

·                     QuickTime

 

UltimateTV

The DIRECTV Receiver compatible with UltimateTV® service transforms the way you watch TV. It's a whole new way of controlling and interacting with your DIRECTV programming. Only UltimateTV gives you the flexibility to watch and record two live shows at once, or watch one show while recording another.* UltimateTV also gives you control over live TV, and is both easy to use and interactive.

Digital video recording

Record your TV shows and forget about messy and easy-to-lose VCR tapes. You can keep all your recordings in your personal digital library. Use your new remote control to watch and record two live shows at once, record up to 35 hours* of programming in high-quality digital format, and set up your own TV recording schedule.

Live TV controls

Watch and control two TV shows at once. Pause, rewind, instant replay and slow motion let you control live TV shows.

Easy and interactive

An easy menu of options lets you choose what you want to do, from one-touch record, to connecting to the Internet, to participating with interactive television programming. UltimateTV even offers service upgrades through your satellite hookup so you don't have to buy anything new to take advantage of service improvements.


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MSN TV

The connections between television and the World Wide Web are creating a whole new form of entertainment and information delivery: enhanced TV. Enhanced programs combine traditional TV with interactive elements, so additional information about a program is right at your fingertips.

The MSN® TV service (formerly WebTV® service) is the friendly, easy-to-use way to access the Internet.

·                     Explore the Internet right on your TV

·                     Stay in touch with friends and family

·                     It's so easy—no computer skills needed!

It's a great place to start if you, a friend or family member is just beginning to explore the Internet.

Sites to visit

·                     UltimateTV


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Windows Media Player

Microsoft® Windows® Media Player allows you to see and hear live and recorded broadcasts—such as concerts and breaking news—over the Web. And streaming technology allows you to see and hear the information as it arrives instead of having to wait for the entire file to download.

Sites to visit

·                     Windows Media Home

·                     Download Windows Media Player for free*

·                     Download Internet Explorer 6


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MSN Gaming Zone

On the MSN Gaming Zone, 4 million gamers from around the world come together online to play against each other. If you like games, visit the Zone today and see why these players keep coming back.

What's your game?

On the Zone, you can play:

·                     Card and board games such as cribbage, spades, checkers, and backgammon

·                     CD-ROM-based games such as Microsoft Age of Empires® and Jedi Knight

·                     Premium made-for-the-Internet games such as the World War II online flight combat game Fighter Ace®

The card, board, and CD-ROM-based games are free.* With thousands of members online at any moment, you'll always find a worthy opponent. The Zone will even help match you with another player.

Gamers (and anyone who wants incredible graphics performance from their computer) should check out the Microsoft Windows® XP operating system. It has built-in support for:

·                     3-D acceleration—Provides 3-D realism and faster, smoother performance of games, graphics, and multimedia applications.

·                     Multimedia Extensions (MMX)—MMX processors contain extra commands designed to handle sound, video, and graphics much more efficiently.

·                     DirectX® 5.0—Interface provides higher quality and realism for game playing and multimedia experiences.

Sites to visit

·                     MSN Gaming Zone

·                     Microsoft Windows XP Web site


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Shockwave

Shockwave technology, from Macromedia, is one technology that allows users to deliver and experience interactive multimedia, graphics, and streaming audio on the World Wide Web. Shockwave elements are created and played back with Shockwave Director, Shockwave Flash, Shockwave Authorware, and their players, which are plug-ins for Web browsers including Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.

Sites to visit

·                     Shockwave.com


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QuickTime

QuickTime®, from Apple Computer, Inc., is one technology that makes it possible for World Wide Web sites to feature audio and video clips. It allows site builders to author digital audio and video files for their site, and it allows users to get the intended multimedia experience. With QuickTime and other streaming media tools, you can listen to and watch clips as soon as they start to download from a site, rather than having to wait until download is complete. QuickTime can play more than 30 video and audio file formats.

QuickTime runs on the Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows NT®, and Macintosh® operating systems. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 supports QuickTime video playback.

Sites to visit

·                     QuickTime

* Internet connect time charges may apply.

Macintosh, Power Macintosh and Quick Time are registered trademarks and the Mac OS logo and the Quick Time logo are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., used under license.