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1999 Consumer Electronics Show READ ALL ABOUT IT! PAGE 2 Manufacturers Highlight New DBS Products DirecTv/USSB reception systems are slated to pop up in a few new products, including from one lapsed manufacturer, this year. In announcements yesterday, Thomson Consumer Electronics, Sony Electronics, Toshiba Consumer Products, and Philips Electronics emphasized the importance of DBS to their businesses, with Philips announcing it will return to the DirecTv/USSB receiver business after a two-year hiatus. Philips, which also manufactures Philips receivers for EchoStar’s DISH Network, plans to release in the fourth quarter a DirecTv/USSB receiver with TiVo’s programmable video storage capabilities built in. As reported, DirecTv and TiVo are testing the TiVo system in 100 homes in California. Philips plans to add HDTV reception to the DirecTv-TiVo receiver early next year. Philips and Toshiba also announced yesterday they will start building DirecTv/USSB reception capability into some HDTV sets later this year. Sony, which has yet to endorse the integrated DBS-HDTV concept, instead touted the commercial success of its latest model DirecTv/USSB receiver, which hit the market last month. According to Sony representatives, the new unit’s smaller chassis and increased shock resistance, in addition to Dolby AC-3 digital audio output, are popular in the recreational vehicle market. Thomson’s third generation receiver, also featuring Dolby digital audio, has been selling “as fast as we can make them,” Executive Vice President Jim Meyer said yesterday. Thomson’s newest receiver, capable of processing digital and HDTV broadcast signals as well as DirecTv and USSB signals, is slated for release in the next three months. Thomson expects to sell more than 100,000 of the new receivers in the first 12 months on the market, Meyer said. The company also unveiled a new 60-inch ProScan HDTV set, a new 56-inch RCA HDTV set, a 38-inch direct view RCA HDTV, and an HDTV DVD player. Talk of the digital conversion and new hardware products, as well as the traditionally strong holiday selling season, helped boost total satellite homes to 10.6 million by the end of December. About 173,000 net new homes authorized DirecTv/USSB systems in December, while EchoStar added 129,125 net new homes, and Primestar added about 37,000 net new homes. TURN THE PAGE OTHER ISSUES TO LOOK FOR: Friday, Jan. 8, 1999 Saturday, Jan. 9, 1999 Sunday, Jan. 10, 1999   Please direct questions about this site to general.mail@satbiznews.com q 2000 Satellite Business News Inc. All rights reserved.