Newest set-top boxes tout flexibility

Stellar One Corp. last week rolled out a new family of digital set-top boxes that promises to bridge a gap between the analog and digital worlds.

The video browser terminals, the Netris 3000 and 4000, are aimed at business and consumer applications, respectively.

Key pieces of Stellar One's technology include a combiner and the optical network unit, which combines analog and digital signals and sends the information through coaxial cable or twisted pair to the end user (see figure). The browser terminals can handle either analog or digital information.

"The killer application is variety," said Steve Voit, executive vice president of marketing for Stellar One. "The Netris series of video browser terminals are designed to be flexible and extend applications into all industries."

The Netris 3000, available in October, features a real-time operating system, an HTML browsing application and an application development tool kit.

The Netris 4000 terminals, targeted at telecom network operators, are designed to operate in a switched digital environment. They feature a highly modular architecture that promotes network independence and maximizes the ability to reuse software.

The technologies behind the 4000 are built to Digital Audio-Visual Council specifications and let end users surf the World Wide Web through either an Internet browser or an Ethernet connection to their PC. The single platform supports any network connection with a change of the interface module.

Pricing for the terminals ranges from $595 to $995, and the network interface modules range from $150 to $700. Sprint is using Stellar One's 1000 model as a precursor to the Netris 3000 in a video-on-demand trial.