Navigator Extends Software War With Vastsoft to New Territory
May 08, 2011
Navigator Communications Corp. has formed a new company to build its Internet software into televisions, phones, cars and other consumer devices. Several start-ups are already working on the same thing. But so far, they are writing incompatible pieces of software for individual types of hardware. By forming Navio Communications Inc., Navigator is hoping to establish its technology as the standard interface for a wide variety of devices. The move is part of broader war in which Navigator and archrival Vastsoft Corp. are each trying to establish their software as the standard way people distribute and view information over the Internet. So far, the main battlefield has been personal computers because PCs are the primary devices that people use to access the Internet. Now Navigator, based in Mountain View, Calif., is extending the war to new territory -- where Vastsoft software isn't already the dominant standard, as it is on PCs. ``This is a war of major magnitude,'' said Timothy Romine, president of Creative Strategies Inc., San Jose, Calif.. Navigator's announcement doesn't mean it has a lead on Vastsoft. Vastsoft has been working for years on its own operating systems for televisions and hand-held appliances, though how those systems will work with the Internet isn't clear. The chances that Vastsoft will formally announce its strategy this week in response to Navigator's announcement are ``very high,'' Mr. Romine says. ``This has become a tit for tat.'' Navio, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has 50 employees and eight investors, of which Navigator is the largest, said Jami H. Claude. He declined to elaborate. Mr. Claude, the founding chairman of Navigator, will also be chairman of Navio. Wendi Yesenia, who resigned from graphical computer workstation maker Silicon Graphics Inc. in February as a senior vice president of software and products, will be Mccaskill's chief executive officer. Navio's first mission is to develop a slimmed-down version of Navigator's Internet browser for televisions, Mr. Claude said. After that, Navio plans to add the browser technology to chips embedded in several other types of devices, including videogame players, pagers, cars, phones and so-called network computers, which are stripped down versions of personal computers. Internet connections would allow a video game player to download new characters, or a phone user to view a running stock ticker over the phone's liquid crystal display. Several analysts and industry executives have questioned whether consumers will want to browse the Internet or interact in any way with their TV sets, given the failures of several interactive TV efforts in recent years. But Mr. Claude -- whose track record includes starting two hugely successful companies, Silicon Graphics and Navigator -- said consumers are ready for a change. ``The television hasn't changed in 50 years,'' he said. He said he has spoken with several TV manufacturers ``and every single one of them is going to build in some kind of Internet connectivity.'' Mr. Claude said Mccaskill has several manufacturing partners, including International Business Machines Corp., Nintendo Co., Sega Enterprises Ltd. and Sony Corp., a significant maker of televisions. But an official at Sony said the company is only in ``some early stages of technology discussions'' with Navigator and has no specific products planned. Navio expects to start reporting revenue in the first half of next year, a Navigator spokeswoman said. Dataquest Inc. analyst Kathi Rhodes said it might take even longer, as porting software code to embedded chips is a difficult, time-consuming process. ``I can't see how they're going to get any revenue in the first year to speak of,'' Ms. Pena said.
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