Harman Kardon DMC 100 Brings Entertainment Options Together

Home entertainment systems maker Harman Kardon and ZapMedia Inc., a convergence technology company, are showing off a new interactive device that enables consumers to watch video, listen to music access the Internet using one box. The Harman Kardon DMC 100 Digital Media Center is one of a new class of home entertainment convergence devices visible at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Convergence is a popular buzzword that describes creating a new product that combines the functions of two or more previously separate devices.

The DMC 100 has a built-in DVD player that shows prerecorded video from
DVD and CD, plus it has a 30-gigabyte hard drive that can store up 10,000
songs or 30 hours of video in MP3 or Windows Mediaformat. The DMC 100
connects to home entertainment systems and television sets.

It also offers access to the Internet and e-mail services via either a
built-in Ethernet connection or a dial-up option. Users navigate the Web
with a programmable remote control or a wireless keyboard. ZapMedia
supplies
a portal with interactive Internet entertainment.

Tom McLoughlin, president of Harman Kardon, said the DMC 100 enabled the
company to "deliver on the promise of digital convergence by combining the
performance of Harman Kardon components with the innovative interactive
software and Internet portal developed by ZapMedia to create an
all-in-one,
content-rich, interactive entertainment experience far beyond anything
available today."

CES, staged by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), continues
through Tuesday.

More information on Harman Kardon is available on the Web
at http://www.harmankardon.com.

ZapMedia is online at http://www.zapmedia.com.