Telecom supplier Doro AB, in cooperation
with ISP Telia
Internet, Monday introduced a set-top box for Net surfing through a TV set.
The market for set-top boxes in Sweden has been practically nonexistant
thus far, but there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. Doro is a
well-known supplier of phones and message systems with a network of dealers
reaching the consumer market, and their presence might spur the market into
activity.
Doro is launching TV-Surfer with Telia, the government owned telco and
ISP. The TV-Surfer, a complete computer that supports Java, is to be used
for updates from the Internet and is supplied with a printer output. It
also supports HTML 3.1, frames, bookmarks and SSL for secure transfer.
The TV-Surfer has a complete support for up to five e-mail accounts. Doro
hopes that this solution builds a new platform for the consumer market.
Security options using SSL were explored in cooperation with Nordbanken for e-commerce through their
Internet bank. The TV-Surfer also has a Swedish program for digital
signatures and support for smart cards, which will be important for future
trade opportunities. The program was developed by Svenska iD2 Technologies.
Telia is simultaneously building a new portal for TV-Surfer users.
“We belief that our solution, with cooperation with Telia and Nordbanken,
gives us access to their network of customers. It’s about building more
value for customers,” said Andreas Fagerstrom at Doro.
“This Internet-TV launch is proof that the market of Internet is growing
and gets more mainstream. For Telia, which has more than 450,000 Net
customers, this project is very exiting for development of the market,”
said Thomas Rebermark of Telia Internet.
This is the first aggressive approach for launching the technique of
Internet set-top boxes in Sweden.
Doro AB’s The annual sales in 1998 was 240 million kronor (approximately
US$30 million).