Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd (PCCW) Thursday invested in Weave Innovations, a U.S.-based company offering a digital picture frame that distributes photographic content over phone lines without the need for a Net connection.
The terms of the investment were not disclosed by the companies involved, but both firms resounded with enthusiasm over the new relationship.
PCCW’s group managing director Alex Arena said that Weave Innovation’s technology enables consumers to share and reprint digital photos with or without a PC, describing this capability as a natural complement to PCCW’s broadband Internet service.
According to a story published last September on asia.internet.com, CyberWorks estimated that its full broadband Internet access would be available to Asian users in the first half of 2001.
The StoryBox platform revolves around the StoryBox Connected Frame, a display unit which retails for US$300 and contains an internal modem. Essentially, the unit acts as an intranet terminal, allowing owners to send and receive digital photos from other users on the system.
The unit also provides access to content from the likes of E! Online, MSNBC.com, SportsLine.com and The Weather Channel.
Weave Innovations president and CEO Robert Siegel said that Pacific Century Group – PCCW’s parent company – has a proven track record for building a variety of businesses in Asia.
Siegel added that PCCW’s support of the StoryBox platform would enable his firm to “enter the very large Asian market, in the near future, with greater ease and speed.”