February 1997

Columns: Headlines Welcome! Serendipity Speakeasy The Inside Scoop Customer Corner What's brewing at WebTV?

Are you a WebTV virtuoso? At WebTV Customer Care, we have the tips and tricks that will make you a master of your WebTV Internet terminal. Be sure to check out the Frequently Asked Questions, as well as some advice Especially for Newbies. If you want to get in touch with the team here at WebTV, check out Help Us Help You for some tips on what to tell us when you call! Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) 1. How may people can be registered to one box? How do I add users? You can have up to six users (one primary and five secondary) per box, at no additional charge. Each user will have their own e-mail address, and can save their own favorites. To add a user: From the primary user account, Choose "Setup" from the home page. Choose "WebTV users". Choose"Add a user", and follow the on-screen directions. This is also where you decide whether or not to enable Surfwatch (restriction from adult material) for each secondary account. 2. How do I add a password to my account? Select "Setup" on the left side of the Home Page. Select "WebTV users" on the Setup Page. (If you are logged on as a secondary user, select "User Information".) Select your e-mail name. (This is not necessary if you are logged on as a secondary user). Select the words "no password". Enter the password exactly the same way in both spaces to verify that you typed it correctly. (The letters you type will appear as dots on the screen.) Select "Continue" and your password will be added. The next time you turn on the WebTV box you will be prompted for your password. The Primary User may change anybody's password (provided they know the original). The secondary users may only change their own. 3. How do I receive calls while using my WebTV? If you have call waiting installed on your phone line, WebTV will respond by disconnecting when a call comes in. A message will appear on your screen, and your phone will ring. When you are finished with your call, press return, or the center button on your remote to reconnect. You will return to the last page you were viewing. To set up WebTV to respond to call waiting: Choose "Setup" from your home page. Then choose "Dialing" Then choose "Call Waiting" and select the middle option,"Accept calls". 4. Can I send e-mail to my friends who don't have WebTV? Yes, you can send e-mail to anyone, anywhere in the world, who has an e-mail address. They do not have to have WebTV. 5. How many messages can I receive and save? Each user can have up to 150 messages or 2MB (an amount of electronic memory) of mail in their mailbox and save up to 150 messages (or 2MB) of mail in their stored mail. 6. How do I go to a specific web-site? If you know the exact address (URL) of a web site that you wish to view:    With the remote control: press the Options button. Then choose "go to". This will bring up a panel where you can type the address after the letters http://. Then, press the button in the center of the arrows to bring up the on-screen keyboard. Type the address of the web site. Then choose "return" on the on-screen keyboard.    With the keyboard: press the Go To button on the top row of the keyboard. This will bring up the panel with http:// Type in the address of the web site you wish to view, and then press the Return key. 7. How do I find the web address (URL) for a web page that I'm viewing? With the remote control: While you are viewing the web page, press the Options button to bring up the options panel. Choose "Info" and press the button in the center of the arrows. With the keyboard: Press the Info button on the top row of the keyboard. A pop-up window will appear at the bottom of the screen that contains the web address (URL). 8. Can I use the box at other locations (different phone lines)? Yes. Once you have registered your WebTV box, you are able to take it anywhere in the US! When you turn on WebTV at the new location, a message will appear on your television asking if you have moved your Internet terminal to a different phone number. Select the "New Number" option and WebTV will reset to call the nearest access number. The new access number may or may not be a local call. 9. How do I access WebTV's new features and upgrades? Is there a fee? WebTV releases software updates every few months, so that you can use an Internet terminal that you already own and have the very latest WebTV features and improvements. There is no charge for this. When an update is available and you connect to WebTV, you will receive a message describing the new features. You will have the option to download the new version immediately, or at a later time. If you choose to update later, you will receive this message when you log on again, and will continue to receive it until you download the upgrade. Your box will retrieve the update from our server. This generally takes about ten or fifteen minutes. Two meters appear on the screen to show you the progress that your box has made in retrieving the update. When it has completed the process, it will automatically disconnect. 10. Can I use Chat Rooms? The WebTV terminal currently supports two styles of chat rooms. These are General HTML and Bulletin-style chat rooms. A few examples of these are: Cafe de Paris ESPNET SportsZone MovieLink Mr. Showbiz Warner Bros. Eshare Technologies The Chathouse We are also working on a Chat room specifically designed for WebTV users. This feature may be added in later software release. 11. Can I access Newsgroups? We are planning on adding a newsreader in a future software release. In the meantime, you can access the sites www.zippo.com and www.dejanews.com which will allow you to access newsgroups with your WebTV Terminal. 12. Is there a printer available? In early 1997 we plan on having printing capabilities. In the meantime, if you have a VCR you can videotape your web pages for future viewing and storage. 13. What are SmartCards? Smart cards are a new technology currently in development. WebTV includes a SmartCard slot in anticipation of their widespread use. However, these are not yet available. In the future, they will be used to store information, including financial data to be used for banking, shopping and other on-line transactions. 14. What do the specific keys on the Infra-Red Keyboard do? F1-F7: Takes you to your first 7 favorites. favs: Takes you to your favorites list home: Return directly to the home page search: Takes you directly to the search page mail: Takes you directly to the mail features find: Find a particular word on a page info: Gives you the address (called a URL) of the page you are on go to: Go directly to a page if you know the URL save: Save the page you are on to favorites send: Send the page you are on to an e-mail address edit: Gives you the ability to edit input in a text entry field. (After you have moved to a new field, the arrow keys only take you to another field. Press edit to allow the arrow keys to then move within a given field) back: Back one page scroll keys:Move up and down a page by a whole screen at a time options: Calls up the options panel which includes find, info, go to, save and send (as well as hang-up and reload if advanced options are activated). recent: A list of the last 12 pages you visited; go directly to these by highlighting and pressing enter. alt:Changes characters on the keyboard (new character set) cmd, ctrl and esc: These standard keyboard keys are reserved for future WebTV e-mail editing features. 15. Some web sites say they are best viewed with Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer. What does this mean? Netscape and Internet Explorer are the most popular web browsers for home computer users. Personal computer users need to add a browser to access the many of the features on the World Wide Web. WebTV has its own browser. You do not need Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer to explore the Web. WebTV is compatible with Navigator 3.0 and Explorer 3.0, meaning that you can view nearly all the web pages that that these popular home computer browsers can. More Tips For better Search results, put more than one word in quotation marks. For instance, if you want to look up German Shepherds, you will get all pages with German and Shepherds. So, type in "German Shepherds", with quotation marks, or (German Shepherds) in parentheses, and the search engine will look for web sites that have those two words together. To send an e-mail message to more than one address at a time, separate the addresses by a comma, then a space. You may add a carbon copy (CC) line to your outgoing mail. From your Home page, choose "Setup", then choose "Mail Setup". Then choose "Addressing". Highlight and choose "Advanced addressing", which will make a check mark in the box. Then choose "Done". Now, when you type a message, you will see a CC: line so that you may enter another address which will receive a copy of that letter. You can choose an address from your list while writing a message by choosing "To:" This will bring up your list of Internet addresses, from which you can choose one or more. This will automatically enter the address(es) you chose into the heading of your message. If you receive a Mail message that has a Web page address in it (such as http://www.sony.com or http://www.philips.com), you can go directly to that web page by highlighting the address and choosing it. The Back button on your remote control or keyboard also operates as a "stop" button. You can stop the process of a Web page being loaded on your screen by pressing the Back button. If using an infra-red keyboard, avoid placing anything on top of it while not in use, as that will run down the batteries very quickly. Especially For Newbies A web page (or web site) address will take you to a web page that a person or company has set up for viewing. These are usually a list of letters and slashes. Most commercial web sites begin with "www" and end with "com". Other addresses may begin and end in almost any combination of letters, slashes, periods, commas, dashes, tildes, etc. An e-mail address is what you use when you want to send a message to someone electronically. All e-mail addresses have an "@" symbol within them. If you do not include a domain name (those words that come after the @ symbol) WebTV will automatically send it to the domain "@webtv.net". (If there is no such person "@webtv.net," your message will bounce back to you as "undeliverable".) The word "dot" in a web page or e-mail address refers to a period ( . ) If someone says, "dub dub dub" they mean www. The "slash" (/) is a forward slash, the one under the question mark on your keyboard. Don't be afraid to Explore! That's what the Web is all about. Go ahead and visit sites all over the world! If you can think of it, it's on the Web! If you end up somewhere you didn't mean to be, just back up using your back button, or go home by pressing the home button. We promise that the Web won't bite you! Help Us Help You! 1. Check out the Instructions from your home page! There are a LOT of answers there! 2. If you send us e-mail, be sure to type only a few words in the Subject line of your message. Type the contents of your letter in the blank space below the Subject line. 3. Questions related to the Sony or Philips/Magnavox products and warranty information should be directed to that manufacturer. Sony's TOLL-FREE number is: 1 (888) 772-7669 Philips/Magnavox's TOLL-FREE number is: 1 (888) 813-7069 4. If you need to call Customer Care with a question or a problem, it's really helpful if you'll give us your name and e-mail address (your Internet Name) first. That saves us all a lot of energy. 5. Please remember when you call that there might be other WebTV Customers waiting to speak to us. We strive to assist ALL of our Customers in a timely and efficient manner.