The software goes by the euphemism "hybrid apps." In plain English, these are CD-R OMs that offer consumers the option of connecting to the Internet, from which they can download supplementary content in the form of new files or updated video clips.

More advanced hybrid apps will allow interaction with other users in multiplayer games and 3-D chat rooms, by logging in to a Net-based server.

Examples of cutting-edge hybrid apps range from the obvious to the offbeat. The first big hit of 1997 is likely to be the aggressively promoted "World Book Encyclopedia" from IBM .

Another stellar example is "The Timetables of Multimedia" from Byron Preiss Multimedia, which offers additional Web-based content courtesy of cable-TV's Discovery channel. . Publisher DK Multimedia is also at the cutting edge of hybrid apps, establishing Web-based chat rooms and "Web-zines" to buttress science-oriented disks like "The Ultimate Human Body."

Further down the road, we should see some hot software from Red Storm Entertainment, a new venture to market games based on the phone-book-sized thrillers of Tom Clancy.

Still, hybrid apps are in their infancy. Tougher for developers to deal with is the fact that there's no sure-fire prescription for creating software that will sell. Whiz-bang technology by itself isn't enough. For hybrid apps, as for the best of today's conventional CD-ROMs, the only hard and fast rule is that content is king.

Perhaps that's why Microsoft -- whose biggest contribution is DirectX -- seems to be having a hard time conveying to developers exactly how to go about creating innovative hybrid apps that will sell. Indeed, Microsoft's strategy is proceeding in fits and starts. The company has twice sche duled "Multimedia Strategy Days" to spread the word, only to cancel them at the last minute. Most recently, Microsoft pulled the plug on a planned meeting set for January 28.

But developers need not wait for public pronouncements to launch their efforts. If you've got the inclination to schlep up to Hillsboro, Oregon, consider that Intel is inviting developers to schedule time in its newly opened Hybrid Authoring Studio. The facility is billed as supporting "testing and technical evaluation/guidance by the lab's team of hybrid technology experts." The lab also features full DVD authoring and mastering equipment. To find out more, Intel says you should call (503) 264-3555.

Intel is also advising developers about the grab-bag of technologies they should round up as they prepare to create hybrid apps. These include things like Macromedia's Shockwave , Real Audio, Motion JPEG and Int el's Indeo video-compression codec Other helpful tools include Intel's Realistic Sound Experience (RSX).

One nifty, free offering that will make it easy for developers to get some bang out of DirectX is Intel's Realistic Display Mixer, which is middleware software that sits on top of Microsoft's DirectX application-programming interfaces. At its heart, it's a library of sprite- and animation-software routines for doing "2-1/2-D animation," or 2-D animation that cheats a little to add a feeling of depth perception.

Finally, with a gift for understatement, Intel notes that Java is also going to play a role in hybrid apps. To that end, they are creating a tool called Intel Media for Java, which will enable developers to create Java-based hybrid apps that can be run from within a Web browser. A beta version is due soon.

Loo king at the above list, it's easy to conclude that hybrids apps are decidedly evolutionary, not revolutionary. One big break with the past will come when entertainment-oriented hybrid apps begin connecting to the world of on-line gaming, a nascent territory for which there are few roadmaps.

Leading the way into cyberspace is Mpath Interactive, which has just launched a multiplayer Internet gaming service.

To utilize such services, developers will have to fold DirectPlay into their hybrid apps. A component of Microsoft's DirectX, the DirectPlay client software takes care of the protocol and transport functions that allow software to connect to on-line servers.

That's all for this installment of "Wintel Watch." What's your take on this new column? What topics would you like to see in coming weeks? E-mail me.

Have an opinion, comment or question about the Wintel platform? Explore next-generation design challenges -- things like MMX, DirectX and Univeral Serial Bus -- with other EE Times readers on our new Wintel Watch forum.

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