HyperTV, scheduled to launch by this summer, will be offered to the public at no charge. Fees will be collected from broadcasters. HyperTV streams content to the desktop utilizing Sun Microsystems' Java programming language. This technology currently supports either analog or digital television broadcasts without broadcasters or users having to alter their existing systems. TV programmers enter URLs into a HyperTV server, then the server sends the URLs to users online.
Users then can create hotlists or interactively browse for more detailed information.
The users receive these in a Java applet that makes a direct connection back to the HyperTV system, and that applet tells the browser to go get that page. So if you're watching, say, a Lakers game, the broadcaster could send you Magic Johnson's home page and make the information there available to anyone who wants to view it. What's nice about the system is that, since we use Java, it works on all systems today. Moreover, by using this system, we can really personalize information for different users. If we had chosen the route of sending the data over the video signal, we wouldn't be able to do that.