Philips announced it was dropping the recommended price of a compact disc interactive player to $699.

The move will make CD-I players more affordable to the public and is likely to lead to a rise in sales.

Philips said it marks the beginning of a multi-million dollar push which will be "the most comprehensive, integrated marketing campaign for a single product in the company's history''.

It added that the sales drive will be "unequalled in today's US consumer electronics marketplace''.

The campaign will be led by television advertisements on prime time slots, along with widespread print and radio advertising.

CD-I is set to revolutionise the home entertainment and publishing industries.

A CD-I player is a cross between a video cassette player and a compact disc player. The world's first commercial player was launched by Philips last October.

A CD-I disc looks like a conventional music CD, but instead of holding music,it stores a mix of sound, still and moving images, text, data and graphics -- all under the user's control.

Five Rings hopes to cash in on the technological revolution by developing and marketing new computer software programmes for the system.

The company's founder president and only employee, Mr. Rick Morbey, welcomed Philips' new move.

"The sooner everything takes off the better for Five Rings,'' he said.

Some predictions are that the multi-media CD-I industry could be worth as much as $14 billion worldwide within three years.

According to Philips' customer surveys, people said that the activity CD-I most often replaces is general television viewing.