Tuesday October 14 8:02 AM EDT
Company Press Release
Satellite Technology Gives Kiosk Users Global Information Access
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- With the touch of a computer screen, the congregation of a Korean church
in Los Angeles views a sermon projected onto a 12-foot diagonal screen given by a minister in Korea just hours ago.
At the same time, a video store customer in Rochester previews movie clip before deciding which of several tapes she wants
to rent.
These are just two of the potential applications envisioned by First Wave, Inc., Scottsdale, and WavePhore Networks, a
division of WavePhore, Inc. (Nasdaq:WAVO) of Salt Lake City, who are entering into an agreement to combine their
innovative technologies to allow global information access by consumers using multimedia kiosks located in public places.
''For the first time, movies, text, pictures, and audio can be transmitted to thousands of interactive information kiosks around
the world,'' explained First Wave CEO, John M. Glitsos. ''This technology fills a void for customers who need more reliable
and faster delivery of information than can be accomplished by any other means, including the Internet.''
The primary use of the technology combination, Glitsos added, will be to digitally transmit and store vast amounts of
information for rapid access by the public. Since all of the data ends up on the disk drive of the local touch-screen activated
computer kiosk, thousands of people can view the same pictures, text, movies, or other content simultaneously without the
delays that plague the downloading and display of this type of information using the Internet.
First Wave also announced its proprietary Skylink software which will work in conjunction with the information kiosks and the
WavePhore Network to selectively download and place news stories or other content material into the proper categories on
the information kiosks.
First Wave, which has produced public information kiosks for seven years adopted the WavePhore technology because it's
not only faster, but much less expensive than other updating methods. The combination of network access software and
hardware combined with Internet or private network access fees is many times more expensive than satellite broadcasting
whenever the amount of data and the number of locations exceeds a few dozen according to company officials.
Spokesmen for both firms said many new services combining the best of the Internet, private networks, information kiosks,
and satellite transmission will be conceived as a result of this blending of communications technologies.
''First Wave is already updating multiple-location auto dealer inventories via modems and the Internet -- with the technology
we are announcing today, a used car in Florida could appear on the Internet and at a cooperating dealer's satellite kiosk in
Oregon within a few hours of becoming available for sale,'' Glitsos said. ''This is just one example of the thousands of potential
applications we foresee.''
Companies that conduct video meetings also could benefit from this technology according to B.J. Warnick, Vice President of
WavePhore. ''Instead of making everyone in the company stop what they are doing and go to a conference room in their
location, the content material is transmitted and stored in kiosks located in corporate lobbies or cafeterias and is available on
an as-needed basis to all employees. Not only movies, but corporate forms and even printed policy statements could be
distributed this way, saving tens of thousands of dollars per year in printing and mailing costs,'' she said.
First Wave, Inc. is a software developer and reseller specializing in interactive multimedia kiosk applications. Its Information
Rainbow software is used in corporate lobbies, museums, hospitals, retail outlets, and other public places to dispense
information and gather marketing data. Customers include large corporations such as MicroAge, Inc., The City of Bridgeport,
Honeywell, Arizona Public Service, the U.S. District Courts and Samaritan Health Systems as well as many small, and
medium-size businesses.
First Wave has dealers of it multimedia kiosk technology in Canada, Mexico, England, and the United States. Founded in
1990 by John M. Glitsos, a computer expert and past-president of several computer and office product companies, First
Wave has continued to be a leader in interactive multimedia software technology.
WavePhore Inc., the industry leader in data broadcasting, is comprised of three divisions: WavePhore Networks, WavePhore
Newscast, and WaveTop. WavePhore Networks provides flexible high speed data broadcast services and equipment for
leading information providers to more than 60,000 end user sites worldwide.
WavePhore Newscast delivers real-time, customized business intelligence from over 3,000 sources to more than 134,000
corporate knowledge workers across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, providing a strategic information advantage
enterprise-wide. WaveTop will deliver multimedia information and entertainment to data broadcast-ready home PCs.
WaveTop has partnered with PBS National Datacast to broadcast data through its 264 PBS member stations, covering more
than 99 percent of U.S. television households. Additional information on WavePhore is available via the Internet at
www.wavephore.com, www.wavetop.net, and www.newscast.com. Based in Phoenix, WavePhore, Inc. is a publicly traded
company (Nasdaq:WAVO - news).
Certain of the above statements regarding WavePhore, Inc. constitute forward-looking statements which may involve risks and
uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from such forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors,
including, but not limited to, technology changes, competitive developments, industry and market acceptance of new products
and services, and risk factors listed from time to time in WavePhore's SEC filings.
SOURCE First Wave, Inc.
More news for referenced ticker symbols: WAVO, and related industries: computer, telecommunications. |
