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White Pine Sets the Stage for New Age of Visual Communications On the Internet With CU-SeeMe World Web Site Launch
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 24, 2000--
Site Provides Exciting New Place on the Internet for
People to Experience Live Videochat
Leading Internet Sites iVillage FamilyPoint, Pets.com, OnMatch, FogDog, Virtualkid.com, and eBags Sponsor
Topic-Oriented Videochat Channels
White Pine Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: WPNE), a leading provider of multimedia conferencing applications for the Internet and intranets, today announced a strategy to make visual communications ubiquitous on the Internet starting with the launch of its new web site: cuseemeworld.com .
CU-SeeMe(R) World is the place for millions of people to go on the Internet to experience visual communications. It provides a fun, friendly community atmosphere where people can meet and interact in live, face-to-face videochat rooms without any special hardware or software. Membership and participation in CU-SeeMe World are free, making this new way to communicate accessible to anyone with a PC and Internet connection. The live videochat rooms run in a standard web browser and don't require any configuration, making it simple enough for even a beginning Internet user. CU-SeeMe World content is dynamic and user-created, so there is always something new, 24 hours a day. CU-SeeMe World gives people an enjoyable and easy way to experience visual communications on the Internet.
"We are at the dawn of a new communications age with the Internet, which has already transformed the way that people are connected globally," said Killko Caballero, president, CEO and chairman of White Pine Software. "The Internet is shifting from its early phase of being a mass resource for information and data and becoming the primary communications vehicle for the 21st century. The future of Internet communications is a fully interactive, visual communications experience for both consumer users and business to business transactions. White Pine is uniquely positioned with groundbreaking technology, unprecedented ease of use, and years of Internet experience to drive the adoption of this new standard for communications. CU-SeeMe World is the first step in our strategy to enable millions of people to communicate visually on the Internet."
CU-SeeMe World is the showcase for White Pine's recently announced, award-winning CU-SeeMe(R) Web technology. It provides a real-world demonstration of how this new technology works to build community and provide Internet users with a more complete communications experience. CU-SeeMe World provides a place for 'citizens' (members) to enter into a videochat room and use live audio, video, and text chat to interact with other people in the room
- a revolutionary new model for face-to-face communication over the Internet. In addition to participating in pre-defined videochat rooms, CU-SeeMe World also allows users to create their own videochat rooms on the fly. This is the first of many new and innovative communications technologies that will be featured on CU-SeeMe World.
"CU-SeeMe World lets you talk face-to-face with just the click of a mouse," said Willy Wiegler, executive producer of CU-SeeMe World. "It's so simple and yet it fundamentally changes the communications process - that's why it's so compelling to users. If you can get on the Internet, you can use this."
CU-SeeMe World removes the previous barriers to videoconferencing over the Internet. There is no access fee, no purchase required and no software or camera necessary to participate in CU-SeeMe World, making it free and available to everyone. The first time a user connects to a live videochat room in CU-SeeMe World, it automatically downloads a small (less than 1 MB) plug-in to the user's computer to facilitate the live visual interaction. There is nothing for the user to install or configure to make it work. Even without a camera, a user can see other participants in the videochat room, talk to them, and text chat with them. To send video, a user can add a camera to his PC for as little as $30. CU-SeeMe World works well over regular dial-up connection speeds, and also allows users with DSL, cable modem, or other broadband connections to experience increased speed and performance.
Channels and Sponsors
CU-SeeMe World is organized into topic-oriented channels that help citizens to find and participate in content of interest. Each channel is sponsored by a popular Internet site. The sponsors add value to the topic areas and help to provide additional content and host related special events. Charter channels and sponsors include: iVillage FamilyPoint - Family channel; Pets.com - Pet channel; OnMatch
- Relationships channel; FogDog - Sports channel; Virtualkid.com - Teens channel; eBags - Travel channel; and a Women's channel. Additional channels will be added as the site grows and membership drives new interest areas. Citizens can go into any channel and join one of the videochats already in progress or create a videochat room of their own - they simply enter a title and description of content to create a new room instantly where others can join into the conversation. Because the content of CU-SeeMe World is user-driven, it is always changing and there's something for everyone.
A Global Community
CU-SeeMe World takes advantage of the fact that the Internet has no geographical boundaries and creates a truly global community - it enables people from around the world to communicate face-to-face in a highly interactive, real-time environment. CU-SeeMe World provides a place for people to connect with people they already know and to meet new people. A People Finder feature helps citizens to find other CU-SeeMe World citizens or to locate other users on the Internet based on specific search criteria. A CU-Mail feature enables citizens to email each other without divulging their personal addresses. The entire CU-SeeMe World web site is designed to facilitate communications between people while still protecting individual user privacy.
Additional Features
CU-SeeMe World includes a number of features that will bring users to the site and keep them coming back:
--Quick and easy membership process
--Fun, friendly site with intuitive navigation
--Live, interactive special events (in addition to ongoing videochats) --24-hour monitoring ensures a family friendly environment
--A Videochat Guide answers common user questions
--An Internet Videochat Directory helps users to find other places on the Internet to communicate visually
--My CU-SeeMe allows users to customize their citizen profile and user experience
About White Pine Software
White Pine Software develops, markets and supports multi-platform browser-based internetworking software that facilitates worldwide video and audio communication and data collaboration across the Internet, intranets, extranets and other networks that use the Internet Protocol. White Pine's videoconferencing software products, CU-SeeMe and MeetingPoint, create a client-server solution that allows users to participate in real-time, multi-point video, audio and data conferences over the Internet and intranets. White Pine Software can be found on the World Wide Web at wpine.com .
All trademarks are recognized.
Photos and screenshots available at www.wpine.com/newsroom/wp-screenshots-world.html .
If you are connecting to CU-SeeMe World through a firewall, visit cuseemeworld.com for additional information.
CONTACT:
White Pine Software
Tanya Prather, 603/886-9050, ext. 359
tprather@wpine.com
or
Merritt Group
Meredith Bagnulo, 703/556-6300, ext. 122
bagnulo@merrittgrp.com
or
Dreamcoat
Joe Naughton, 212/532-4884
dreamcoat@nyc.rr.com |
