USVO Update
Corporate Update: USA Video Interactive
APRIL 18, 2000 - MYSTIC, CONNECTICUT -- It has been a busy year for USA Video Interactive (OTCBB: USVOE; CDNX: US; www.usvo.com) and the Company would like to provide an update on the status and progress of the projects announced since the start of 1999 through the end of February 2000. The dates are the dates of news releases; all are available at www.usvo.com.
February 17, 1999:
Incorporation of Wavelet compression into the USA Video Interactive product line - The Company has come a long way with Wavelet and it still is one of our lead offerings as a compression technique, along with MPEG4 and earlier versions of MPEG still in use. There are many follow-up announcements dealing with Wavelet, with one highlight being the recent hiring of a world-leading expert in the field of compression technology (see 3/31/00).
March 18, April 14, 21 and 29, 1999: Digitizing educational content and signing leading education libraries for demonstration projects - The Company now has full digitizing and encoding capabilities as the well as full editing suites in our corporate offices. In April, the Company signed agreements with AGC/United Learning, Phoenix, and Lucerne Media, three of the leading educational video libraries in the world for pilot deployments. Each of the three libraries provided several hours of video content, which the Company digitized, compressed, and demonstrated on a limited basis as provided by our contracts with them. The Company is currently in negotiation with each of the libraries on agreements to incorporate their content into USA Video Interactive systems for offerings in education and elsewhere; and to develop the guidelines of joint marketing arrangements with each.
April 22, 1999: Purchasing an editing suite from IDM - This purchase was completed, as were the purchases of additional digital editing suites and equipment from IDM. The relationship has grown into a much closer one (see 8/5/99).
May 10, 1999: Collaboration with Motion, Inc. for video production - The Company has consulted with Motion on a number of projects and the relationship has grown stronger and closer. More information to come.
May 5 and June 6, 1999: Agreements with UUNET - The agreements with UUNet include an arrangement whereby the Company can offer DSL and other UUNet services to our clients as part of a turnkey package, and an agreement by UUNet that the Company can locate its video servers on the UUNet network. These agreements remain in place and the Company has had numerous interactions with UUNet in preparing quotes for clients. The Company has not physically placed servers at the UUNet center in Virginia, however, but has located them with a large, more local Internet Service Provider with direct access to the UUNet network. The Company also has contracted with UUNet for high capacity service on an ongoing basis, making it possible to provide live demonstrations and other services to clients from USA Video Interactive's corporate offices.
June 16, 1999: Merging Rivers Media formed as subsidiary - Merging Rivers Media was formed amid much fanfare and promise, but the consultants retained to manage the subsidiary did not produce the results agreed to and their contracts were terminated in October and November 1999. USA Video Interactive has brought legal action against one of the consultants for violations of contract. Currently this subsidiary is inactive.
June 17, 1999: OEM Agreement with SeaChange International - The OEM (original equipment manufacturer) agreement with SeaChange provides that they will build servers to USA Video Interactive specifications and the Company can private-label them, a fairly standard OEM agreement. The Company has purchased several of these servers and is using them in the Tech Center for testing and demonstrations.
June 24, 1999: Pilot Deployment at a Career College in Puerto Rico - The consortium of career colleges has not yet selected a single college for the test deployment. The Company expects the deployment will take place later this year.
June 24, 1999: Sale of Server to Enersphere - The server has been delivered to Enersphere. Since this sale, Enersphere has been acquired by Urbana.ca. A three-way contract was announced between USA, Urbana and Eagle Wireless for set-top boxes (see 1/18/00). Urbana currently is involved in a number of proprietary projects involving deployments of USA Video Interactive products and services. The Company will be providing additional details as appropriate.
July 8, 1999: L. A. Music Awards signs on for Webcast - In July, the L. A. Music Awards signed on for a webcast of its 9th annual awards ceremony in November. Subsequently, a contract was established giving USA Video Interactive, through its Merging Rivers Media subsidiary, majority ownership in LAMA and setting a number of requirements and conditions for all parties involved (see 8/23/99). The awards ceremony occurred as scheduled in November and an edited tape was webcast on Thanksgiving, receiving more than 188,000 hits (see 11/2/99, 11/24/99 and 12/1/99). By all accounts, this webcast was a success. In recent months, the parties have begun to renegotiate the contract including webcasting the 10th Annual L. A. Music Awards later this year.
July 20, 1999: Agreement with Fraunhofer to collaborate on distance learning -- Throughout 1999, the Company worked cooperatively with Fraunhofer on a number of projects and showcased our technologies together at a number of trade shows and demonstrations. The companies jointly explored a number of potential projects but have not proceeded on any to date; at the present time, this relationship is inactive.
August 5, 1999: Joint marketing agreement with IDM - Following the start of a good business relationship in April, the Company continued working with IDM, exchanged technologies and integrated these technologies as appropriate. Both companies have provided each other with leads for clients and continue to do so.
August 20, 1999: Agreement to supply IC One with Video on Demand - The Company contracted with IC One to supply Wavelet encoding and video-on-demand technology for a project IC One was managing involving installation of set-top boxes in large apartment complexes managed by a private company named Global Rent Smart of Las Vegas, Nevada. The Company met with IC One and Global RentSmart in Las Vegas in early December. At this meeting, RentSmart said they did not plan to move forward until Q1 or Q2 2000 but committed to provide USA Video Interactive with certain information needed to complete a financial model for the overall project. This information was provided by RentSmart in February 2000. USA Video Interactive is awaiting direction from the client, a purchase order, and confirmation that the other companies involved have adequate financial resources committed to the project. As such, the Company has lowered priority on this project pending word from RentSmart.
August 31, 1999: Collaboration of USA Video Interactive, Teikyo Post University and Learn on a distance learning project - This pilot project has been completed, demonstrating the effectiveness of using the USA Video Interactive technology to make state-required training available via the Internet. The parties are considering expanding this project into other state-required training areas.
September 30, 1999: Polomania - Polomania placed an order for a USA Video Interactive media server with execution of the order deferred until Q2 2000. The Company has received a deposit from Polomania and the order will be completed this month. Our contract calls for sale of additional equipment and services to Polomania once the American Polo Association makes a decision on broadcasting its matches on the Internet.
October 6, 1999: Investor Angels - Investor Angels is proceeding with its business plans, including the incorporation of USA Video Interactive technology in its offerings of a video due diligence. The Company will issue more information as appropriate.
October 13, 1999: USA Video Interactive joins SchoolTone, an education marketing initiative started by Sun Microsystems - USA Video Interactive was invited to join the SchoolTone Alliance at the platinum (highest) level as a founding member. Subsequently, USA Video Interactive was elected to the Board of Directors of SchoolTone Alliance. USA Video Interactive remains active with this consortium of leading Internet companies.
November 12, 1999: K-12video.com Portal announced - The Company developed this educational portal to provide password access to educational content via the Internet. Testing has confirmed the operability of the portal. Actual implementation of services utilizing the portal will begin once licensing and other arrangements are finalized with content libraries (see 3/18/99).
December 7, 1999: Agreement with Exodus Communications - After many months of negotiation, USA Video Interactive and Exodus Communications reached an agreement that provides access to their Internet backbone and establishes joint marketing and other related agreements. The Company has had several meetings with Exodus and numerous discussions regarding specific services for clients. Exodus currently hosts more than half the corporate websites in the U.S.
December 9, 1999: Agreement with Vianet - USA Video Interactive renewed and expanded its relationship with Vianet Technologies (formerly Infinop), a supplier of Wavelet technology. The agreement provides private labeling under the USA Video Interactive brand, establishes that the companies will work together on various development projects, and gives USA Video Interactive access to all products developed by Vianet. The companies had worked together for over a year; the relationship continues.
December 16, 1999: LearningStation.com and USA Video Interactive establish joint marketing agreement - The companies formed a joint marketing agreement that will lead to closer integration of their products and create a video portal for LearningStation.com applications. The relationship continues to strengthen and lead to other opportunities for both companies, and recently included an initial purchase of a USA Video Interactive video server system (see 3/3/00).
December 22, 1999: Agreement with Lightforce Films to produce animated content - The companies have had numerous meetings and discussions about current and future projects. Lightforce is in the process of obtaining funding for expansion of its activities.
December 23, 1999: Agreement among Urbana, Eagle Wireless and USA Video Interactive to produce a Linux-based, Wavelet-equipped set-top box -- This agreement was finalized as a contract among the parties (see 1/18/00) and subsequently, Eagle and Urbana each announced an order for these boxes for a deployment being undertaken by Urbana (see 6/24/99). Eagle announced that Urbana's order of 50,000 set-top boxes was part of a larger commitment for 500,000 set-top boxes.
January 20, 2000: Agreement with and sale to Inetcable.com - Inetcable.com contracted with USA Video Interactive to design and construct a system that would take a broadcast TV signal, encode it and transmit it by satellite to an ISP where it would be downlinked, decoded and broadcast over the Internet at 200kbps in a full-screen, full-motion format. As noted in a subsequent press release (see 3/1/00), the test deployment operated flawlessly and it was the world's first satellite-enabled multicast broadcast of network TV in this type of configuration. Inetcable and USA Video Interactive continue to work together closely to expand this pilot into full-scale deployments throughout North America. Additional details and announcements will be forthcoming.
January 28, 2000: Agreement with CMI to provide satellite-based educational services to areas with poor infrastructure - USA Video Interactive and CMI reached an agreement to proceed after several months of negotiation and design discussion. The project is in its early stages. Additional details and announcements will be forthcoming.
February 2, 2000: Yahoo! Internet Life selects USA Video Interactive to the webcast pre-Oscars show - This project was completed with the broadcast on March 28 of highlights from the Yahoo! Internet Life Online Film Festival, held March 22 and 23 in Hollywood (see 3/24/00).
February 9, 2000: USA Video Interactive to develop Unix-based Wavelet - USA Video Interactive reached an agreement with Vianet to produce a version of Wavelet for Unix-based operating systems. This process should be complete in Q3 or Q4 2000. Subsequently, Sun Microsystems agreed to utilize this Unix-based Wavelet (see 3/9/00).
February 17, 2000: SchoolFirst selects USA Video Interactive as its video and video-on-demand provider - SchoolFirst is a charitable foundation bringing technology to schools in underserved areas. Its first deployment of systems in four urban locations is underway. It is expected that each of these initial deployments will be followed by systemwide deployments in these cities. SchoolFirst has also invited USA Video Interactive to participate on its Board of Advisors. Additional details and announcements are forthcoming.
February 22, 2000: Form 10 filed - As part of the SEC requirement that all OTCBB companies become fully reporting, USA Video Interactive submitted its Form 10. A month later, an amended Form 10 with fully audited financials was filed with the SEC. On April 7, an "E" was added to the Company's trading symbol on the OTCBB (USVOE) signifying that the SEC had not yet completed its review of the Company's application (see 4/7/00).
Updates on Projects Begun Before 1999
Callisto: USA Video Interactive had contracted with Callisto to use its systems in some education settings. The Company was not satisfied with the Callisto product and the contract expired in 1999. USA Video Interactive no longer has any business relationship with Callisto.
MetroNet: A one-year term Memorandum of Understanding was established in 1997 with Rogers Network Services in Canada providing joint marketing and other areas of cooperation. In 1998, Rogers was acquired by MetroNet, which subsequently was acquired by AT&T. No revenues were realized from this agreement.
Learn: A pilot video-on-demand system was installed at Learn (a regional education service center serving more than 100 schools and 50,000 students in southeastern Connecticut) to serve as a demonstration of our technology. In 1999, the Company modified its installation and it now operates perfectly. Learn has been able to showcase our installation in applying for grants and beginning expansion of a true video on demand system. The Company also has embarked on new projects with Learn such as the collaboration with Teikyo Post University described above.
In closing, several contracts have been finalized and announced since February, and the Company will provide updates on the progress of these agreements as appropriate. Other contracts are in various stages of negotiation; USA Video Interactive will announce these as they are closed as long as there are no competitive or proprietary constraints.
About USA Video Interactive
SA Video Interactive is an international designer and supplier of high-tech Internet streaming video and Video-on-Demand? systems, services and solutions. The USA Video Interactive technology gives users full-motion video; the unique flexibility of standard, VCR-like controls of play, fast-forward, reverse and pause; and the convenience of a standard internet-browser format for access. Its provides video images significantly faster and at a higher degree of resolution than with previously available methods; significantly overcomes bandwidth restrictions; and eliminates the blockiness and slowness of current technologies -- all at a lower cost and at or near broadcast quality. For more information on USA Video Interactive, visit www.usvo.com.
USA Video Interactive Corporate Headquarters Office: 70 Essex Street; Mystic, CT 06355; (800) 625-2200; (860) 572-1560. Canada Office: 837 West Hastings Street; Suite #507; Vancouver, B.C. V6C 3N6. Trading symbol on the US NASD OTC BB: USVOE; Trading symbol on The Canadian Venture Exchange: US. Standard & Poors Listed. CUSIP 902924208; USA Video, USA Video Interactive, Video-On-Demand and Video Yellow Pages are trademarks of USA Video Interactive. The Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For more information contact: Tony Castagno, Media Relations, 860-572-1560; Kevin Yorio, Investor Relations, 860-572-1560; info@usvo.com. |
