Monday December 8, 8:03 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: WavePhore, Inc.
WaveTop Begins Beta Phase, Announces New Content Partners and
Advertisers
Anticipates Q1 Launch
NEW YORK, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- WaveTop, a division of WavePhore, Inc. (Nasdaq: WAVO - news), today
announced it has begun nationwide beta testing for its revolutionary WaveTop broadcast service. Strengthened by alliances
with Microsoft, Intel and a growing list of leading Internet content providers, WaveTop is the first free modem-less content
delivery service for the home PC market.
WaveTop also announced today 11 charter advertisers for its new service and eight additional content providers, bringing the
number of contributing entertainment and information sources to 23.
The first general release of WaveTop, available in the first quarter of 1998, will be compatible with Microsoft Windows 95.
Subsequently, WaveTop will be included in the Windows 98 operating system scheduled to ship in the second quarter of
1998.
WaveTop's technology bypasses the Internet and allows for the transmission of web content to home personal computers via
the vertical blanking interval (VBI) in television signals to home personal computers. WaveTop uses the television signals of the
264 member stations of PBS National Datacast, Inc. The PBS network is the only television VBI network covering more than
99% of U.S. households.
''WaveTop will eliminate the World Wide Wait,'' said WaveTop senior vice president and general manager, Sandy Goldman.
''In bypassing the bottleneck of the Internet, we can provide more robust information in real time. With a full lineup of the
Web's best content providers and a strong group of charter advertisers, we are tantalizingly close to launching the WaveTop
service.''
Joining WaveTop as new content providers are USA TODAY, Yahoo! and Yahooligans!, Universal Press Syndicate --
Comics, Women's Wire and Prevention's Healthy Ideas, ParentTime, Supermarkets Online, and OnCart.
Charter advertisers include ADS Technologies, BarnesandNoble.Com, ConsumerInfo.com, cybermeals, Lincoln-Mercury,
Microsoft, Spiegel, Hewlett-Packard Photo, Atlanta Internet Bank, EMI Records and Mobil Speedpass.
The first public demonstration of WaveTop beta will be at Internet World '97, Dec. 10-12, at New York's Jacob K. Javits
Center. In addition, WaveTop will be previewed to the press and industry analysts at David Coursey's Internet Showcase
Preview, an Upside Media event that coincides with Fall Internet World. WaveTop also has been chosen from among
hundreds of submitted technology products for demonstration at the second annual Internet Showcase Conference for industry
executives, Jan. 27-30 in San Diego.
''We are ready to unveil the latest in modem-less technology and become the standard in the revolutionary field of data
broadcasting to the home,'' said Goldman. ''We believe WaveTop and its VBI data broadcasting will become an essential
feature of the home PC.''
WaveTop will be included in Microsoft Windows 98, scheduled for release in the second quarter of 1998. WaveTop will take
advantage of the Broadcast Architecture in Windows 98. The new operating system has features that will make the PC even
more of a home information and entertainment center.
''WaveTop and the Windows operating system create a new pipeline to deliver information to home PCs,'' said Jonathan
Roberts, Director of Marketing for Windows at Microsoft Corp. ''We are pleased users of Windows 95 will have the
opportunity to use the WaveTop service immediately, and then with Windows 98 when it becomes available.''
Rich content
WaveTop content providers are among the world's leading media companies, including Time Inc. New Media, which includes
the on-line versions of, People, Time, Entertainment Weekly, Money, Fortune and Sports Illustrated for Kids. Also providing
content are USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, CBS SportsLine, PBS ONLINE, Quote.Com, The
Weather Channel, N2K's Music Boulevard, BarnesandNoble.com, Yahoo! and Yahooligans!, Universal Press Syndicate -
Comics, Women's Wire and Prevention's Healthy Ideas, ParentTime, Supermarket Online, OnCart, NECX, and ZDNet.
The media partners' content will create channels appealing to the whole family. WaveTop channels include NewsTop - the
latest in news, sports and weather; StockTop - with regularly updated stock information and business news; KidsTop - fun,
interactive, educational content from brand-name, children-oriented programmers; TechTop - the latest technical news,
downloads of free software, shareware and bug fixes; FamilyTop - provides the latest resource information for parents and
working women; and FunTop, with the latest samples of games, music comics and best-selling books.
''WaveTop provides an innovative way to reach a new audience with a new medium,'' said Allegra Young, marketing manager
of USA TODAY. ''And it allows the flexibility for consumers to personalize the automatic delivery of their content selections.''
Advertiser Supported
WaveTop will be supported by leading consumer-brand charter advertisers for the beta release. They include: ADS
Technologies, Atlanta Internet Bank, BarnesandNoble.Com, ConsumerInfo.Com, cybermeals, Hewlett-Packard Photo,
Lincoln-Mercury, Microsoft, Spiegel, EMI Records and Mobil Speedpass.
WaveTop's ability to deliver high-bandwidth applications to the home without the download delays associated with modems
will allow advertisers to send more creative multimedia advertisements such as movie and video clips, games, software
downloads and microsites. The high bandwidth advertisements are stored on a user's hard drive, so interaction is instantaneous
and users are not required to go online when they click a banner ad. A typical banner ad on the Web is currently l2k.
WaveTop is able to offer advertisers ads starting at 100k and as high as 2 megs.
''WaveTop not only represents the next evolution in modem-less technology applications, but offers a glimpse at how the
Internet may work via cable or wireless networks,'' said Rob Sekulich, interactive planner at Wunderman Cato Johnson
Interactive.
Eliminating The World Wide Wait
WaveTop's PC data broadcast service works by embedding data streams into the unseen portion of existing broadcast
television signals using the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI). WaveTop has partnered with PBS National Datacast, Inc. to
broadcast data over the television signals of its 264 PBS member stations, reaching more than 99% of television households in
the U.S.
Using a simple browser interface and a broadcast ready PC (a standard PC with a built-in TV tuner or equipped with an
add-on TV tuner card), users will interact with transparently downloaded information, entertainment and software. Computers
equipped with TV tuners and WaveTop software transparently receive, decode and cache content automatically without the
bottleneck of the internet or tying up a phone line.
About WavePhore
WavePhore, Inc., (Nasdaq: WAVO - news) the industry leader in data broadcasting, is comprised of three divisions:
WavePhore Networks, WavePhore Newscast and WavePhore WaveTop. WavePhore Networks provides flexible,
high-speed data delivery to more than 80,000 sites worldwide. WavePhore Newscast delivers real-time, custom-filtered
business news to more than 158,000 subscription- based business users across the United States, Canada and Europe.
Additional information on WavePhore is available via the Internet at wavephore.com, wavetop.net,
wavo.com and newscast.com.
Certain of the above statements regarding WavePhore 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, risk factors listed from time to time in WavePhore's SEC filings.
SOURCE: WavePhore, Inc. |
