NEWS!!
Company Press Release
uniView Technologies Corp. and Motorola Team to Pursue Development of Advanced
Interactive Television System
Combination of Technology Expertise Enables Delivery of the Ultimate Internet Experience
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 22, 1998-- uniView Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:UVEW - news) and Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT - news) have signed
a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to pursue the integration of Motorola's forthcoming interactive settop, code-named ''Blackbird,'' into uniView's end-to-end
Internet and entertainment system.
The cooperative effort will set a new standard in digital convergence with the delivery of Internet access, digital audio and video, three-dimensional graphics and
home communications delivered through a friendly graphical user interface.
The MOU positions both companies to provide compelling integrated products and services to a variety of industries such as telecommunications, telemedicine,
consumer electronics and hospitality. Under the MOU, uniView will port its TV-centric application and service packages, including its uniView Xpressway(TM)
Internet service, to the Blackbird environment and will market the resulting integrated system to companies seeking end-to-end communications and entertainment
solutions. Motorola will manufacture Blackbird settop systems for uniView deployment and will provide motherboards, OEM systems and design kits to support
uniView's software and service licensing.
''uniView's outstanding consumer-friendly user interface, complete end-to-end solution and unique licensing model are perfect complements to Motorola's robust and
future-oriented open settop architecture,'' said Jim Reinhart, Motorola's director of operations for Media Processing and Platforms. ''Our combined efforts will
accelerate a broader, not previously feasible adoption and convergence of television and the Internet.''
According to Patrick A. Custer, president and CEO of uniView Technologies Corp., ''The blending of our expertise and resources enables us to fully develop a
robust platform in the most effective, cost-efficient way. It is especially gratifying to team with Motorola, which is one of the most innovative leaders in the
semiconductor industry.''
In addition to integrating proven capabilities, uniView and Motorola will jointly work to evaluate additional extensions to the end-to-end system including Internet
telephony, video conferencing and speech recognition.
Motorola's Blackbird project, to be formally introduced in the near future, entails the development of a truly revolutionary consumer entertainment system offering
high-fidelity digital audio, digital video, Internet access and interactive three-dimensional gaming. Beginning with a state-of-the-art operating system and API set, the
Blackbird system is the industry's first practical embodiment of a ''soft'' settop allowing broad reconfiguration and extension of the core system through the addition
of software modules.
uniView's expertise in developing and marketing valuable on-line content and services, telephony features, innovative software and backroom customer service is an
important backbone to the development of the enhanced interactive experience.
Dallas-based uniView Technologies Corp. develops and implements innovative hardware and network technologies and solutions to license for a variety of niche
set-top box applications including home healthcare, education, banking, hotel, home office, and consumer electronics.
As an electronics engineering design and marketing company, uniView Technologies has established an advanced standard for connectivity to Internet appliances and
is adopting leading technologies from Lucent Technologies, Sun Microsystems Inc. [Nasdaq:SUNW - news], MCI Telecommunications Corp., and Cisco Systems
Inc [Nasdaq:CSCO - news]. It also has developed proprietary software enabling access to the unique features of the uniView product. The company specializes in
advanced television solutions and other new interactive and connectivity technologies, as well. For more information, visit the company Web site at www.uniview.net.
Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector is the number one global producer of embedded processors and develops the essential building blocks to help its
customers create new opportunities for a digital world in the consumer, networking and computing, transportation and wireless communications markets. Motorola's
worldwide semiconductor sales were $8.0 billion in 1997.
In the global marketplace, Motorola also is one of the leading providers of wireless communications, advanced electronic systems, components and services. Major
equipment businesses include cellular telephone, two-way radio, paging and data communications, personal communications, automotive, defense and space
electronics and computers. Corporate sales in 1997 were $29.8 billion.
Note to Editors: Graphics and logos can be downloaded at www.uniview.net, or call Reba Reid.
Some of this information may contain ''Forward Looking Statements'' which are company plans and projections and uncertainties. For a discussion of risk factors
associated with some of these plans and projections, please refer to the companies' SEC filings, which contain additional discussion about those factors which could
cause actual results to differ from management's expectations. |
