PHIPPS NEWS !!!!!!!! BIG STUFF HITTING THE TULSA PRESS
and this isnt all
Sept 11 1998
Tulsa Business Journal
Phipps & Co. going public
Cd-Rom Video system
Impetus behind IPO
by Steve Schneider
Staff Writer
A Tulsa company's devotion to the "big picture" is beginning to pay big dividends.
ÿÿÿÿ Phipps and Co. a local multimedia production studio, is leveraging a technological breakthrough in CD-Rom video into a public offering.
The company has developed hardware and software that radically enhances the size and quality of CD-Rom video played on the computer screen.
Video played on current industry standard software such as Quicktime is characterized by jerky screen movement on a small monitor window.
ÿÿÿÿ Phipps and Co.'s software plays CD-Rom video as a big picture-- full screen --- and with television quality fluidity, without special computer equipment says Terry Phipps, CEO of Phipps and CO.
ÿÿÿÿÿ Phipps is hoping to parlay this video quality advantage into expanded business for his company's CD-Rom production. He says that the inclusion of quality video and graphics footage on CD-Roms makes them a natural choice for corporate marketing and training materials. Corporate Vision, a New Jersey / Tulsa based company, which owns 25% of Phipps and Co. will take the stock public and will soon issue Preferred stock.
ÿÿÿÿÿ The Phipps and Co. CD-Rom production technology should make ubiquitous VHS tape obsolete at the corporate level he says, "Forget MPEG DVD and now even VHS duplication. We can transfer video from any format to a standard CD Rom and send it anywhere in the world and it will play full screen on any Windows computer with one megabyte of memory.
From Video to CD Roms
Although Phipps and Co. Now finds itself at the leading edge of CD Software design, the company has not always been a software developer.
ÿÿÿ Phipps and Co.'s original business is producing video products.ÿ At their office at 4545 S. Mingo the company provides studio services and produces Television shows including the local "Coaches Corner" and "Inside Union Football" and "Speed Vision" which is seen on the Motor Sports Network.
The company also produces corporate training video's and regional and local commercial in their studio's or on location.
Traditionally these tapes have been digitized, edited, then distributed on VHS tape. About 2 years ago, Phipps said the company decided it wanted to integrate their video onto CD-Rom technology. But Phipps was disappointed by the video quality he saw using available technology.
ÿÿÿ "It was in a small window and degraded quality it was ugly and jerky. I said I cant sale that."
Phipps assigned his video staff and a computer staff to develop a better way to display motion video on a computer screen. First the team performed proprietary work with high end video cards and developed techniques to eliminate the jerkiness of the video image.
When the image quality had improved the computer side really started attacking how to get full screen viewing, Phipps said. The resulting technology -- which was completed in a scant 30 days ago. has become the heart of the companies business strategy, Phipps said.
We are still heavily involved in video, but incorporating it into CD-Roms. Phipps said.
With the ability to load approximately 45 minutes of multilingual layered active video onto CD-Rom's the potential uses for the silver disks should explode.
"We are sitting on the tip of the iceberg... this is not a 5 year old industry, this is all new.
Fortune 500 clients
So far, the corporate response to his CD-Rom demonstrations has been phenominal he says.
"Everyone I show the CD-Rom wants to do their production on CD-Rom... they leave here and video is no longer the method of distribution to them". he says
One client American Express, resulted from Phipps chance seating on an airplane next to an American Express executive.
While flying, Phipps gave him a demonstration on his lap top and gained a new customer on the spot.
"He was mesmerized by the full screen" Phipps recalls.
Clients are most excited about the technology's training and marketing applications, Phipps said.
Interactive training sessions on CD Roms allow companies to train without bringing all their people together. Instead the CD Roms are sent to the companies locations, to be used by employees on site.
In marketing efforts, Phipps said "the graphics a CD ROM provides really allow clients to show case their wares. If you are a client with a multifacted product line. CD ROm offers you the ability to show customers the different products and allow them to find out about products.
For instance one of Phipps manufacturing clients has a CD-Rom which has a three dimensional exploded diagram of their products.
Using their mouse users can rotate the 3-D image, click on individual parts and access information about the part or even order it online.
Phipps says keeping the new clients coming is simply a matter of showing them what the company can do.
"Everyone we talk to is coming, it's not a matter of convincing them. Its a matter of how soon they can get it budgeted. |
