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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Rieman who wrote (45056)	9/21/1999 9:10:00 AM
From: .com	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Tuesday September 21, 7:59 am Eastern Time Company Press Release C-Cube and Western Digital Partner to Drive Emerging Digital Video Recorder Market Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Gain Industry's First DVR Reference Platform MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 21, 1999--C-Cube Microsystems (Nasdaq:CUBE - news; ``C-Cube') and Western Digital (NYSE:WDC - news) today announced the industry's first Digital Video Recorder (DVR) reference platform. The new C-Cube/Western Digital DVR platform allows consumer electronics manufacturers to rapidly develop MPEG-2 hard drive-based DVR products with the ability to timeshift, pause, rewind and replay live television broadcasts. The platform is the first visible example of a newly established partnership between C-Cube and Western Digital. The companies are working together to speed time-to-market of DVR products. In addition to this first platform, C-Cube and Western Digital plan to leverage future advances in C-Cube MPEG-2 silicon and Western Digital hard drives to offer platforms for next generation products. ``The tremendous consumer value of DVRs and near ubiquity of TVs will propel this category into the mainstream over the next few years,' said Kevin Hause, manager of Consumer Devices Research at IDC. ``With broad vendor support and potential for DVR functionality in a variety of consumer electronics products, we believe this market will top 10 million unit shipments by 2004.' ``Digital video recording is on the verge of revolutionizing home entertainment,' said Fermi Wang, vice president and general manager of C-Cube's PC/CODEC Division. ``C-Cube is pleased to be partnering with Western Digital in speeding the development of products that allow consumer electronics manufacturers to effectively penetrate the DVR market.' Using the new platform, consumer electronics manufacturers are assured interoperability between the two most critical devices in DVR products -- the MPEG-2 CODEC and the hard drive storage component. The platform employs an open architecture, giving manufacturers the flexibility to customize solutions to meet their design requirements. Based on C-Cube's DVxplore(TM) MPEG-2 CODEC, this platform will enable products that personalize television viewing by allowing consumers to record, pause and timeshift live television broadcasts on demand. The platform also uses Western Digital's new WD Performer line of hard drives featuring WhisperDrive(TM) acoustics for quiet operation. When coupled with an Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) service, consumers can, for example, tailor their television viewing experience by creating virtual channels consisting of their favorite shows. ``New features, such as Western Digital's WhisperDrive(TM) acoustics for quiet operation in a home environment enable new products that change the way consumers use home entertainment,' said Russell Krapf, vice president and general manager for Western Digital's Audio/Video Solutions line of business. ``This partnership combines Western Digital's leadership in storage and electronics technology with C-Cube's expertise and leadership in digital video technology, to offer a powerful platform for this exciting new category of consumer products.' About DVxplore C-Cube's DVxplore is the industry's first single-chip MPEG-2 and DV CODEC, delivering the highest-quality MPEG-2 video recording and playback at consumer price points. About WD Performer Western Digital's new line of hard drives balance speed, acoustics, power and data integrity for today's mainstream home entertainment applications. Available this month, the first generation of WD Performer hard drives is designed to provide the features most important to the home entertainment user -- a steady flow of data, quiet operation, and the ability to handle multiple streams of data for simultaneous viewing and recording. Availability The C-Cube/Western Digital MPEG-2 DVR reference platform is currently available to consumer electronics manufacturers. About Western Digital Western Digital Corporation is a leading manufacturer of hard drives used for information storage in desktop computers, servers, workstations and home entertainment electronic products. Through its Connex subsidiary, the company serves users of network-attached storage systems and enterprise-wide storage area networks. Western Digital was founded in 1970 and has long been noted for its storage and end-market systems-level design knowledge. The company's products are marketed to leading systems manufacturers and selected resellers under the Western Digital brand name. Its home page can be found at westerndigital.com. About C-Cube C-Cube Microsystems Inc. is the industry leader in the development and delivery of highly integrated digital video silicon and systems solutions. C-Cube's Semiconductor Division delivers highly integrated digital video silicon and systems solutions for the communications and consumer electronics markets, including digital set-top boxes, VCD, and DVD. C-Cube's DiviCom Division is a leader in the deployment of digital video networks. C-Cube is headquartered in Milpitas with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Its stock is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol CUBE. C-Cube can be reached at 408/490-8000 or at c-cube.com. C-Cube's DiviCom Division is based in Milpitas and can be reached at 408/944-6700 or at divi.com. Note to Editors: C-Cube and the C-Cube logo are registered trademarks of C-Cube Microsystems, Inc. DiviCom is a registered trademark of DiviCom, Inc. Western Digital is a registered trademark and WD Performer and WhisperDrive are trademarks of Western Digital Corporation. All other brand and product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies. Contact: C-Cube Microsystems, Milpitas Molly McCarthy, 408/490-8017 (Public Relations) molly.mccarthy@c-cube.com Steven Horwitz, 408/490-8561 (Investor Relations) steven.horwitz@c-cube.com or Western Digital Brenda Bennett, 425/869-6467 (Public Relations) brenda.j.bennett@wdc.com