IMON up on news....Launch of ImaginOn's High Bandwidth ImOn.com Portal Marks a Milestone On the Road to Worldwide Internet TV
Monday October 18, 8:46 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Launch of ImaginOn's High Bandwidth ImOn.com Portal Marks a Milestone On the Road to Worldwide Internet TV
Seamless branching TV puts the viewer in the director's chair, while simultaneously performing Web research "behind" the picture;
SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 18, 1999-- ImaginOn's www.ImOn.com portal targets a near term market of
one million users already connected to the Internet via
cable modem or DSL, and major corporations looking to
expand their intranets onto the Web.
Eight days from today, when ImaginOn, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMON - news) unveils its www.ImOn.com high bandwidth Internet portal at the 1999 ISPCON Conference in San Jose, California, an Internet milestone will be reached -- viewer-driven seamless branching TV will be simultaneously integrated with Web research data in the same virtual console. This milestone marks the arrival of IMON Internet TV -- a video channel with sound and integrated Web functionality that is delivered over the Internet and viewed in much the same way as traditional broadcast television.
ImOn.com is written in Java(TM) and is deployed from a Solaris(TM)-based server, which creates fast access to high speed video streaming. ''We are delighted to see both our Java Platform and Solaris Operating Environment enable this state-of-the-art portal,'' said Gina Centoni, Director of Platform Product Marketing at Sun Microsystems, Inc. ''Sun congratulates ImaginOn on the launch of ImOn.com, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with ImaginOn.''
In setting the stage for next week's launch, ImaginOn Chief Executive Officer David Schwartz today underscored the significance of the milestone and discussed some of its long-term ramifications. ''We bring three new dimensions to Internet television: viewer-directed seamless branching, instant Web page access, and automated, simultaneous Web research of the topic that is on the TV. These are fundamentally new benefits delivered by ImaginOn's portal software that will be seen for the first time next week at ISPCON. We believe our software will help move the Internet into the next era in its history.''
Much of the technology that supports or enables the Internet as it exists today will not support the requirements of the high bandwidth Internet that is coming faster than many people think, according to Schwartz. ''Already, there are an estimated one million American users, households and corporations, connected to the Internet via high speed cable modem or DSL. Within five years, we expect the number to increase at least ten-fold. As that happens, the inherent inadequacies of pre-ImaginOn digital video authoring and playback technologies will become more and more apparent.''
''Our competitors' software for creating and playing back interactive content on the Internet is a hodge-podge of components, suitable only for implementing what you see on the Web every day; clunky video, low-fidelity audio, slow pages and sluggish response. Nobody offers a complete turnkey high bandwidth solution like ImaginOn's,'' he stressed. ''ImaginOn's software is unique in its ability to tightly couple data acquisition, processing and display into a single solution. It doesn't matter if the data is audio, video, text, html, or Java applets. And the information can be sourced from multiple remote or local databases.''
ImOn.com is the only high bandwidth Internet portal featuring Internet TV with real-time seamless n-branching video fully integrated with Web research. The portal provides a variety of functions, including real-time on-line media searches, interactive TV, music videos, video games, interactive video travel planners and video shopping catalogs. Also included are traditional features like email, calendar/date books, and customized news channels, among others. The ImOn.com portal will be marketed a number of different ways: as a stand-alone monthly subscription to individuals already connected to the Internet via DSL or cable modem, as a free component of a larger ISP package offered by ImaginOn's wholly-owned subsidiary INOW Internet Services, as a feature offered by ImaginOn-appointed regional ISP distributors and as a site license package to corporations looking to expand their current intranet onto the Web.
Sun, Sun Microsystems, Java and Solaris Operating Environment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
ImaginOn, Inc., operating through its wholly-owned subsidiary, ImaginOn.com (www.imaginon.com), creates, produces and sells business and consumer software for CD-ROM and Internet users, including: WebZinger, its product line of Web Research Engines; sellONstream, its e-commerce software solution; and WorldCities 2000 Web/CD travel planners. ImaginOn, Inc.'s wholly-owned subsidiary, INOW, Inc., (www.inow.com) provides Internet services including high-speed connectivity, website hosting, website design and e-commerce support. ImaginOn, Inc.'s wholly-owned subsidiary ImaginOn Digital Productions (www.imaginondp.com) designs web sites and advertiser-supported CD-ROMs.
WorldCities 2000, sellONstream, WebZinger, and ImaginAuthor are trademarks of ImaginOn.com and are also protected under U.S. Patents.
Except for the historical information presented herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the ''safe harbor'' provision of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. These risks include acceptance of ImaginOn software by developers and users, the successful development of competitive software to ImaginOn's, competition from other high bandwidth Internet portals, and competitive pricing pressures for ImaginOn software and services. In addition, other risks are detailed in the Company's periodic reports and in its Form S-3/A-2 registration statement declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 26, 1999. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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Contact:
Griffin Public Relations & Marketing
Bob Griffin
212/481-3456
Bgriffin@griffinpr.com
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