Check out UVEW at 3/8 made a deal with Mot today and has deal with lucent as well
uniView Technologies Corp. and Motorola Team to
Pursue Development of Advanced Interactive
Television System
Business Wire - April 22, 1998 07:19
%UNIVIEW %MOTOROLA UVEW MOT %TEXAS %COMPUTERS %ELECTRONICS %COMED
%TELECOMMUNICATIONS %INTERACTIVE %MULTIMEDIA %INTERNET V%BW P%BW
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 22, 1998--
Combination of Technology Expertise Enables Delivery
of the Ultimate Internet Experience
uniView Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:UVEW) and Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT) 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., MCI
Telecommunications Corp., and Cisco Systems Inc. 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.
CONTACT: Media contact for uniView Technologies:
Edelman Worldwide
Allison Ellis/Reba Reid
214/520-3555 or 713/623-2666
aellis@edelman.com or rreid@edelman.com
or
Media contact for Motorxp?ola:
Motorola Inc.
Jeff Gorin, 602/952-3854
jeff_gorin-rfjn30@email.sps.mot.com
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