NEWS: The DVB hardware and OVS driver are GENROCO'S. "BIG announcement" for Genroco "coming this week"
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Advanced Broadcast Offering
Companies Collaborate on Worldwide Initiative for Digital Video Broadcast
And Residential Interactive TV Market - First Product Demonstration
At International Broadcasters Conference
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle Corp.
(Nasdaq: ORCL) and Silicon Graphics, Inc. (NYSE: SGI) today announced a
cooperative development and marketing arrangement expanding Oracle's advanced
broadcast offerings with a worldwide initiative to deliver a Digital Video
Broadcast (DVB) and residential interactive digital TV solution. This
agreement creates a powerful union between two leading digital television
providers with the expertise to deliver a breakthrough market solution.
Accordingly, the Silicon Graphics(R) Origin(TM) video computing platform
is being used as a base development platform for the Oracle(R) Video Server
software and will be a key delivery platform for the overall solution. This
represents the first major development resulting from the joint Strategic
Business Unit (SBU) that was established by the two companies in June. The
mission of the SBU is to develop and market synergistic hardware and software
solutions.
Having gained valuable knowledge as the technology pioneers behind earlier
interactive television trials, Oracle and Silicon Graphics are designing this
video streaming solution based on advances made in computer system bandwidth,
scalability and cost reductions. The total solution set is slated to tie
together Oracle's relational database, video serving software, subscriber
management and billing services and software integration capabilities with
Silicon Graphics' growth-accommodating ccNUMA architecture and hardware
systems integrator network.
Oracle Video Server will be exhibited at the International Broadcasters
Conference, being held from September 11-15, 1998, in Amsterdam, The
Netherlands. System demonstrations are to be held in Oracle's booth (#136 in
Hall #1), where the video serving software will pair with a Silicon Graphics
Origin2000(TM) server to show DVB-compliant output of multiplexed MPEG streams
for near-video-on-demand and pay-per-view applications. Thereafter, the system
will be on display at Oracle demonstration centers in Redwood Shores, Calif.,
Reading, England and Singapore.
"Silicon Graphics was selected by Oracle because of the company's leading
position in the broadcast and entertainment industries," said Gary Bloom,
executive vice president, System Products at Oracle. "Origin servers provide
the bandwidth and scalability to cost-effectively address large-scale
interactive television projects."
"We are focused on working with world-class companies that have
complementary goals," said Richard (Rick) E. Belluzzo, chairman and chief
executive officer, Silicon Graphics. "Oracle's strengths in transaction-based
television and software integration services will significantly leverage our
digital media server strategy. Together, we expect to deliver a host of new
solutions to the exciting interactive digital television market."
Independent of one another, Oracle and Silicon Graphics have already won
large video serving technology contracts in Asia and Europe. Proliferating
consumer demand in those markets, growing anticipation in the United States
and the opportunity to work with media companies worldwide to shape digital
interactive television are the forces propelling this Oracle/Silicon Graphics
collaborative effort.
While Oracle Video Server is aimed at the residential market, Silicon
Graphics will continue to concentrate on the media streaming needs of
corporate intranet users with its highly successful WebForce(R) MediaBase
product. Core WebForce MediaBase markets include education, government and
entertainment production where Silicon Graphics is a front-running provider of
learning-on-demand, video archiving and Webcasting solutions.
About Oracle Video Server
The Oracle Video Server, with other Oracle products and services, is an
end-to-end video solution used in the broadcast and interactive television
markets providing telephone companies, broadcasters and cable TV operators a
safe, reliable, step-by-step approach towards realizing new revenue through
broadcast digital television services. In addition, Oracle Video Server
offers practical, cost-effective transition from analog to digital while
meeting broadcasters and cable TV operators' need for reliability, speed and
quality. The recently released Oracle Video Server 3.0 includes
mission-critical features such as real-time video feeds and real-time
encoding, increased scalability, logical content management, a broadcast
scheduler for near-video-on-demand services and VCR functionality.
About Origin Video Computing Platform
The Origin video computing platform-optimized for broadcasters and digital
production studios-is a combination of Silicon Graphics Origin servers,
digital video options, software environments for digital asset management and
media distribution and third-party solutions. The platform is an open, highly
scalable and powerful set of products that support a wide range ofapplications.
The discussion in this news release of a cooperative development and
marketing agreement between Oracle Corp. and Silicon Graphics contains
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including the
impact of competitive products and pricing, the efforts of third parties in
developing, supporting and promoting their products, and the other risks
detailed from time to time in Oracle's SEC reports, including the report on
Form 10-K405 for the year ended July 22, 1998, and in Silicon Graphics' SEC
reports, including the report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 30,
1998. Actual results may vary materially.
Silicon Graphics, Inc. is a leading supplier of visual computing and
high-performance systems. The company offers the broadest range of products
in the industry-from low-end desktop workstations to servers and high-end
supercomputers. Key industries include communications, energy, entertainment,
government, manufacturing and sciences. Silicon Graphics and its subsidiaries
have offices throughout the world and corporate headquarters in Mountain View,
California.
Oracle Corporation is the world's leading supplier of software for
information management, and the world's second largest software company. With
annual revenues of $7.1 billion, the company offers its database, application
server, tools and application products along with related consulting,
education and support services, in more than 140 countries around the world.
For more information about Oracle, call 650-506-7000. Oracle's World Wide
Web address is (URL) oracle.com.
NOTE: Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. Silicon
Graphics, the Silicon Graphics logo and WebFORCE are registered trademarks,
and Origin and Origin2000 are trademarks, of Silicon Graphics, Inc. All other
products or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only,
and may be trademarks of their respective owners.SOURCE Oracle Corp. |
