BW1029 NOV 4,1998 3:33 PACIFIC 06:33 EASTERN
( BW)(WAVE-SYSTEMS)(WAVX) Sarnoff Corp. and Wave Systems To Create a
Metering Solution for Broadcast Distribution of Digital Content
Business Editors
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 1998--Wave Systems
Corp. (OTC BB:WAVX; wave.com) today announced that it and
Sarnoff Corporation of Princeton, NJ, are working together to create
metering solutions and services for the broadcast distribution of
digital content.
"Sarnoff's leadership in the areas of satellite, High Definition
Television (HDTV) and other digital broadcast technologies combined
with extensive experience in the development and commercialization of
digital video technologies offer a strong complement to Wave System's
patented metering architecture," said Steven Sprague, Wave Systems
president. "The two companies plan to pursue joint marketing and new
product development activities, initially focused on the economical
delivery of digital content through a variety of broadcast media
including satellite, digital TV, cable and xDSL."
In a separate announcement last week, Wave announced the EMBASSY
E-commerce System, which provides inexpensive, powerful and manageable
security combined with digital metering capabilities built into PCs
and other end-user devices. This partnership will extend the
trusted-client architecture to the Data Broadcast industry.
"This combines two outstanding resources: Wave Systems'
distributed metering technology and Sarnoff's resources in broadcast
transmission systems and digital data and video distribution," said
Norman Winarsky, Vice President of Sarnoff Corporation. "Sarnoff is
very pleased to be working with Wave Systems. We believe our
cooperation will lower the cost of distributing information to the
people who need it, while helping content providers protect their
intellectual property and get timely payment for its use."
Founded over 50 years ago as the research lab for RCA, Sarnoff
today is a $130 million for-profit subsidiary of SRI International.
Sarnoff's partners and clients include multinational corporations,
government agencies, research universities and leading high-tech
organizations including: Motorola, SmithKline Beecham, and government
organizations such as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA),
and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
This partnership plans to develop products that will benefit OEM
vendors, content providers and consumers alike.
o The OEM community will gain product differentiation as well as
participate in revenue from the sale of content through their
hardware.
o The PC software community can benefit from a new distribution
platform, flexible pricing models and security inherent in
trusted-client technology.
o Consumers utilizing the EMBASSY E-Commerce System will be able to
quickly and conveniently purchase, pay-per-use or rent- to-own
top entertainment, education and software titles directly from
their PCs.
Moreover, EMBASSY is compatible with other content distribution
channels, including the Internet, cable television, CD-ROM, or DVD,
while also providing the needed end-user content and subscriber
management system. Consumers receive the flexibility of paying for
information based upon their actual usage, while publishers benefit
from significantly reduced marketing and distribution expenses and the
ability to reach a much broader base of end-user target markets. A
convergence of all network types taking place which will allow the
mass media networks to carry digital content and data networks, such
as the internet, to carry broadcast and streaming content. This is a
major opportunity to enable the broadcasting networks to participate
in the emerging electronic commerce world.
"We are excited by news of the Sarnoff-Wave agreement. We believe
it will accelerate the deployment of Wave's E-commerce system,
enabling paid-for data and video services in both analog and digital
television markets," remarked Ken Plotkin, Vice President of Marketing
for Hauppauge Computer Works, Inc.
Hauppauge, the leading provider of TV and Data Broadcast receiver
products for PC's, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hauppauge Digital,
Inc. (NASDAQ: HAUP; hauppauge.com). In May, 1998, Hauppauge
announced its plans to include Wave's EMBASSY technology in select
models of its popular WinTV boards, and is also expected to
demonstrate digital television technology at the upcoming Fall Comdex
trade show.
About Wave Systems Corp:
Founded in 1988, the mission of Wave Systems Corporation is to
create the world's best technologies to secure and sell digital
information. Wave's core EMBASSY technology is an inexpensive,
proprietary hardware and software-based device that enables secure
transaction processing and distributed information metering in users'
PCs. Embedded in PC hardware and peripherals, set top boxes and other
devices, EMBASSY is the foundation for client-based security
applications and a new distribution and purchasing model for content
and services. This low-cost, secure "system within a system" will
enable the personal computer to assume an important new role in the
evolving digital economy. By moving secure transactions to the
desktop, Wave provides intrinsic value to the electronic commerce
process, benefiting PC users, application developers, and hardware
manufacturers. For more information, please visit Wave's corporate web
site at wave.com
About Sarnoff Corporation:
Sarnoff Corporation creates and commercializes electronic,
biomedical and information technology. Founded in 1942 as RCA
Laboratories, Sarnoff has been a wholly-owned, for-profit subsidiary
of SRI International since 1987. Building on decades of innovation
that include the development of color television and the
liquid-crystal display, Sarnoff now works with a wide variety of
industry and government clients to develop and improve specific
technologies that will help change the world. A key element of the
company's overall strategy is the founding of new companies that bring
its technologies to market. Eleven such companies are in various
stages of development.
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements:
Except for the statements of historical fact, the information
presented herein constitutes forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of the company to be materially different
from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include
general economic and business conditions, the ability to fund
operations, the loss of market share, changes in consumer buying
habits and other factors over which Wave Systems Corp., or Hauppauge
Computer Works has little or no control. |
