FORMER APPLE MULTIMEDIA PIONEERS UNVEIL WEBTV;
`New Company Brings Internet to Television Viewers
`
`PR Newswire
`
`June 12, 1996, Wednesday - 08:33 Eastern Time
`
`Copyright 1996 PR Newswire Association, Inc.
`
`Section: Financial News
`
`Length: 1253 words
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`Body
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`A shared vision to bring the Internet to mainstream television consumers inspired three former Apple technologists
`to establish a new company: WebTV Networks, Inc. The founders -- Steve Perlman, Bruce Leak and Phil Goldman
`-- have combined their extensive experience in graphics, sound, video, communications, and user interface
`technologies to make high-quality, affordable Internet access and services available to television audiences
`worldwide.
`
`"WebTV's mission is to make the Internet as comfortable and engaging for consumers as the TV itself. This means
`our approach must be simple, useful, and affordable," said Steve Perlman, president and CEO of WebTV Networks,
`Inc. "We accomplish this by working with business partners in consumer electronics, content development and
`communications to leverage the televisions and telephone lines, already installed in virtually every household. Fifty
`years ago, TV brought the world into our homes. This fall, WebTV will connect our homes to the world."
`
`PALO ALTO, Calif., June 12
`
`The WebTV(TM) Network is comprised of two elements which work together to provide an integrated, TV-based
`Internet offering:
`
`* The WebTV Reference Design, a suite of patent-pending,
`standards-compliant enabling technologies and guidelines for the design
`of set-top boxes and integrated devices that can be priced aggressively
`for the consumer market;
`
`* A subscription-based WebTV online service that makes it possible
`
`for set-top box customers to use, their televisions to easily browse
`
`existing and future Internet content, as well as communicate through
`electronic mail.
`
` The first consumer electronics companies to license the WebTV
`Reference Design for development of set-top boxes and future products
`are expected to announce their intentions within the next month.
`
` "WebTV has impressive technology, and they've developed the kind of
`
`relationships you absolutely need to get such new technology into the,
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`Charter Ex. 1149
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`FORMER APPLE MULTIMEDIA PIONEERS UNVEIL WEBTV;New Company Brings Internet to Television
`Viewers
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`homes of consumers," said Gene DeRose, president of Jupiter
`
`Communications, a New York-based research, consulting and publishing
`firm specializing in consumer online and interactive technologies. "We
`
`are very bullish on the prospects for Web-based television to create
`
`entire new categories of interactive content and commerce."
`
` Addressing Consumer Needs Through Breakthrough Technologies
`
` The WebTV set-top box and Internet service is targeted at millions
`of families who desire quick access to reference information, and are
`
`seeking new ways to learn and play together. Early applications for
`
`WebTV are expected to span a broad range of functions, from shopping and
`
`financial services to education and entertainment. WebTV products and
`services have been in trial throughout the U.S. for the last two months.
`Results from these trials, combined with extensive consumer studies and
`
`countless focus groups, have shaped WebTV's offering.
`
` "WebTV has made it easy for consumers to browse the Web on the
`average TV set," said David Coursey, a widely-quoted columnist for
`
`several PC and Internet publications. "The image quality is really
`amazing -- I never thought a Web page could look this good on a
`
`television."
`
` Central to WebTV's technology foundation are sophisticated image
`
`enhancement techniques that enable all types of televisions to display
`
`Web pages with unprecedented quality. Because Internet content is
`designed for display on computer monitors, prior attempts to display Web
`pages on conventional TVs -- essentially a 1940s technology -- have
`
`resulted in fuzzy, flickering images. WebTV's patent-pending digital
`image processing technology literally reshapes the video signal in real
`
`time, making the Internet content appear to the TV as if it had
`originated from a 1940s vacuum-tube TV camera. The result is an image
`of stunning clarity and stability. Web pages become, easy to read-even
`from across a living room.
`
` The Management Team
`
` Founded in June of 1995, WebTV Networks, Inc. has been secretly
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`Page 3 of 5
`FORMER APPLE MULTIMEDIA PIONEERS UNVEIL WEBTV;New Company Brings Internet to Television
`Viewers
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`developing its Internet TV network capabilities under the fictitious
`
`business name Artemis Research in the garage of a former automobile
`dealership in Palo Alto, Calif. With the guidance of its management
`
`team, the company has built an extensive portfolio of patent-pending
`technologies relating to its core strengths in computer graphics,
`digital signal processing, networking and telecommunications. Each of
`the founders has contributed specific expertise:
` President, CEO and CTO Steve Perlman, age 35, has broad experience
`
`in video, graphics, multimedia, and communications technologies. Most
`recently he was co-founder and CTO at Catapult Entertainment, Inc. and
`previously was managing director of Advanced Products at General Magic,
`
`Inc. A principal scientist at Apple Computer, Inc. for six years, he
`
`designed much of the underlying video, graphics, and multimedia
`technology in Macintosh(R) computers.
` Bruce Leak, COO and EVP of Engineering, has an extensive background
`
`in multimedia, graphics and operating system software. Responsible for
`
`creating Apple's 32-bit Color QuickDraw(TM) and the industry-standard
`
`QuickTime(R) multimedia software, Leak, age 32, was also the VP of
`Engineering at Rocket Science Games.
` The third founder, Phil Goldman, serves as SVP of Engineering.
`Goldman, age 31, most recently was director of Communicator Products for
`General Magic, Inc. and prior to that worked as a key system software
`
`engineer for Apple Computer, Inc. where he created Multifinder, the
`heart of the Macintosh operating system.
`
` The company is backed by a group of respected investors, including
`Brentwood Associates, Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures, Marvin Davis' Davis
`
`Internet, and Asia Pacific Ventures. The Board of Directors includes
`Randy Komisar, president and CEO of Crystal Dynamics; Jeff Brody,
`Brentwood Associates; G. Kevin Doren, Vulcan Ventures; and R. Rudolph
`
`Reinfrank, Davis Internet, and WebTV's three founders.
`
` Business and Customer Contact:
`
` For information about WebTV technologies, products or services,
`
`contact WebTV by telephone at 415-614-5566, or by electronic mail at
`
`pr@webtv.net. The WebTV Networks home page is located on the World Wide
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`Page 4 of 5
`FORMER APPLE MULTIMEDIA PIONEERS UNVEIL WEBTV;New Company Brings Internet to Television
`Viewers
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`Web at: http://webtv.net.
`
` NOTE: WebTV is a trademark of WebTV Networks, Inc. Macintosh and
`QuickTime are registered trademarks and QuickDraw is a trademark of
`
`Apple Computer, Inc.
`
`
`WebTV, please refer to the attached list. Also note that photos of the
`
`WebTV founders and the company logo are available immediately from the
`Wieck Photo Database by calling 214-392-0888.
`
`
` WEBTV NETWORKS, INC.
` INDUSTRY ANALYST REFERENCES
`
`
` The following analysts have been briefed by WebTV Networks, and are
`
`available to contact for references on the company and its product
`concept:
`
` David Coursey
` 510-553-0140
`
` dcoursey@aol.com
`
` Tim Sloane
` ABERDEEN RESEARCH
` 617-723-7890
`
` tims@tiac.net
`
` Josh Bernoff
` FORRESTER RESEARCH
` 617-520-5789
`
` jbernoff@forrester.com
`
` Stewart Alsop
` INFOWORLD PUBLISHING
` 415-312-0538
`
` stewart(underscore)alsop@infoworld.com
`
` Ted Julian
` INTERNATIONAL DATA CORPORATION
`
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`Page 5 of 5
`FORMER APPLE MULTIMEDIA PIONEERS UNVEIL WEBTV;New Company Brings Internet to Television
`Viewers
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` 508-872-8200
`
` tjulian@idcresearch.com
`
` Adam Schoenfeld
` JUPITER COMMUNICATIONS
` 212-780-6060
`
` adam@jup.com
`
` Dick Shaffer/Tiernan Ray
` TECHNOLOGIC PARTNERS
` 212-343-1900
`
` shaffer@technologicp.com/ray@technologicp.com /
`
`
`CONTACT: Marilyn Nix of WebTV Networks, Inc., 415-614-5553, or marilyn@webtv.net; or Brooke Cohan of
`Stirling & Cohan, Inc., 415-513-0973, or bcohan@s-c.com, for WebTV
`
`Load-Date: June 13, 1996
`
`End of Document
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