NBC DESKTOP VIDEO AND SUN TO DELIVER VIDEO NEWS SERVICES FOR SECURITIES FIRMS; Sun SPARC Solaris Systems Chosen as First UNIX Platform for NBC Desktop Video

Business Wire, May 1, 1995

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 1, 1995--Sun Microsystems Computer Company (SMCC) and NBC Desktop Video announced today that Sun's SPARC(R) networked computing systems running the Solaris(TM) operating environment and Sun(R).Tuner will be the first UNIX(R) platform for delivery of NBC Desktop Video services.

Sun.Tuner provides access to broadcast and cable channels from Sun workstations as part of an overall desktop multimedia solution. This choice will allow tens of thousands of Sun users in the financial community to access NBC Desktop Video's coverage of breaking business news, live or on-demand, via their workstations. Sun's Interactive Services Group and NBC Desktop Video are also collaborating to develop key application program interfaces and state-of-the-art interactive video technologies.

NBC Desktop Video, wholly owned by NBC, offers three separate services. NBC Professional(TM) (NBC PRO) provides live coverage of market-moving events, breaking national and international stories that affect the markets and key corporate and governmental news conferences. NBC Private Financial Network(TM) (NBC PFN) offers extensive coverage of CEO interviews, corporate meetings, industry conferences and exclusive presentations from the New York Society of Security Analysts.

NBC Desktop Video on Demand(TM) is a multimedia tool that allows for the storage and retrieval of NBC PRO, NBC PFN and/or client-provided content.

Mike Wheeler, president of NBC Desktop Video, said, "We are pleased to be working with Sun and to be able to offer it as NBC's first UNIX platform. With Sun's tremendous reputation in the market place, we believe that many of the 50,000 Sun users on Wall Street who want to access up-to-the-second breaking news will become subscribers to NBC Desktop Video."

Jill Rubin, global manager for financial services at Sun, said, "News and information move markets and this relationship will benefit traders using Sun by giving them direct access to live broadcast news -- when and where it happens -- through the power of NBC's national network."

Sun is the number-one supplier of UNIX computers in the financial services market. Sun leads the worldwide workstation/server UNIX market in financial services, with 55 percent in trading systems (IDC), 41 percent in securities (CI/InfoCorp) and 25 percent in banking (CI/InfoCorp).

Sun Microsystems Computer Company (SMCC), the world's top supplier of open network computing solutions, is an operating company of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Built on Sun's legacy of "The Network is the Computer"(TM), Sun's SPARC(R)/Solaris(TM) workstation and server family leads the UNIX market. The company has its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

NBC Desktop Video is one of several aggressive moves by NBC into the interactive and new media field. Other efforts include several tests of interactive television, digital publishing, ground-breaking and innovative involvement with on-line services and the recent launch of NBC Data Network, which transmits data over under utilized portions of the broadcast spectrum. -0-

Note to Editors: Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Sun Tuner, Solaris and The Network is the Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. All SPARC trademarks, including the SCD compliant logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company Ltd. All other product or service names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Press announcements and other information about Sun Microsystems are available on the Internet via the World Wide Web. Type http://www.sun.com, using the Mosaic tool.

CONTACT: Sun Microsystems Computer Company

Jeremy Barnish: 415/786 8021

NBC Desktop Video

Mary Neagoy, 212/664 6455

Paul Lief Rosengren, 212/664 2756