Bill Gates to Feature OnLive! Technologies' Multipoint Voice Chat at Microsoft Internet Developers' Conference; OnLive! Announces Support for Microsoft ActiveX Technologies for Its 3D, Multipoint Voice Chat Technology

Business Wire, March 12, 1996

CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 12, 1996--OnLive! Technologies today announced that its new voice-enabled Internet application, OnLive! Traveler, will be used by Bill Gates as he assumes an "avatar" likeness of himself and chats real-time with others over the Internet.

This demonstration will be featured during Bill Gates' keynote presentation for thousands of Internet software developers at this Wednesday's Microsoft Professional Developers Conference.

In addition, OnLive! announced it will include OLE Document Object and ActiveX Controls support in its 3D, multi-participant voice chat technology. Support for OLE and ActiveX technologies will allow OnLive! applications to be seamlessly embedded in any Windows application.

Chat With Virtual Bill Online

In the demonstration, Gates and other chat participants will be represented by three-dimensional models called "avatars." A user chooses an avatar from OnLive!'s library of models including animals and people, and can even disguise his or her voice before entering the chat world. Once inside the chat space, the participant simply speaks via a microphone on his or her PC, and can engage in conversations with anyone in the environment. As in a real room full of people, chat participants who are close seem louder than those whose avatars are farther away in the space.

"Our virtual environment is a prime example of the tremendous new possibilities available to Windows users on the Internet," said Betsy Pace, OnLive!'s chief executive officer. "In addition to an already rich Internet development opportunity, OnLive!'s technologies add the important elements of personal interaction and community online. The addition of OLE Document Objects to our suite allows our customers and partners to build even more flexibility and scalability into their own web sites or Internet applications."

"We believe that the working relationship we have established with OnLive! Technologies, enabling the marriage of their audio technology with our ActiveX application strategy, will help redefine what it means to communicate online for entertainment, socialization, commerce, education and ultimately business use," said Doug Henrich, director, Developer Relations, Microsoft Corporation. "OnLive!'s 3D and multipoint voice technologies will be strong factors in the next generation of Windows-based Internet applications."

OnLive! Adds OLE Document Objects and ActiveX Controls Support

OnLive! Traveler is a VRML browser that allows real-time voice communication between up to 20 users in any given 3D virtual environment. Using OnLive! Traveler, users will be able to navigate through communities of 3D environments, represented by their own 3D avatars, and converse naturally with other users in real time. Traveler works as a stand-alone application, and as a helper-application to World Wide Web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.

OnLive! Technologies will support Microsoft's OLE Document Objects and ActiveX Controls for its 3D multipoint voice chat technology. As an OLE Document Object, the OnLive! Traveler browser will be an active component of a desktop that seamlessly displays local and Internet data, regardless of document type or format.

In addition, OnLive! will provide ActiveX Control conference objects to embed voice conferencing in web pages an other ActiveX Control containers. With the addition of ActiveX Control support, OnLive! customers will have many more options to extend their implementations of the OnLive! technology.

OnLive! Momentum Building

OnLive!'s enabling technologies are currently in technology trials with beta partners and users, and will be available to commercial developers and corporations looking to add a new dimension of personalization to their web site or Internet application the first half of this year.

To date, OnLive! has announced a collaboration with Electromedia to bring 3D voice chat to its Virtual Vegas entertainment web site, and a beta partnership with online service provider Concentric Network Corporation. OnLive! is working with dozens of other companies which are set to launch their own implementations of OnLive!'s technology over the next few months.

System Requirements

A Pentium-based, multimedia PC running Microsoft Windows 95 and equipped with 16 MB RAM, a standard modem (14.4 or greater bandwidth), Sound Blaster 16 or compatible sound card and a microphone is all that will be required to use OnLive! Traveler.

About OnLive! Technologies

OnLive! Technologies develops and markets software that enables real-time virtual experiences between people in online environments. OnLive! Technologies is a private company whose investors include AT&T, Kleiner Perkin Caufield & Byers, Merrill Pickard Anderson & Eyre, Mohr Davidow and New Enterprise Associates. The company's headquarters are located at 10131 Bubb Road, Cupertino, CA 95014. For more information regarding OnLive! Technologies, please refer to the company's web site at http://www.onlive.com, or call 408/366-6000. -0-