Wired Digital Introduces LiveWired As Premier Active Channel Content On Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.0; Next-Generation Graphical Dispatch Delivers Wired Vision of the Future To Desktops Daily

Business Wire, Sept 30, 1997

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept 30, 1997--Wired Digital Inc., the online media division of Wired Ventures Inc., today announced the launch of LiveWired, a new Internet push-media channel that Microsoft Corporation will feature as premier Active Channel content on Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, the new release of Microsoft's Web browser.

Designed to leverage the next generation of browser technology, LiveWired employs a vivid full-screen animated graphical presentation to provide technically-savvy Web participants with a startling graphical dispatch on what is coming next in culture and technology. From medicine to transportation to computers to business, LiveWired scans the information universe and publishes fast, entertaining bulletins on what the future will bring.

LiveWired combines the award-winning graphic design and technology-culture journalism of Wired magazine, Wired News, HotWired and the LiveWired Team, with the power of Dynamic HTML and new Active Channel technology from Microsoft Corporation. The result is a daily stream of future-oriented feature and news reports--complete with full screen graphics and animations--delivered directly to desktops of Web users running Internet Explorer 4.0.

LiveWired can be viewed either as a fast, interactive Web program, or as an animated, constantly updating screensaver. Users can begin experiencing LiveWired today by downloading Internet Explorer 4.0 (from www.livewired.com or www.microsoft.com) and selecting the LiveWired button on the channel navigation bar.

"LiveWired is the next generation of Internet media," said Gary Wolf, executive producer, LiveWired. "Were combining visually stunning reports on the people, companies, technologies and ideas creating the world of tomorrow with the new graphics and content delivery power of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. The result is a visual adrenaline rush -- there's nothing else like it on the Web today."

LiveWired Predicts The Future--Daily

LiveWired keeps users continuously linked to events, trends and technologies that are likely to affect the future of business and society. Using vivid graphics and text, LiveWired sketches the emerging future with predictions, photo features, forward-looking opinion excerpts, scientific discoveries, humorous items, global statistics, and late-breaking headlines from the digital world.

For example, the first installment of LiveWired features a powerful look at several future predictions including:

-- Weapons of Sound -- The U.S. military's use of non-lethal sound weapons in warfare by 2007

-- Plastic Plants -- The introduction of genetically-altered plastic producing plants by 2005

-- Pills For Men -- The wide-spread availability and use of male contraceptives by 1999

In addition to daily features, a button on the LiveWired navigation bar takes users directly to up-to-the minute dispatches from WiredNews, the premier technology news service on the Web.

"We're not simply reporting on technology as it happens today," explained Wolf. "LiveWired takes Wired Digital's proven ability to analyze today's trends and launches them into the future, reporting back with a vivid dispatch from the cultural and economic frontiers of tomorrow."

Full-Screen Graphics Allow Full-Screen Advertising

LiveWired delivers its compelling content through the use of Dynamic HTML scripting and Microsoft Active Channel technology. The technologies allow users to view full-screen animations and dynamically-updated billboard-like presentations without experiencing large downloads associated with traditional Web sites. Additionally, these new "push" technologies allow advertisers to create full-screen animated ads that play in between LiveWired's original content.

"Microsoft is dedicated to providing the best tools to allow users to create and experience the next generation of Internet content," said Brad Chase, vice president, in the applications and Internet client group at Microsoft Corp. "LiveWired is a showcase for Active Channel technology -- going a long way towards bringing the digital future to our desktops today."

For more information on LiveWired, go to the LiveWired page at www.livewired.com .

About Wired Digital:

Wired Digital is the online-media division of Wired Ventures Inc., the publisher of Wired magazine. Wired Digital creates products that helps people embrace the emerging technological future. Wired Digital includes HotWired (www.hotwired.com), the award winning site about Web technology and culture; Wired News (www.wired.com), the premier service for news of the digital world; HotBot (www.hotbot.com), the Web's largest and freshest search engine; and NewsBot (www.newsbot.com), the Web's first intelligent search agent for news. Wired Digital is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with satellite offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

-0-

Note to Editors:

Wired, LiveWired, HotWired, Wired News and HotBot are trademarks or service marks of Wired Ventures Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.