mediadome, Inc. To Extend Popular Media Players, Offer New Online Digital Media Experience; New Company Launched With Investments From Intel, Superscape

Business Wire, July 18, 2000

Business Editors

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 18, 2000

A new company focused on transforming the way PC users experience digital media content online has been formed with investments from leading technology companies Intel Corporation and Superscape.

The new company, mediadome(sm), Inc. also announced that it is launching its first product, a software application that extends traditional PC-based Internet music players (such as America Online's popular Winamp) and adds a new dimension to the way users capture, listen, and experience music content on the PC. The product is available free via download from the company's website, http://www.Mediadome.com.

Launching mediadome gives the user a single environment that blends their PC music player with an Internet browser and related content into a single interface. mediadome's patent-pending technologies add motion captured animation and spatialized audio while enabling seamless web browsing between 2D and 3D within the mediadome environment. mediadome's president and Chief Executive Officer, Jay Diamond, recently joined mediadome from Intel. He and other former Intel and Superscape employees have come together to start the new venture.

"People are still accessing web media with the same interface they used in 1994, but in that same time, Internet content and services have become more sophisticated and powerful computers have become the mass market Internet access device," Diamond said. "We want mediadome to be the leader in the renaissance of the interface."

The name mediadome symbolically captures the four functions used today to experience online digital media. Like search engines, mediadome assists users in gathering online media. Similar to bookmarks, mediadome allows users to organize their personal digital media favorites. By streamlining access to existing Internet tools like browsers and media players, mediadome helps users consume media in a simplified manner. And by taking advantage of technologies such as spatialized audio and motion-captured animation, Mediadome enhances the online media experience. But mediadome delivers all of this in one unique, next-generation interface.

"mediadome's product is currently one of the most popular Plug-Ins available at Winamp.com -- evidence that many of Winamp's millions of users are enjoying its astounding graphical effects today," said Steven Blumenfeld, General Manager of Nullsoft. "Beyond being a powerful, high fidelity audio player, we designed Winamp to be a flexible tool that could be expanded to enrich the digital music experience. Third party developers such as mediadome are a critical part of how we are taking the digital music to new heights."

"Today you have to open a browser, launch a player, start the player, and point and click to surf the Internet. mediadome offers you the ability to just press `play' and do it all with just one click," Diamond said.

mediadome's model will derive revenue from two principal sources -- services and advertising placement -- within the context of the mediadome environment.

"mediadome is offering an innovative and compelling way to experience music online," said Steve Nachscheim, vice president and director of operations for Intel Capital. "Intel's role and investment in helping start this new company is reflective of our strategy to enrich the Internet experience on an increasingly powerful PC platform.

Kevin Roberts, CEO of Superscape, added, "We are proud to be partnered with mediadome's superior management team assembled to run the day-to-day operations. We are confident that mediadome's simplicity of execution combined with the three-dimensional ease-of-use will be captivating for online users around the world."

mediadome, Inc. is focused on transforming the Internet interface for digital media. The company was formed through investments by two of the world's leading technology companies, Intel Corporation and Superscape, PLC. mediadome's first product is a software application that integrates music players and Internet browsers into a configurable "one click" environment that is beneficial to the end user and creates an attractive community for strategic partners.