ReQuest Multimedia Announces ARQ Zone - New Multizone Product for Its Acclaimed MP3 Jukebox

Business Wire, July 16, 2001

Business & Technology Editors

TROY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 16, 2001

New AudioReQuest Zone allows independent audio, TV interface, and home

automation control for a whole house music system adding to strong

growth curve in custom installation industry

ReQuest Multimedia, the industry leader in hard drive-based digital music systems, today announced the addition of the AudioReQuest Zone (ARQ Zone) to the company's award-winning AudioReQuest Pro (ARQ Pro) Digital Music System product line.

Utilizing ReQuest's patent-pending synchronization process, the new ARQ Zone can automatically replicate the ARQ Pro's entire stored music collection and playlists -- more than 450 hours worth -- over high-speed Ethernet connections onto its internal hard drive, giving music lovers the ability to hear different songs play at the same time throughout the house. The ARQ Zone also acts as a backup system to protect the user's valuable music collection investment.

"Our dealers want the ability to add zones of music on a zone-by-zone basis as they wish for their clients," says ReQuest CEO Steven Vasquez. "Once they realize the quality of performance their ReQuest system is capable of, they want to enjoy its immediacy and flexibility of entertainment throughout the entire home." The AudioReQuest system is easily scalable to accommodate any size installation by adding an additional 1 RU (rack unit) ARQ Zone for each person or room in the house without limit. Large commercial installations such as museums, hotels, cruise ships and restaurants can easily add 40 source zones or more simply by adding one ARQ Zone for each desired zone of access.

The AudioReQuest + Zone combination features TV and interfaces to popular system controllers (Crestron, Panja, AudioAccess, Elan, and Pronto), and updateable software for supporting future audio formats. The ARQ Zone also acts as a redundant back-up system. With both its removable front plate and removable hard drive bay, hard drives can quickly and easily be swapped should one need to be replaced or upgraded to larger capacities. An additional ARQ Zone may also be added to the system to act as a long-term archive of the customer's music collection.

Regarded by industry experts as the next-generation audio source, the ARQ Pro has allowed music lovers to "rip," store, and organize their entire music collection and given them the ability to access it by song title, artist, album, and personal playlists. This has created excitement among installation professionals and has contributed, in part, to the surge of audio-related products shared on home networks. ReQuest Multimedia expects the new ARQ Zone to give custom audio-video dealers one more reason to be excited.

The computer and video are playing an important role in breathing new life into the audio industry and all signs point to a healthy growth curve for digital recording devices for years to come. According to a Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) study, the "custom" market is rapidly expanding and now accounts for nearly 40% of the $11.2 billion in home theater related factory-level sales in 1999. With hard drive prices falling rapidly, consumers are finding digital music sources fit the bill where whole house A/V requires sources that can better manage large collections of music and information.

ARQ Pro and ARQ Zone are sold exclusively through authorized ReQuest dealers who design and install custom systems. ARQ Zone will ship in September in time for the CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis. For sales information and support, including pre-made interfaces to leading home automation control systems, visit www.request.com or call 1-800-236-0802. The ARQ Pro 40 and 60-S are priced at $2500 and $3500 MSRP, The ARQ Zone 40 and 60 are priced at $1950 and $2500 MSRP.

About ReQuest Multimedia

ReQuest Multimedia is revolutionizing the high-end multimedia market by providing innovative products that enable users to create, store, and experience compelling new digital media content through their home entertainment systems and the Internet.

For more information, visit www.request.com or contact Steven Vasquez at 518-237-5423 x15 or steve@request.com. High-rez images of the AudioReQuest Zone may be found at www.request.com/presscenter.html

Copyright 2001 ReQuest, Inc. All rights reserved. AudioReQuest, AudioReQuest Pro and ARQ Zone are trademarks of ReQuest, Inc.