MEDIA JUKEBOX 9.0 Debuts in Time to Challenge Windows Media Player 9.0

Business Wire, Sept 3, 2002

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 2002

While the Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) marketing machine has been building up the buzz for a beta release of Windows Media Player 9, a competitor, J. River, has been diligently developing its own award-winning MEDIA JUKEBOX(TM) media management software into a superior alternative that will debut at the same time.

MEDIA JUKEBOX 9.0, available now in a preview release, exceeds the capabilities of WMP with playback of Real and QuickTime formats, open formats like OGG and MPC, image playback, and support for a wide range of entertainment hardware devices. MEDIA JUKEBOX can also serve as a media center for a home theater system.

"We've built a powerful database management and playback tool that can handle all popular media, including music, TV, DVD, and now - something that no other jukebox software does - support for image, photo and video organization," said Jim Hillegass, J. River's CEO. "MJ's unique combination of features and flexibility make it the ideal hub for home entertainment systems. While Microsoft's WMP 9 relies on the new XP Media Center Edition for full functionality, MEDIA JUKEBOX is a stand-alone solution that works across all MS OS's and a wide variety of hardware."

For the last year J. River has worked closely with the community of audiophiles and forward-thinking audio/visual technology buffs to push the envelope on their home theater systems by combining them with PC's for DVD playback on big screens, and often controlled by remote devices, such as Web tablets, Prontos, and PDA's.

MEDIA JUKEBOX has found a niche among users who are pushing their PC's as the center of their entertainment world. It pioneered the playback of audio files from networked PC's in the home. J. River uses a lively interactive forum for support, for beta testing, and has built a community of users interested in integrating their stereos and TV's with their personal computers.

"We are significantly ahead of Microsoft in the integration of PC's with home theater hardware. We already support the popular TV tuner cards, and we're pushing on into TiVo-like recording of programs. We believe hard drive capacity growth will allow users to manage their recorded programs in the same way that they now manage MP3 files." says CTO, Nikolay Sokratov.

MEDIA JUKEBOX is the leader in downloading and managing files from music services such as Emusic.com. Through an automated download manager, it can download entire albums with cover images, import them into the database, and play them, all with a single click.

MEDIA JUKEBOX is now the #1 rated jukebox software at both CNET's download.com and at MP3.com. The 9.0 preview version is available at www.mediajukebox.com/interact.

About MEDIA JUKEBOX

MEDIA JUKEBOX software plays over 80 media formats, including MP3, Microsoft(R) Windows Media(TM), and RealAudio(R). The jukebox has consistently received 5-star ratings from the top download sites. MJ is used by novices as well as expert users, including professional DJ's, Internet radio stations, and others requiring powerful and reliable media management and playback capabilities.

For a free download visit www.mediajukebox.com

About J. River

J. River develops DRM-compatible e-commerce solutions and network connectivity software. For more information about J. River's music products, visit www.mediajukebox.com, e-mail music@jriver.com, or call 612.677.8200.

MEDIA JUKEBOX and J. River MUSIC EXCHANGE are trademarks of J. River, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.