VBrick Systems Extends Digital Video Performance, Flexibility to Windows Media Audio and Video

Business Wire, Sept 21, 2005

WALLINGFORD, Conn. -- VBrick Systems, Inc. (www.VBrick.com), an industry leader in affordable video over IP network solutions, today announced that it is adding Windows Media Audio and Video support to its award-winning solutions that enable organizations to record, distribute, and manage digital content. VBrick combines industrial-strength reliability and flexibility with intuitive management to support organizations' expanding digital video requirements. VBrick's seamless support for Windows Media Audio and Video and multiple MPEG standards empowers organizations to use the appropriate digital video format for each distinct business application requirement.

Today, VBrick introduced the industry's first enterprise Windows Media-enabled appliance for live streaming, the VB6000 WM Appliance. The compact VBrick appliance provides unparalleled streaming simplicity and reliability, enabling organizations to deliver live video virtually anywhere. The economical VB6000 WM Appliance is easily configured to stream digital video in minutes, utilizing the compression efficiencies of the Windows Media Series format. VBrick's new Windows Media capabilities empower corporations, educational institutions, and government agencies to expand their digital video capabilities while maximizing their Microsoft investments.

"With our award-winning EtherneTV and video appliances, VBrick incorporates video technology into industrial-strength solutions that support mission-critical enterprise applications," said Fred Geyer, CEO of VBrick Systems, Inc. "The VB6000 WM Appliance combines the award-winning features and five-nines reliability already enjoyed by thousands of VBrick customers with the technology that has made Windows Media a format of choice for ubiquitous video streaming. VBrick provides added reliability and simplicity for essential business operations including engineering departments' process monitoring requirements, human resources' compliance and training capabilities, educators' distance learning initiatives, and corporate sales training and webcasts to employee desktops."

"VBrick's innovative VB6000 WM Appliance is a tool that will make the delivery of digital video simple and efficient for enterprises," said Eric Schmidt, group product manager in the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft Corp. "With support for Windows Media 9 Series, the VB6000 WM Appliance provides seamless and unparalleled reach to more than 500 million Windows XP PCs worldwide."

Traditionally, Information Technology (IT) managers have been saddled by requirements to deploy video capture cards, multiple servers, and desktop software to deploy digital video on their networks. The VB6000 WM Appliance allows organizations to provide industrial strength capture and delivery appliances, combined with centralized management capabilities for enterprise-wide digital video applications, thereby eliminating much of the complexity involved in distributing digital video.

The VB6000 WM Appliance also integrates seamlessly with the VBrick EtherneTV Media Distribution System, a turnkey platform to record, distribute, and manage digital video across IP networks. (In a concurrent release today, VBrick announced EtherneTV 3.0.) VBrick will continue to expand its capabilities in supporting the Windows Media formats.

VB6000 WM Appliance for Windows Media Features

VBrick's new appliance for Windows Media Audio and Video provides the performance and ease-of-use features required for ubiquitous video delivery. The new appliance:

--  Delivers a single live Windows Media Audio and Video broadcast
        (multicast) to all network users using a single VBrick
        appliance. VBrick enables organizations to stream to all
        employees without bandwidth constraints

    --  Supports up to 200 separate (unicast) Windows Media sessions,
        allowing organizations to deliver live video virtually
        anywhere

    --  Empowers users to deliver live, high-quality audio/video to
        existing desktops and compatible Personal Digital Assistants
        (PDAs), Windows Mobile-based smart phones and devices, set top
        boxes, and other devices without additional plug-in or player
        requirements

    --  Scales digital video distribution capabilities by delivering a
        single video stream to a Windows Media Server in both "push"
        and "pull" modes

    --  Empowers organizations to setup and configure video streams
        within minutes; typical PC-based solutions can take hours

    --  Delivers one or two audio/video channels

    --  Offers robust administrative control including:

        --  Automatically creates a live Program Guide that lists all
            available Windows Media Audio and Video content via unique
            technology

        --  Full remote management and control via a standard web
            browser

        --  Adjustable streaming parameters to address streaming and
            overall network requirements - including audio and video
            bit rate, frame rate, and resolution. Streaming rates
            range from 8 Kbps to 2 Mbps

        --  Seamless interoperability with the VBrick Media Control
            Server Suite to deliver advanced management capabilities
            including user authentication, streaming permissions,
            unified portal access, recording, and scheduling

    --  Assures seamless network interoperability via compliance with
        the Microsoft Windows ecosystem and associated hosting
        providers

    --  VBrick's Software Developer Kit (SDK) enables organizations to
        optimize VBrick appliances for their specific environments -
        such as managing the VBrick appliance using third-party
        control systems