Tarari and Avid Announce Licensing Agreement; Real-Time Encoding Acceleration of Windows Media Video, Microsoft's Implementation of SMPTE VC-1, for Avid Nonlinear Digital Editing Systems

Business Wire, April 24, 2006

LAS VEGAS -- Tarari, the award-winning acceleration company, today announced it has entered into a multi-year licensing agreement with Avid to provide Tarari's new hardware acceleration solution for real-time and fully transparent encoding of video content in Windows Media Video (WMV), Microsoft's implementation of SMPTE VC-1, across several of Avid's nonlinear editing product lines.

Avid will offer Tarari's Encoder Accelerator as an upgrade option for Windows XP-based versions of the Avid(R) NewsCutter, Media Composer(R) and the Symphony(TM) Nitris(R) editing systems in conjunction with Microsoft's encoding toolkit. Tarari and Avid will be demonstrating this new technology at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) 2006 show in both the Avid (SL-701) and Microsoft (SL-1161) booths. The upgrade option will be available for shipment by the end of Q2 2006.

Avid systems with the Tarari hardware will be able to encode high-definition video at 720p and 1080i to the WMV (VC-1) format in real-time and process standard-definition video at 480i at 2 to 3 times real-time performance. Tarari's new Encoder Accelerator will be offered as an acceleration option for Avid products in conjunction with Microsoft's encoding toolkit.

According to Matt Allard, senior product manager at Avid, "Avid's collaboration with Microsoft and Tarari allows us to offer our customers an accelerated workflow option that increases efficiency and speeds encoding for WMV (VC-1). This technology provides a valuable means for optimizing encoded video output for everything from web proxy files to full, high-definition WMV (VC-1) video content."

"Tarari's acceleration technology has proven to be of great value in improving workflows for digital content creators," said Randy Smerik, president/CEO and co-founder of Tarari. "This joint agreement brings the power of Tarari acceleration to Avid's highly regarded digital media editing platform."

It is expected that Avid customers will be able to order the Tarari acceleration hardware either for existing systems, or as an integrated component with new systems, or as an optional component offered in a future software release.

"Tarari's agreement to provide its new hardware acceleration tool as an option across Avid's product lines creates an incredibly powerful platform for the creation of WMV (VC-1) content," said Chad Hodge, director of Windows Digital Media at Microsoft Corp. "With the vast popularity of Avid's products and the power of Tarari's encoding tools, high-quality WMV (VC-1) encoding will be made possible for a broad range of content creators."

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid Technology, Inc. is the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management, and distribution solutions, enabling film, video, audio, animation, games, and broadcast professionals to work more efficiently, productively, and creatively. For more information about the company's Oscar(R), Grammy(R), and Emmy(R) award-winning products and services, please visit: www.avid.com.

About Tarari, Inc.

Tarari, the award-winning acceleration company headquartered in San Diego, Calif., USA, designs and develops Content Processor silicon to allow original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to accelerate and offload compute-intensive, complex algorithms used in XML/Web Services, Network Security and Digital Media environments. Tarari is a fabless semiconductor company whose product line primarily includes ASICs, and Tarari also offers boards and software acceleration components designed for network equipment, appliance and server vendors, as well as independent software vendors. Tarari is a privately held company with venture backing from Crosspoint Venture Partners, Morgan Stanley Venture Partners, Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, Miramar Venture Partners, XMLFund and Intel Capital. For more information, visit www.tarari.com, e-mail: info@tarari.com or call 858-385-5131.

Avid, Media Composer, Adrenaline, Symphony, NewsCutter, and Nitris are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technologies, Inc., or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarked company and product names are the property of their respective owners.