Oracle Corporation, the world's leading supplier of software for managing information, is enabling the Information Age with Oracle Media solutions. This revolutionary suite of software products and services provides complete end-to-end solutions for implementing, running, and managing interactive multimedia applications - from interactive television systems, to corporate training, to CD-ROM titles, and more. One of the Oracle Media software products, Oracle Media Objects, provides the comprehensive software authoring environment developers need to create these exciting interactive multimedia applications. A New-Generation Authoring Tool Whether you want to create today's multimedia CD-ROM titles, kiosk applications, and computer-based applications, or tomorrow's broadcast-quality interactive applications for the Information Highway, Oracle Media Objects offers you an unparalleled advantage - a single authoring technology for all of your development endeavors. It is the first authoring tool actually being used to deploy applications to PCs and television "set-top boxes," which are intelligent devices with the power of a small computer. Portable Across Platforms Like all Oracle Media software products, Oracle Media Objects is portable, giving developers a single technology for creating applications for multiple platforms and deployment configurations. Runtime support is provided for the most important standalone and client/server delivery platforms - Macintosh and Windows PCs - as well as for new specialized devices such as set-top boxes. Support will continue to expand to include other new interactive platforms and devices as they emerge, enabling developers to evolve their development and deployment strategies to take advantage of new technologies. Standalone Multimedia Applications Oracle Media Objects is a new-generation tool for developers combining text, images, audio, animation, and video in innovative CD-ROM titles and other standalone applica- tions for today's platforms. Client/Server Multimedia Applications Oracle Media Objects applications can also be deployed across conventional client/server networks that integrate traditional enterprise data sources, such as the industry-leading Oracle7ª Database Management System (DBMS). The separately available Oracle Media Objects enterprise data access product provides additional objects and commands for accessing traditional enterprise data sources. By combining Oracle Media Objects with this product, developers can create powerful multimedia, client/server applications such as corporate training, help desk support, or networked kiosk systems. Interactive Television Applications Strategically designed for emerging interactive television networks, Oracle Media Objects offers a rich tool set, tight integration with powerful back-end media servers, and a unique architecture optimized for incorporating real-time, server-based data streams in compelling interactive applications for the Information Highway. Powerful Graphical User Interface Oracle Media Objects' robust graphical interface includes pull-down menus, dialog boxes, a context-sensitive toolbar, rulers, and a powerful script debugger. This high-productivity interface gives developers easy access to a powerful set of objects, so they can quickly build highly graphical user interfaces - and focus on creativity and content rather than on low-level implementations. Application Structure An Oracle Media Objects application consists of one or more distinct screens with which a user interacts. Each screen contains its own graphical layer, as well as various objects that are linked and controlled by a rich, high-level scripting language called Oracle Media Talkª, which provides a seamless interface to server-based data and services. During application development, content - sounds, images, text, video, and ani-mation - may be imported into objects and stored internally, or linked to objects for import or playback at run time. Extensible Architecture Through the Custom Extensions Software Development Kit (SDK), Oracle Media Objects provides a number of mechanisms to extend and customize its capabilities. Developers can implement reusable utilities in libraries; extend the programming language by implementing external commands (XCMDs) and functions (XFCNs) in C; and create new, custom object classes to add to Oracle Media Objects' existing set of objects. Oracle Media Solutions - Enabling the Information Age Oracle Media solutions provide complete, end-to-end software and services for the Information Highway, from the back-end media server software to the front-end development tools for creating interactive, multimedia applications. The Oracle Media suite of software includes Oracle Media Serverª, Oracle Media Smart Servicesª, Oracle Media Netª, and Oracle Media Objects. For more information, contact the Oracle Interactive Multimedia Products group at 415.506.7000.