News

EMedia Professional, March 1997
Copyright © Online Inc.

Vendors, please send news on products or services to Kirk L. Kroeker, Assistant Editor (EMedia Professional, 649 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 4, Cambridge, MA 02139; 617/492-0268; Fax 617/492-3159).

Click on a feature or news section below. Click the disc icons to return to this list.

VRML 2.0 Authoring Tools Proliferate
Verity's CD-ROM/Online Development Tool Enhanced, Draws Crowd
CBT and Java Mix, Aimtech Stirs
CD-R Media, In Media Res
THE DEVELOPER'S TOOLBOX
NEW PRODUCTS
RECORD & REWRITE
MASTERING, REPLICATION, & PACKAGING
FACTS, FIGURES, AND FINDINGS
PEOPLE AND DEALS
TECH AND TOOLS
TOP TEN
CD-R INDEX
THE CD-ROM DRIVE INDEX
CONFERENCE CALENDAR

VRML 2.0 Authoring Tools Proliferate
Companies like 3D WEB, Dimension X, Integrated Data Systems, ParaGraph International, Silicon Graphics, Template Graphics Software, Virtus Corporation, and VREAM have all released--or will be releasing shortly--new tools for developing VRML 2.0 applications. The relatively new VRML 2.0 specification--made public in August 1996 at the SIGGRAPH conference--allows for adding touch, collision, and plane sensors to previously static VRML 1.0-based 3D WWW worlds. Improved graphics through engines like Direct 3D and OpenGL accompany 3D sound rendering through innovations like Microsoft's DirectSound and Intel's Realistic Sound Experience (RSX) in the latest VRML 2.0 browsers and APIs.

3D WEB has developed Spinner, a WYSIWYG VRML 2.0 tool that aims to keep files as small as possible for fast downloading. Spinner maintains very small primitives so that a box in Spinner, for example, equals only about 8 bytes. Most 3D file formats including DXF and 3DS can be imported into the application for manipulation. Spinner is available in a basic version for $99 and a Pro version for $249. These charges include one year subscriptions to quarterly updates. The Pro version takes the basic drag and drop GUI tool and adds additional geometry editing capabilities, elevation grids, and an FTP utility for publishing the completed site.
(3D WEB, P.O. Box 410990, Suite 515, San Francisco, CA 94141; 415/956-9730; Fax 415/954-0693; mike@3DWEB.COM; http://www.3dweb.com/)

For a pure Java VRML 2.0 solution, with the exception of a graphics engine DLL, Dimension X has built the Liquid Reality Java Toolkit. Along with Sony's Community Place, Liquid Reality's browser is itself a Java applet that can be run inside Netscape or Internet Explorer, or as a standalone applet using Java's appletviewer. Liquid Reality is available for Windows 95/NT, Solaris, Linux, and SGI Irix platforms. A Macintosh PowerPC version is planned. The dynamic nature of Java allows custom viewers to be built on top of Dimension X's browser classes, which allows a great deal of customization for experienced Java programmers. Liquid Reality now supports either ICE--Dimension X's graphics library--or Direct 3D on the Windows platform.
(Dimension X, Inc., 181 Fremont Street, Suite 120; San Francisco, CA 94105; 415/243-0900; Fax 415/243-0997; info@dimensionx.com; http://www.dimensionx.com/)

Vrealm Builder 2.0, from Integrated Data Systems, Inc., offers the following features: full compliance with VRML 2.0, key frame editor animation, extrusion editing, elevation grids, materials, textures, light, camera functions, script editing, and MPEG options for the movie node. A standalone and plug-in VRealm browser is included in the package. The following file formats may be imported into the development tool: VRML 1.0, 3DStudio, RAW, SGI Wavefront, and Truespace. DXF, AOFF, Hanes NFF, TPOLY, Truetype fonts and World Toolkit NFF can be translated externally. Vrealm Builder 2.0 supports Microsoft's DirectSound Tools and the OpenGL rendering engine. It is priced at $250.
(Integrated Data Systems, Inc., 6001 Chatham Center Drive, Suite 300; Savannah, GA 31405; 912/236-4374; Fax 912/236-6792; http://www.ids-net.com/ids/builder/builder.html)

ParaGraph International, Inc. has introduced, at a very reasonable price, a versatile graphical VRML 2.0 authoring suite for the PC and the first VRML 2.0 authoring tool for the Macintosh. Internet 3D Suite, priced at $169.95, consists of Virtual Home Space Builder 2.2, a basic tool for creating 3D spaces; Internet3D Space Builder 2.0, ParaGraph's feature-rich VRML authoring tool; and Internet3D Font Magic 2.0, which converts True Type fonts into 3D VRML fonts. ParaGraph has announced that Silicon Graphics' Cosmo Player browser, which is now in beta 3, will also be bundled with their Internet3D Suite. With Virtual Home Space Builder 2.2 for the Macintosh, ParaGraph has brought VRML 2.0 authoring to the Mac. While Virtual Home Space Builder may be a modest tool, its introduction bodes well for future VRML 2.0 releases aimed at the Macintosh. The Internet3D Space Builder CD-ROM, priced alone at $89.95, comes with over 900 textures, more than 40 pictures, at least 40 movies, over 170 ready-made objects, greater than 15 geometric shapes, and at least 20 sample scenes. A downloadable version is available at $69.95 that contains fewer scenes, shapes, pictures, and objects.
(ParaGraph International, Inc., 1688 Dell Avenue, Campbell, CA 95008 USA; 408/364-7700; http://www.paragraph. com/)

Graphical VRML 2.0 authoring on the SGI platform is available in Cosmo Worlds 1.0, which is part of Silicon Graphics Computer Systems' Cosmo Software Suite that comes with Cosmo Code, a Visual Java development environment; Cosmo Create, a WYSIWYG HTML page layout tool; the Cosmo Player VRML browser; Cosmo Mediabase, a Web-based scalable streaming-media server; Cosmo Color management for the Web; and the Cosmo OpenGL 3D graphics engine. Cosmo Software Suite is a premium authoring suite for the SGI workstation. Textures or multimedia can be incorporated into a project using any number of editors, including Photoshop. Cosmo allows the creation and revision of VRML, HTML, Java, JavaScript, and other objects within the same workspace, and can then perform optimization on the finished site to prepare for WWW or other publishing.
(Silicon Graphics Computer Systems, 2171 Landings Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043; 415/960-1980; Fax 415/960-3393; http://vrml.sgi.com/)

For programmers, Template Graphics Software has released Open Inventor 2.2 for Win32, which includes a free bundle of the new VRMLMaster toolkit for VRML 2.0. Open Inventor 2.2 is a C++ toolkit whose purpose is to produce Internet-ready 3D applications. While not an authoring tool per se, Open Inventor 2.2 enhances C++ and ActiveX products for developing VRML 2.0-enabled applications. Development licenses are available for $995 in the U.S. and $1250 internationally, with academic and volume discounts available.
(Template Graphics Software, 9920 Pacific Heights Boulevard, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92121; 619/457-5359; Fax 619/452-2547; info@tgs.com; http://www.tgs.com)

Virtus 3-D Website Builder from Virtus Corporation advertises a free downloadable upgrade to VRML 2.0 for current customers when the upgrade becomes available. 3-D Website Builder is a drag and drop WYSIWYG VRML tool for both 32- and 16-bit Windows platforms as well as for the Macintosh. While 3-D Website Builder currently supports VRML 1.0, the downloadable upgrade will make it a versatile cross-platform entry-level software at a street price of $99.95. Virtus Walkthrough Pro, at a street price of $369, allows modeling and editing individual objects, perspective-correct texture mapping, and real-time 3D rendering and walk-through navigation.
(Virtus Corporation, 114 MacKenan Drive, Suite 100, Cary, NC 27511; 800/847-8871; http://www.virtus.com/3dwb.html)

Chicago, Illinois-based VREAM. Inc. offers the ability to create VRML 2.0 worlds in four easy steps using the soon-to-be-available VRCreator. VRCreator will sell for $129 beside VRCreator Pro at $495. The Pro version will add limited access to the VRCreator API, allowing VREAM's virtual reality technology to be embedded into larger applications and permitting the creation of executable scenes that contain a run-time viewer. The VREAM products use Microsoft's Direct3D graphics engine.
(VREAM, Inc., 223 West Erie Street, Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60610; 312/337-5164, Fax 312/337-5264; info@vream.com; http://www.vream.com/3vrc.html) --Ron Gustavson

Verity's CD-ROM/Online Development Tool Enhanced, Draws Crowd
New York-based market research firm Jupiter Communications predicts in "World Online Markets" that 66.6 million households worldwide will be online by 2000. Vermont-based research firm InfoTech argues in "Hybrid CD-ROM/ Online Assessment" that hybrid CD-ROM/online titles will grow to 3,500 in 1997 from 756 hybrid titles in 1996, largely because publishers want to circumvent retail shelving problems. Whatever the reasons, demand has grown for online services--and by all conservative estimates will continue to grow--but that demand hasn't produced the technology capable of enabling the greater bandwidth required by strong corporate and consumer multimedia. In the interest of enabling CD-ROM/online hybrid publishing--which sidesteps problems endemic to both CD-ROM and online--Verity, Inc. has upgraded Topic CD Publisher 1.25 to SEARCH97 CD-Web Publisher 2.0.

Verity has already drawn a prominent crowd with earlier versions of its software. For example, Cisco Systems, Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. use CD-Web Publisher to provide product information to distributors, support personnel, sales and marketing staff, and end users. "The collaborative effort between Verity and partners such as Cisco, HP, Mosby, and others, played a key role in the evolution of CD-Web Publisher 2.0's new features," said Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO of Verity. "The combination of CD-ROM and Internet publishing, with an integrated World Wide Web connection, provides users with speed, convenience, and visually rich information."

Product information, marketing materials, manuals, and service advisories can all be co-developed for a single Web presence and shared between the CD-ROM and the Web site with Verity's new tool. Users can then browse and search their local CD-ROM to find the information they need without having to be connected permanently to the Web. When users enter a query, the system searches for the information on the local CD-ROM that has links to retrieve original documents stored on the CD-ROM or anywhere on the Internet.

According to Verity, the advantage of CD-Web Publisher is that integrating Web and CD-ROM publishing into a single production process makes creating and maintaining content relatively straightforward, since there is the need to publish and maintain content only once on a Web server, and then export the Web site, or a portion of it, to CD-ROM. As a result, publishers can support more users with a single infrastructure, while reducing information production and maintenance costs.

CD-Web Publisher 2.0 integrates search capabilities within a browser-based publishing application, where the CD-ROM acts as a local cache to the Web server, off-loading traffic and increasing access performance. CD-Web Publisher is built on standard document types---text, HTML, PDF, word processors, and many others--and standard Web clients, so that there is no need to make changes or learn new interfaces. The new version of the product adds to the earlier Topic CD-Publisher 1.25 support for Netscape Navigator 3.x/2.0.2 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x/2.1. With the new version, users can index PDF and WYSIWYG documents and view inline graphics with highlights. Users can also customize the browser interface with sample forms using JavaScript and Verity SearchScript.

CD-Web Publisher consists of two basic systems: the CD-Web Publisher application used by publishers as the platform to publish their data onto CD-ROM, and the CD-Web Publisher Runtime application used by end-users to access the created CD. CD-Web Publisher's development environment supports standard ISAPI modules, which allows binary modules (.dlls on Windows platforms, shared libraries on UNIX platforms) to be loaded into the HTTP server's address space, which, according to the company, provides for better performance. CD-Web Publisher can therefore extend system capabilities by writing additional ISAPI modules for specialized functions, or reusing existing ISAPI modules from currently operational Web servers.

Once the user has collected the data that needs to be published, the text is filtered, tokenized, and stored into indices to allow for later searching by end users. The Indexer module indexes files in HTML, ASCII, PDF, and WYSIWYG formats, stores them in Verity collections, and makes them available for searching. The search interface takes the queries and applies them against the document indices, returning a results list of documents with each document having a relevancy score.

After the data is indexed and a collection has been built, the Publisher element of CD-Web Publisher is used to copy the collection of files into the CD-ROM staging area. After the Publisher has run, the file directory in the CD-ROM staging area can then be directly copied to CD-Recordable media for manufacturing and distribution.

CD-Web Publisher Runtime uses the same search and viewing components as the Publishing application, but does not provide the Indexing or Publishing components. Viewing and editing the content and user interfaces can be performed using a variety of commercially available tools like Netscape Navigator Gold, Microsoft Front Page, ForeFront WebWhacker, Adobe Acrobat Exchange, and many others.

SEARCH97 CD-Web Publisher 2.0 Developer Kit sells for $4995 for Windows 95, Windows 3.1, and Windows NT. Runtime licensing to distribute CD-ROM titles and WYSIWYG indexing and viewing software is priced from $1 to $8 per CD-ROM title, depending on volume and functions. CD-Web Publisher will be available for Macintosh and UNIX platforms by the end of first quarter 1997, according to the company.
(Verity, Inc., 894 Ross Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 408/541-1500; http://www.verity.com) --Kirk L. Kroeker

CBT and Java Mix, Aimtech Stirs
Through a number of technology demonstrations at the Interservice Industry Training conference in Orlando, Florida, and at Internet World in New York, Aimtech Corporation (based in Nashua, New Hampshire) has been detailing its plan to wed the capabilities of its CBT Express multimedia authoring tool with its Jamba tool, a visual authoring environment for creating Java applets. The training market has yet to see a strong tool for enhancing static Web and Internet applications with interactivity and multimedia, and Aimtech is hoping its soon-to-be-released Jamba-enhanced version of CBT Express will fill this potentially-lucrative gap in the market.

According to CBT Express product marketing manager Christian Vescia, "Aimtech's goal is to leverage the Java delivery technology created for Jamba to allow native Internet delivery of CBT Express applications." The new "Internet-enabled" version of CBT Express will provide a simple "Course Export" wizard that will automatically convert CBT Express frames (the tool's basic building blocks) to Java applets using Jamba as the intermediary. Java-based CBT Express applications will thus have the advantage of running native across the Web without the need for any kind of plug-ins. The tool will also convert bitmaps to the Web's GIF or JPEG formats and WAV audio files to Java's AU audio files. CBT Express will, of course, retain its ability to save files in its own native format for local delivery.

For better or worse, CBT Express applications deployed using Java (Jamba) will not use HTML for text handling. Instead, the text will be treated as a "Text Object" within Jamba. This is bound to make nervous those Web developers who've invested time in learning HTML, but Vescia says that, as everyone knows, HTML's text handling (especially its formatting) capabilities are quite limited--providing only three fonts, for example. Jamba, in contrast, uses the more robust text handling capabilities of Java, and thus promises to free developers from some of the limitations of HTML. There is also nothing to prevent developers from mixing HTML pages with Jamba/CBT Express applets.

Jamba essentially provides developers with a pre-built set of Java classes for common types of interactions. Jamba has been praised for being easy to use, but critics say that because it is an interpreted rather than a compiled language, it runs even slower than Java, which is already rather slow. Vescia points out that performance can be speeded up by installing Jamba's Java classes locally at each end user's desktop. However, this solution is similar to other vendors' plug-in solutions, which sacrifice the universality that using native standards such as HTML and Java provide.

Aimtech expects its new Internet-enabled version of CBT Express to be ready for release at mid year.
(Aimtech Corporation, 20 Trafalgar Square, Suite 300, Nashua, NH, 03063; 603/883-0220; Fax 603/883-5582) --Mark Fritz

CD-R Media, In Medias Res
TDK, Kodak, Fuji, and Pioneer have made major CD-R-media-related announcements, showing that CD-R media markets are not only full of activity, but--according to most industry analyst estimates--will be saturated with media in 1997, making the blank discs more accessible than they were in 1996 and bringing street prices down. According to many manufacturers, the CD-R market saturation should allow production of greater quantities of special-run media, such as printable discs or the special non-specification 80-minute media used for certain audio applications. TDK debuted a new line of CD-Recordable discs, while Kodak, Fuji, and Pioneer have announced plans to increase media production at new plants. Despite greater competition in the CD-R media markets, Kodak also announced across-the-board price increases for its various media products, CD-R among them.

TDK's new media, called the CD-RXG74 Recordable Compact Disc, is made for professional audio recording units that cannot read conventional CD-R media. The new media is specifically designed for professional audio recorders--made by Pioneer and Marantz, for example--and offers 74 minutes of digital recording time, comparable to the length of commercially produced audio CDs. TDK is marketing the media to professional and home audiophiles. The media cannot be used to record other CD formats, including CD-ROM, CD-i, or Photo CD, and is equipped with the Serial Copy Management System (SCMS) which limits digital copying to one generation. The TDK discs, which use high-sensitivity cyanine dye, are available at an estimated street price of $18.
(TDK Electronics Corporation, 12 Harbor Park Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050; 212/388-1400; http://www.tdkonline.com)

Eastman Kodak Company unveiled the company's new production facility in Ireland's Youghal, County Cork, at a January 13, 1997 ribbon-cutting event. The company said the plant is the first in Europe dedicated solely to CD-R media production, and expects that the plant will have a significant impact on Kodak's efforts to meet Europe's growing demand for CD-R blanks. In addition to the Ireland plant opening, Kodak has plans to expand the company's efforts to produce CD-R media. Kodak currently manufactures CD-R media at facilities in Rochester, New York and Guadalajara, Mexico. Also, Kodak has announced increases in the selling price of its CD-R media, which accompanies similar inflated rates for the company's microfilm, duplicating film, and microfilm chemistry products. The price hikes, which range from two to five percent, took effect with orders received in the U.S. following January 1, 1997. The company attributed the increases to growing distribution and materials costs.
(Eastman Kodak Company, Business Imaging Systems, 901 Elmgrove Road, Rochester, NY 14653-6324; 800/243-8811; Fax 716/726-0818; http://www.kodak.com)

Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc., a long-time player in the media market, buttressed its position in Europe with a full CD-R production facility in Germany. Fuji initially invested $8.8 million to bring production capacity to 400,000-500,000 units per month, but plans to invest an additional $8.8 million to double that capacity. Fuji Magnetiks, the division of Fuji Photo Film in Germany, has pilot production under way.
(Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc., 555 Taxter Road, Elmsford, NY 10523; 914/789-8148)

Pioneer Video Manufacturing, Inc. recently began U.S. production of the write-once CD-R media at the Pioneer Video Manufacturing plant in Carson, California, at a monthly capacity of 400,000-800,000 discs. The company also said that it plans to boost CD-R capacity at its factories in Japan and Spain, raising its worldwide total threefold to 2.2 million discs per month by the end of 1997.
(Pioneer Video Manufacturing, Inc., 1041 East 230th Street, Carson, CA 90745; 310/522-7442; Fax 310/522-8698)

This recent CD-R media activity follows in the wake of a series of important developments occurring in the second half of 1996. Among these were Japan-based Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals, Inc. constructing a media manufacturing facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Ricoh Corporation and Kao Infosystems setting up CD-R media production lines in Barcelona, Spain. A number of other manufacturers--including Taiwan-based Princo Corporation and Milpitas, California-based Plasmon Data Systems--are planning to start production of CD-R media some time in 1997. --Kirk L. Kroeker

THE DEVELOPER'S TOOLBOX

Video Editing and Production Propelled: New Releases from Corel, Digital LAVA, Scitex, Avid, and Artel

Corel Corporation has announced Lumiere, a new software-based video editing, creation, and customization tool. Designed for Pentium 90 or higher PCs running Windows 95 and NT 4.0, Lumiere features a range of editing controls, such as video and audio controllers for modifying the length of imported clips; motion controls for scaling, rotating, or distorting video clips; and transparency controls, such as Chroma-key, for superimposing video tracks on one another. Lumiere also includes SmartSound Wizard, a music and sound effect creation tool, plus 10 audio filters for sound adjustment and effect implementation, Over 60 clip-to-clip transitions are also provided, plus over 60 video filters for effect and still image implementation, 50 fonts, over 60 minutes of music clips, and a library of video clips. Lumiere shipped in January 1997 with a list price of $99.95.
(Corel Corporation, 1600 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K1Z 8R7, Canada; 613/728-8200; Fax 613/761-9177; http://www.corel.com)

Digital LAVA, Inc. has released the vPrism Video Computing Suite, a new software-based digital video production tool designed to enable the management, analysis, presentation, and distribution of video and related information. vPrism uses standard MPEG full-motion video and supports synchronized transcripts, "on-the-fly" annotation, a range of coding formats, and sub-titling. Users can drag video clips into a "Video Playlist" to build interactive video presentations. A "VideoCapsule" containing video clips and non-video information can be output to CD-ROM and other storage media. vPrism, which is available for the Macintosh and for Windows 95 and NT environments and in configurations for standalone and network systems, has a pricing structure that varies by platform and configuration. A single-user desktop version for Macintosh or Windows lists for $16,500, and pricing per unit decreases by the number of "seats" purchased for, with a low of $7708 for 12 "seats." "Workgroup Client" version prices are roughly comparable, although "per seat" prices drop less precipitously, from $16,500 for a single seat to $9167 for 12.
(Digital LAVA, Inc., 10850 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1260, Los Angeles, CA 90024; 310/470-1149; Fax 310/470-1769; http://www.digitallava.com)

Another new digital video production tool comes from Scitex Digital Video, whose DveousFX plug-in adds 3D digital video effects generation capability to Scitex's MicroSphere digital nonlinear editing system. Features of DveousFX include the wipe generator, luma/chroma keys and picture correction controls from Scitex's Abekas 8150 production switcher; plus real-time 3D digital video effects generation, the "UltraWarp" effects palette, 3D positionable light sourcing, and SurfaceFX texturing capabilities from Abekas Dveous, Scitex's postproduction effects generator.
(Scitex Digital Video, Court Square Building, 200 East Lexington Street, Suite 705, Baltimore, MD 21202; 410/783-0600; Fax 410/783-0606; http://www.scitexdv.com)

Avid Technology, Inc. has released version 1.5 of its MCXpress for NT nonlinear video editing system. The new version of the software promises such features as 2:1 video compression, data rates of 300KB/frame and higher, real-time effects, an improved compositing interface with unlimited video layering, and batch digitizing. MCXpress 1.5 also allows users to export video files to numerous EDL formats, such as CMX, GVG, and Sony using the Open Media Framework Interchange. Version 1.5 is also the first iteration of MCXpress to be optimized for Windows NT 4.0 and to support such third-party plug-ins as Synergy International's Hollywood F/X. Sold as a software-only solution, MCXpress 1.5 lists for $4495.
(Avid Technology, Inc., Metropolitan Technology Park, One Park West, Tewksbury, MA 01876; 508/640-6789; Fax 508/640-1366)

Artel Software, Inc. has announced Boris Effects 2.1, a 3D digital video effects generator for the Power Macintosh platform designed to use multiprocessing technology for accelerating the rendering and generation speed of custom effects for PICT files, digital video, and QuickTime movies. Designed as a plug-in for such nonlinear video editors as Media 100 and Adobe Premiere, and to work with multiprocessing systems such as DayStar Genesis MP and Apple 9500/180 MP, Boris Effects 2.1 includes several new features. These features include picture-in-picture capability, additional soft edges, improved image quality, chroma-key control, accelerated compositing, frame-accurate motion control, accelerated rendering, custom-titling, beveled and blur filters, and an enlarged preview window. List pricing for Boris Effects 2.1 starts at $350.
(Artel Software, Inc., 374 Congress Street, Suite 308, Boston, MA 02210-1807; 617/451-9900; Fax 617/451-9916; http://www.artelsoft.com)

Web Creation Nation Expands by Three: Folio, Macromedia, mBED

mBED Software has announced Interactor, a new authoring tool designed to help multimedia designers create interactive, media-rich content for World Wide Web delivery. Interactor's point-and-click graphical user interface allows users to add a range of multimedia enhancements to their Web sites. Key features include RealAudio for audio playback control and multimedia synchronization; a Path Animator that lets developers add dissolve, wipe, scroll, blinds, and zoom effects to graphic elements; a Score Window, which enables time-triggered action control of all multimedia components; sprite animations, rollover buttons; database posting; and support for most common file types. A Windows 95/NT version of Interactor will debut in late first quarter 1997; a Macintosh version will follow shortly thereafter.
(mBed Software Inc., 185 Berry Street, Suite 3715, San Francisco, CA 94107-1729; 415/778-0930; Fax 415/778-0933; http://www.mbed.com)

Macromedia, Inc. has announced Backstage Internet Studio 2, a software tool that enables users to develop database-driven Web sites and applications. Designed to eliminate the need for programming in professional-level Web-based applications, Backstage Internet Studios is an object-oriented tool with database application wizards for rapidly connecting Web pages to client/server or desktop databases, integrating Internet sites with databases, and generating individualized Web pages. Compatible with popular Web browsers, servers, and databases, Components of Backstage Internet Studio include Backstage Designer, a WYSIWYG HTML editor; Backstage Manager, which enables project-level maintenance for multiple site management with drag-and-drop page re-organization and link-checking; Backstage Server, which works with Web servers to deliver customized pages; and Backstage Objects, for scripting-free database-driven page-building. Backstage Internet Studio is available in both a Desktop Edition, which works with desktop-based databases like Microsoft Access, Excel, FoxPro, dBase, and Paradox to create small office and workgroup-oriented applications; and an Enterprise Edition, which builds on existing corporate infrastructure by integrating Web sites with Oracle, Sybase, Informix, and Microsoft SQL servers. Both editions are available for Windows NT 3.51 or greater and Windows 95; the Desktop Edition lists for $299, while the Enterprise Edition lists for $499.
(Macromedia, 600 Townsend, San Francisco, CA 94103; 415/252-2201; Fax 415/626-0554; http://www.macromedia.com/backstage)

Another new solution for professional-level Web site creation and management is available from Folio Corporation. siteDirector 3.1 uses Folio's "infobase" technology to automate the collection and management high-content databases from multiple sources, and translate that infobase content to HTML on-the-fly using Microsoft's Internet Server API, Netscape's API, and the Common Gateway Interface. Features new with version 3.1 include new information metering capability which allows corporations, commercial publishers, and Folio developers to build applications which meter, control, and generate revenue from Internet-based information distribution. Folio siteDirector also features Softpage technology, which enables Web developers to create custom buttons and page formats for their Web sites, and add Java scripts and query templates. Softpage also supports HTML 3 and other HTML extensions such as frames, enhanced graphics, font styles, paragraph formatting, and wallpaper. Folio siteDirector 3.1 retails for $9995.
(Folio Corporation, 5072 North 300 West, Provo, UT 84604; 801/229-6700; Fax 801/229-6787; http://www.folio.com)

Vicom Introduces Nereus Multimedia Network Publishing System

Components of the Nereus Multimedia Publishing System include input subsystems, asset management, multi-site development, multi-user authoring, project management, and output systems. Designed to provide cost-effective production, life cycle management, and delivery of large-scale, media-rich, high-volume multimedia applications for networked publishing environments, the database-driven Nereus system enables simultaneous use and re-use of media assets and application structures.

The centralized database at the core of the Nereus system enables the integration of all the subsystems, and provides security, data integrity, and concurrency across media assets and applications structures. The input subsystems provide high-speed, high-volume, automated media acquisition from most scanners, video, and audio sources, and the asset management tool enables object-oriented media management for secure storage, indexing, and re-use of media. Nereus' multi-user authoring feature allows multiple authors to work on the same or different projects simultaneously, and provides real-time viewing of applications simultaneously with authoring, plus re-usable application templates and drag-and drop authoring.

An integrated project managers schedules and tracks production across multiple projects and provides activity-based job-cost reports, and Nereus' output subsystem rounds out the feature set with project optimization and delivery capabilities including cross-platform CD-ROM and online, and can use PC or Macintosh playback hardware. Pricing for the Nereus system begins at $250,000 per networked site, and increases incrementally with the amount of users on the Nereus-enabled system.
(Vicom Multimedia, Inc., 838 11th Avenue SW, #200, Calgary, Alberta T2R 0ES, Canada; 403/264-3950; Fax 403/265-4012; http://www.opcode.ca)

FutureTel's Future Encoded in New Encoder, New Software, New Pricing?

Espresso, a new $1100 MPEG-1 encoder, is a half-size, PCI, plug-and-play card designed to capture composite or S-Video and stereo audio. Espresso, which shipped in December 1996, can encode and decode MPEG video in several standard formats. FutureTel has also announced ViewPoint, a software-based video manipulation tool that enables PC users to organize and keyword search MPEG-1 video content at the sub-file level. Sequences that match search criteria can be identified and dropped into Windows 95 applications like Microsoft's PowerPoint presentation software. ViewPoint retails for $650. Also recently launched by FutureTel is a frame-accurate MPEG editor called ClipView, which features fast video caching and lists for $50.

FutureTel has also announced reduced pricing for existing products like its PrimeView II Composite/S-Video MPEG-1 encoder, whose pricing has dropped from $6000 to $3000. Two higher-end encoders, the D1 MPEG-1 Combo and the half-resolution MPEG-2 Prime View Duet, have dropped from $9000 to $6000 and $15,000 to $10,000, respectively.
(FutureTel, 1092 East Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086; 408/522-1400; Fax 408/522-1439; http://www.futuretel.com)

Iprax CourseWorks 3.2 Goes to Work for CBT Cause

http://www.iprax.com

Macromedia Goes to 3D Extremes--Again

http://www.macromedia.com

Genitor Generates C/C++ Graphical Editing Environment

mFactory Aims to Re-Direct Authoring Market with Competitive Upgrade Offer

Dataware Debuts Search Customization Extension

http://www.dataware.com

Computer Associates' OPAL Opens New Applications To Old Systems

http://www.cai.com

NEW PRODUCTS: DRIVES, NETWORKS, UTILITIES, & MORE

New CD-ROM Towers, Libraries, and Servers

SMS Data Products Group, Inc. announced that the Millenia Series 700 networking towers now come standard with 12X CD-ROM drives from Toshiba. The new 12X drives provide data access rates of 1.8MB/sec, 115ms seek times, and offer 256KB buffers. "SMS is the first to integrate the Toshiba 12X drives into a whole product line of scalable modular and upgradeable CD-ROM networking products," stated Scott Smith, vice president of marketing at Toshiba. Because the Millenia Series towers are scalable, modular, and upgradeable, the new 12X CD-ROM drive can be plugged into any existing SMS tower. "We waited for Toshiba because it was the first 12X drive that worked with our Connectivity Modules through AXIS' StorPoint, Compact Devices' TopSpin, and Microtest's DiscPort," said James Geanakos, Jr., director of marketing for SMS. Pricing of the SMS towers--which come in single tower, dual tower, and rackmount versions-- vary depending on configuration.
(SMS Data Products Group, Inc., 1501 Farm Credit Drive, McLean, VA 22101; 703/709-9898; Fax 703/356-4831)

Cygnet Storage Solutions, Inc. announced the Infinidisc Robotic CD Library, which offers a 500,000 MEBF (Mean Exchanges Before Failure) rating and complete field upgradeability, from 250 to 500 discs and from two to eight CD drives, depending on user needs. The modular design of the system--with all components in standard width rackmount packaging--enables relatively simple in-field upgrading, according to the company. Cygnet announced that Smart Storage Inc., OTG Software, and Celerity have already begun to support Infinidisc. "Our goal is to become the preferred supplier of CD-library systems in both OEM and reseller channels," said Mike Griswold, vice president of sales for Cygnet. During the first quarter of 1997, Cygnet expects that high speed drives (up to 16X) and CD recorders will be certified for use in the system. Infinidisc is available to OEMs, resellers, and system integrators. Suggested list pricing starts at $9995 for a two-drive and 250-disc configuration, to $14,895 for a four-drive, 500-disc unit.
(Cygnet Storage Solutions, Inc., 2560 Junction Avenue, San Jose, CA 95134; 408/954-1800; Fax 408/954-9017)

SciNet has introduced the SciNet Series 400 CD-Server, an independent CD-ROM server, which is preconfigured to install in under five minutes, according to the company. The Series 400 supports up to 25 users simultaneously and can be managed from any network station. The Series 400 is available in two models, one with four CD-ROM drives, and a second model with accommodates ten CDs--two CD-ROM drives, and two disc changers which hold four CDs each. The system contains a 486DX2-66 processor running a 32-bit environment, 4MB RAM (8MB for the ten-CD unit), and can be connected to standard Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, or Token Ring in Novell NetWare or Windows NT environments. The four-CD unit lists for $1795 and the 10 CD unit lists for $2495.
(SciNet, Inc., 268 Santa Ana Court, Sunnyvale, CA 94086; 408/328-0160; Fax 408/328-0168; http://www.scinetcorp.com)

Optical Access International, Inc. (OAI), whose SCSIplex technology is the basis for Micro Design International's CD-ROM networking hardware, announced the availability of a mini-changer drive option for its own family of Netserve/CD and Maxtet/CD CD-ROM servers. The Netserve/CD mini32 CD-ROM and Maxtet/CD mini32 servers quadruple the capacity of an existing Netserve/CD 800 or Maxtet/ CD 800 eight-drive server and provide a disc-to-read head ratio of 4 to 1. Features of the Netserve/CD and Maxtet/CD mini-changer servers include 8X speed, four-second exchange time, caddyless mechanisms, and scalability. Netserve/CD and Maxtet/CD mini-changer CD-ROM servers are available in a variety of configurations, including 32, 64, 128, and 256 disc configurations. Users on DOS, Windows, Windows NT, UNIX, OS/2, and Macintosh desktops can access the CD-ROM server on NetWare, LAN Manager, AppleShare, and UNIX networks. Netserve/CD and Maxtet/CD mini-changer servers start at $7395 for the Maxtet/CD 800-mini32, an eight-drive, 32-disc tower system with 8X CD-ROM drives.
(Optical Access International, Inc., 500 West Cummings Park, Woburn, MA 01801; 617/937-3910; Fax 617/937-3950)

Logicraft Makes Releases CD-hfs for NT, CDcentral, and Virtual CD-ROM Windows NT

Logicraft has also announced the release of CDcentral, a remote access solution for Logicraft's LanCD CD-ROM networking software that enables remote users to access centralized CD-ROM applications from any desktop, which provides a sharing solution for organizations with telecommuters, traveling personnel, or branch offices. CDcentral consists of LanCD servers networked to WinFrame servers running Citrix WinFrame remote control software and LanCD's WinFrame client software. Each LanCD server serves up multiple CD-ROM applications and supports up to 56 CD-ROM or SCSI hard drives. The remote user simply connects to the central system via the Internet/Intranet, modem, or low-speed WAN connection to access desired CD-ROM applications. Each WinFrame server can support up to 60 remote users concurrently. The suggested list price for Logicraft's WinFrame client for LanCD is $995 per WinFrame server for an unlimited user license.

Lastly, Logicraft has announced the release of Virtual CD-ROM Windows NT, an emulation software product that makes it possible to run CD-ROM applications directly off hard disks without a CD-ROM drive. Virtual CD-ROM for Windows NT is a newly released version of Virtual CD-ROM for Windows 95. For laptop and notebook users, Virtual CD-ROM provides the ability to take essential CD-ROM applications and games on the road without a CD-ROM drive. For desktop users, it makes it possible to run multiple CD-ROM applications at a time off local hard disks, and in network environments, it permits users to access multiple CD-ROM applications simultaneously off shared images stored on any file server or off one another's PCs in peer-to-peer fashion. According to the company, Virtual CD-ROM Windows NT offers the ability to access CD-ROM applications up to four times faster than from a 4X CD-ROM drive, plus the ability to store each CD-ROM application in a single container file on the hard drive to easy management. Suggested retail price for the product is set at $69.95.
(Logicraft Information Systems, Inc., 22 Cotton Road, Nashua, NH 03063; 603/880-0300; Fax 603/880-7229; http://www.logicraft.com)

New Imaging Packages from Intrafed and ALOS

Intrafed, Inc. announced the release of StageWorks 3.2, which adds numerous enhancements to prior additions of the software. The release gives users of all three StageWorks products--Office, Production, and Industrial--a broad assortment of new features, including a visual basic stage that allows users to create, modify, and customize their own imaging stages to fit their particular business needs; a format bridge scripting tool so that users can tailor the export format of images, text, and data to meet individual requirements; and software barcode recognition for reading barcodes from images. The upgrade also includes the ability to do software image cleanup, Windows NT and Novell 4.1 server support, reporting tools, and oversized image viewing. Prices for the three software packages run from about $5000 to $75,000, depending on the configuration users need.
(Intrafed, Inc., 1151 Seven Locks Road, Building A, Potomac, MD 20854; 301/315-0240)

ALOS has introduced CDMAKER, a new module for the DocuWare electronic document management system that enables users to store DocuWare documents on recordable CDs. No additional recording software is required. The core product is DocuWare 3.1a, which is a modular software product that organizes, stores, retrieves, displays, prints, and faxes documents. CDMAKER is an optional module that increases DocuWare users' storage media choices and gives access to the numerous benefits of CD-based document storage. Documents recorded on CD using CDMAKER can be accessed as an integrated part of a DocuWare 3.1a file cabinet storage solution. Additionally, CDMAKER offers the option of recording a document retrieval engine, entitled CDREQUEST, on each CD along with the document images and indexing information, which turns each CD into a portable, self-running document retrieval solution. Documents retrieved using CDREQUEST can be displayed, printed, and faxed from any Windows PC with a CD-ROM drive. The DocuWare software, which operates under Microsoft Windows 3.1, Windows 95, or Windows NT and is available for either standalone or LAN environments, is $3600 for a single-user license. The price of the CDMAKER module is $3000. (ALOS, 118 Bracken Road, Montgomery, NY 12549; 914/457-4400; Fax 914/457-9083)

DVD Players, Kits, and Software Beginning to Emerge

Akai Electric Co., Ltd. is the world's fourth company to enter the DVD market by developing an original DVD player, following Matsushita Electronic Industrial Co., Ltd., Toshiba Corporation, and Pioneer Electronic Corporation. Akai is planning a monthly output capacity for the DV-P1000 DVD player to reach 50,000 units, depending on market reception. The suggested retail price in Japan is under $700 per unit. Features of the Akai DVD player include a brushless spindle motor, high-quality design for both compressed PCM and linear PCM using 8X over-sampling and 20-bit DAC, intro scan (which plays a few seconds of each video chapter's beginning), a dimmer control with three display brightness settings, an icon display, and a remote control.
(Akai Electric Co., Ltd., 12-14 Higashi-Kojiya, 2-Chome, Ohta-ku, Tokyo 144; 03 (3745) 9880; Fax 03 (3745) 9560; http://www.semi-tech.com)

Creative Technology Ltd. has developed a new line of DVD solutions for the PC consumer. As with Creative's sound Blaster multimedia kits, the new DVD-ROM kits will provide a complete solution that includes a DVD-ROM drive, AC-3 audio, an MPEG-2 video card, and bundled software. "DVD is opening up tremendous opportunities for title developers, multimedia vendors, and content providers to deliver an exciting new entertainment medium for PCs," said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO of Creative. The new kits are priced starting at $499.
(Creative Labs, Inc., 1901 McCarthy Boulevard, Milpitas, CA 95035; 408/428-6600; Fax 408/432-6706)

Wired, Inc. introduced free DVD playback software for its MasonX PowerMac MPEG playback board. Working closely with Apple Computer Inc. and IBM Microelectronics, the MasonX MPEG card capabilities are extended to decode and view from DVD. MasonX started shipping in September 1996 as a general purpose MPEG-2 audio and video decoder for PowerMac computers. MasonX was designed to address the current MPEG formats in use, but for future formats as well. This latest upgrade adds DVD optimized drivers and AC-3 audio support. MasonX can now play back DVD movies from either computer DVD-ROM drives or from DVD streams via a hard disk, standard CD-ROM drive, or a computer network. MasonX can read DVD streams, transport streams, program streams, decode MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video, MPEG stereo audio, and AC-3 audio with surround sound. The MasonX MPEG card is available for $899.
(Wired Incorporated, 1040-155 Grant Road Building 155, Mountain View, CA 94040; 415/969-9300; http://wiredinc.com)

RECORD AND REWRITE

Rumbles from the Bundles: New CD-R Packages from Ricoh, Addonics, ACS

The CD Replicator, Ricoh Corporation's new 2X write/4X read CD-Recordable bundle, marks the first bundled version of Ricoh's 1420C CD recorder released under the company's nameplate, although not the first configuration of this model to enter the CD-R hardware/software market. The CD Replicator package, which retails for $499, includes the internal Ricoh drive in its 2MB buffer configuration, plus Adaptec's EasyCD Pro CD-R software and ArcSoft Studio's Photostudio photo editing tool. The half-height, SCSI-2 recorder can be mounted horizontally or vertically and is plug-and-play compatible with Windows 95.
(Ricoh Consumer Products Group, 475 Lillard Drive, Sparks, NV 89434; 800/225-1899, 702/352-1600; Fax 702/352-1615; http://www.ricohcpg.com)

Addonics Technologies has also announced a new 2X write/4X read CD-Recordable solution. The aptly named External CD Recorder combines Sony's external CDU 924 with Addonics' proprietary parallel port interface and CeQuadrat's WinOnCD To Go CD-Recordable software. The drive features running optimum power control (OPC) for enhanced write reliability and quality, and supports major writing modes and CD formats. Designed for use with systems running DOS, Windows 3.1, and Windows 95 and NT, the Addonics External CD Recorder lists for $899.
(Addonics Technologies, 48434 Milmont Drive, Fremont, CA 94538; 510/438-6530; Fax 510/353-2020; http://www.addonics.com)

ACS Innovations, Inc., has also announced a new recordable bundle, the COMPRO CD-Recording Kit, which packages Matsushita's 2X write/4X read half-height internal drive with an Adaptec SCSI-2 card, SCSI cable, and Elektroson's Gear CD-Recordable software. The Kit carries a suggested retail price of $499, with a $50 mail-in coupon that brings the price down to $449.
(ACS Innovations, Inc., 3171 Jay Street, Santa Clara, CA 95054-3308; 408/566-0900; Fax 408/566-0909; http://www.acscompro.com)

Duplicator Doings at Multi Media Replication, MediaFORM, Cedar, and Solstice

Multi Media Replication Ltd has announced the Millennium CD Copier, a standalone disc copying system that pairs an 8X Plextor CD-ROM drive with Yamaha's quad speed CD recorder. Multimedia Replication also sells an 25-disc autoloader designed to complement the Millennium system. Millennium, a 14-pound, self-contained desktop unit, lists for $4995.
(Multi Media Replication Ltd, Unit 4, Balksbury Estate, Balksbury Hill, Upper Clatford, Andover, Hampshire SP11 7LW, U.K.; +44/1264-336330; Fax +44/1264-336694; http://www.replication.com)

A new "one-button" CD copier in the duplication market is CD2CD, a standalone system from MediaFORM. CD2CD pairs Plextor's 4Plex quad speed recorder with Yamaha's quad speed CDR 100 CD recorder, and can be extended to work in tandem with MediaFORM's 25-disc autoloader system and with Jaz and hard drives. CD2CD offers a Track Extraction feature, which benefits audio producers with the ability to mix and record tracks from various discs for customized applications. CD2CD retails for $3995.
(MediaFORM, 400 Eagleview Boulevard, Suite 104, Exton, PA 19341; 610/458-9200, 800/220-1215; Fax 610/458-9554; http://www.mediaform.com)

Cedar Technologies has also weighed in with a low-run disc production product, in integrated CD duplication system called the Desktop CD-R Publisher. The Publisher combines a 50-disc autoloader, 4X Yamaha recorder, 8X Plextor CD-ROM drive for disc verification, and a Fargo CD printer. The system also incorporates Cedar's proprietary Ionized CD Cleaning system to insure a dust-free recording surface, and is supported in autoloader and printer control features of several CD-R software tools, including Creative Digital Research's HyCD for Windows 95, Astarte's Toast CD-ROM Pro for Macintosh, Isomedia's Buzzsaw for Windows NT, and Smart Storage's SmartWrite for Novell and Windows NT. Macintosh-specific versions bundle Toast, while current Windows systems will package HyCD; all basic configurations of the Desktop CD-R Publisher carry a suggested retail price of $5995.
(Cedar Technologies, 7400 Metro Boulevard, Suite 100, Edina, MN 55439; 612/893-2934; Fax 612/835-1867; http://www.cedar-tech.com)

Solstice Technologies, Ltd. has released a 50-disc CD duplicator of its own, the AutoRecorder Series 500. The "base model" in the series combines a 4X read/4X write TEAC CD recorder and CD-Recordable software and lists for "under $10,000," according to Solstice's Dave Hersk. The next-tier Model 502 adds a Pentium 133 PC running Windows 95, color monitor, 50 CD-R discs, a 1.2GB hard drive, and a 4X read/2X write recorder; the next model up the line, the 504, is identical to the 502 except that its second recorder has 4X write capability. Model 522 is optimized for high-end audio production and add a 2.1GB hard drive and Sound Blaster to the bundled Pentium PC, plus audio editing software, Corel's Draw 6 graphics tool, Adaptec's CD Creator CD-R software, a thermal transfer printer with 100-page autoloader, features a 2X/4X writer/recorder as its second drive. Model 524 is identical to Model 522 except its second recorder is a 2X/4X drive, and is the highest priced of the bunch, with an estimated price tag of "under $15,000."
(Solstice Technologies, Ltd., 7416 Washington Avenue S., Eden Prairie, MN 55344; 612/941-4755; Fax 612/903-5235; solstice@wavetech.net)

Microtech Extends Duplication Reach with Disc Analyzer and Disc Handler

Microtech's other new entry is ImageAutomator, an automated CD-R media handling system, Carrying a base price of $12,000 and targeted at multimedia developers, audio industry professionals, and corporate duplication tasks, the ImageAutomator system is a modular, six-station processor designed to accommodate CD-R duplication, verification, and printing tasks. Each system comes with one input/output module and one drive module--each with a 200-disc capacity--and up to four additional stations can be appended to accept CD-ROM drives, recorders, and printers. The ImageAutomator offers full compatibility with MicroTech's ImageMaker CD-R duplication system, and multiple ImageAutomator units can be run from a single ImageMaker system.

(MicroTech Conversion Systems, 2 Davis Drive, Belmont, CA 94004-3002; 800/223-3693, 415/596-1900; Fax 415/596-1915; http://www.microtech.com)

PD/CD Rewritable Scene Gets New Drive from Addonics, New Media from Maxell

The External Rewritable Optical and CD-ROM Drive, a new optical drive from Addonics Technologies, combines PD rewritable media reading and writing capability with 4X CD-ROM reading. Like all Addonics optical drives, the new model is an external unit that connects to a PC's parallel printer port, and includes recording software plus driver software for use with systems running DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows NT. The Addonics External Rewritable Optical and CD-ROM Drive carries a suggested retail price of $599.99 and is expected to bring a street price of $499.99.
(Addonics Technologies, 48434 Milmont Drive, Fremont, CA 94538; 510/438-6530; Fax 510/353-2020; http://www.addonics.com)

Also new on the PD scene is a new line of phase-change media from Maxell Corporation, the PD 650MB optical disk, designed for reading, writing, and rewriting in PD drives. The new disks carry a suggested retail price of $59 per disk, while street pricing is expected to settle around $45.
(Maxell Corporation, 22-08 Route 208, Fair Lawn, NJ 07410; 800/533-2836, 201/794-5900; Fax 201/796-8790; http://www.maxell.com)

Cheyenne Zaps Backup Software Market with CD-Ready Tool

http://www.cheyenne.com

MASTERING, REPLICATION, & PACKAGING

Quixote Corporation Sells DMI to Cinram

http://www.discmfg.com

Nobler and Trace Merge into Trace Optical

Multi Media Masters & Machinery Opens Factory in Minneapolis

TECH & TOOLS

Audio

Sonic Foundry unveiled Sound Forge 4.0a, an update to the digital sound editing program which now includes support for ActiveMovie audio plug-ins. Sonic Foundry also released the CD Architect Plug-In, for creating Red Book audio CDs, and the Acoustics Modeler Plug-In, which imprints acoustic responses into sound files. (608/256-3133)

Voxware, Inc. introduced the MetaSound family of audio codecs: the 7 AC8, an 8kbps audio codec encoding at a 4KHz audio bandwidth, and the 7 AC10, a 10Kbps audio codec, encoding at a 5.5KHz audio bandwidth. (609/514-4100)

Authoring/Developing Software & Tools

InstallShield Corporation launched DemoShield 5.1, an upgrade of the interactive demo authoring tool which offers a modified Build Action Wizard. (800/374-4353)

Sheridan Software Systems, Inc. announced ActiveThreeD, a set of 32-bit ActiveX controls which allows developers to create applications with an Internet/Intranet look and feel. (516/753-0985)

WexTech Systems, Inc. is shipping the Documentation Studio, a suite of authoring tools and utilities, including Doc-To-Help 2.1, Helpsite 1.5, Quicture 2.0, Smooth Scaling 2.0, Setup Wizard 2.0, Lotus ScreenCam and ScreenCam 97, and ClickBook. (212/949-9595)

Broadband/Telephony

Graphics Accelerators & Chips

http://www.diamondmm.com

Jaton Corporation launched VideoMagic 128, a 128-bit dual channel multimedia engine capable of achieving up to 1GB/sec bandwidth. (408/942-9888)

Number Nine Visual Technology Corp. announced the Imagine 128 Series 2-8MB, a 128-bit 2D/3D graphics processor with MPEG playback via a 256-bit video engine, and 8MB EDO VRAM. (617/674-0009)

Graphics and Animation Tools

Extensis Corporation unveiled PhotoTools 1.0 for Adobe Photoshop, a collection of productivity tools and special effects for Photoshop, including PhotoText, PhotoShadow, and PhotoTips. (503/274-2020)

Fractal Design Corporation is shipping Poser 2 for Macintosh, a 3D modeling and rendering application for creating a variety of poseable body figures. The upgrade includes animation, new characters with clothing, and the ability to add props. (800/846-0111)

Networking

NEC Computer Systems Division, a division of Packard Bell NEC, Inc., introduced the ProServa V Plus, a scalable server designed for workgroup and Internet applications, available with either one or two 120MHz or 200MHz Pentium processors. (415/528-6000)

Online/Web Publishing Tools

Apple Computer, Inc. unveiled version 1.1 of its multiplatform QuickTime plug-in, which includes a new URL Hot Spot feature, allowing Webmasters to use HTML embedded tags to link clickable hotspots inside a Quicktime VR environment. (408/996-1010)

Blue Sky Software Corporation announced version 1.0 of Web Doctor, a Web-site diagnostic tool which automatically checks all the links of an Intranet/Internet Web site. (619/459-6365)

Extensis Corporation introduced CyberViewer for Netscape Navigator, a freeware utility that maintains a visual history of locations users have visited on the Web. Extensis also released CyberPress for QuarkXPress, an authoring tool for repurposing existing QuarkXPress content for the Web. (503/274-2020)

Frontier Technologies is shipping CyberSearch 3.0, an information manager and search engine for Intranets, the Internet, and the local desktop. (520/797-0583)

InterCAP Graphics Systems Inc. introduced ActiveCGM Author, ActiveCGM Runtime, and ActiveCGM Browser, a suite of products designed for use in the electronic distribution of technical graphics via the Internet or corporate Intranets. (410/224-2926)

NetObjects, Inc. announced Fusion 2.0, a Web authoring program with over 100 new features and 25 new SiteStyles, including SiteImport, to import an existing local or online site and enhance it, and NetObjects BBS, a threaded message board. (415/482-3251)

Rad Network Devices launched the Web Server Director, a virtual routing device that distributes users over multiple duplicated Internet servers. (888/234-5763)

Thunder & Lightning Company unveiled Web Factory Author 3.0, a personal Web page authoring tool with WYSIWYG and HTML simultaneous editing, image import, and conversions. (888/826-3520)

Storage

Micro Design International Inc. (MDI) announced its SCSI Express 2.6GB magneto optical series, SE2600SM, with Direct Overwrite and a data transfer rate of up to 4.5MB/sec. (800/228-0891)

StreamLogic is shipping the Hammer Ultra SCSI-3 SledgeHammer*Pro10K disk array, available in two-, four-, and eight-bay removable configurations, and with storage capacities ranging from 8GB to 69GB. (415/325-4392)

Utilities

Elan Computer Group, Inc. unveiled License Express, a utility to protect application software from unauthorized duplication and use over the Internet. (415/964-2200)

Video/MPEG

ITT Intermetall announced the VPX 3225D video decoder chip with Teletext, which enables the chip to acquire and display VPS, Closed Caption, NABTS (Intercast), Antiope, WST Teletext, and other data services. (+49-761-517-0)

Wired, Inc. and MojoSoft, Ltd. introduced new MPEG playback plug-ins for Macromedia Director, Netscape Navigator, and mFactory mTropolis. (415/969-9300)

Videoconferencing

VRML & Java

RandomNoise Inc. unveiled Coda, a Java Web site builder that includes an object-oriented approach to Web page design and WYSIWYG output on Java-compatible Web browsers. (415/437-0321)

PEOPLE & DEALS

Alliances & Licenses

Compaq Computer Corporation announced an alliance with the Cheyenne division of Computer Associates International, Inc. to jointly develop, market, and support enterprise-class storage management solutions. Compaq also signed an agreement with multipoint, multimedia conference technology vendor VideoServer, Inc. to deliver audiographics collaboration and videoconferencing solutions. (281/514-0484)

Creative Labs, Inc., a subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd., announced an agreement with Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, Inc. to develop, supply, and market high-speed communications products. Creative also entered partnerships with four online technology companies, Progressive Networks, Total Entertainment Network, VDOnet Corp., and Wave Systems Corp. (408/428-6600)

DataChannel Corp. and OpenConnect Systems, Incorporated signed an agreement to jointly develop a content-centric, secure mainframe Internet/Intranet integration. (206/462-1999)

Microsoft Corp. announced it has signed an agreement with Mediamatics Inc., an MPEG software solutions provider, to bring DVD playback to the Microsoft ActiveMove API. Microsoft also entered into a partnership with SGS-Thomson Microelectronics to add hardware DVD support to the ActiveMovie platform. (206/882-8080)

SilverPlatter Information and KR SourceOne announced an agreement to provide document delivery services to Internet subscribers of SilverPlatter's electronic databases. (617/769-2599)

Truevision announced a development agreement with Toshiba Corporation to incorporate a new digital video interface for the transmission of compressed serial digital video within broadcast and post-production environments--Digital Video Compressed Serial--into Truevision's TARGA family of videographics solutions. (800/522-8783)

WebTV Networks, Inc. signed an agreement with Fujitsu Ltd. to establish a television-based Internet service in Japan. (415/326-5277)

Distribution Deals

Apple Computer has signed an agreement to distribute Silicon Graphics, Inc.'s Cosmo Player Browser as the default VRML 2.0 browser for the Apple Internet Connection Kit. (408/996-1010)

C-Cube Microsystems announced that Hyundai Corporation has licensed the C-Cube brand for their C-Cube technology-based VideoCD players. (408/944-6300)

Mortice Kern Systems, Inc. (MKS) has signed an agreement with Siemens Nixdorf Informationssystems AG to ship the MKS Toolkit, which has more than 200 UNIX commands and utilities, with the SNI Scenic-Celsius NT. (519/884-2251)

Panasonic Industrial Company USA announced that IBM is shipping Panasonic's 6X PD/CD-ROM drive in the PC 365 models of IBM's new Commercial Desktop computer line. (800/742-8086)

Sega of America, Inc. announced that 1,100 of its Sega Saturn Net Link Internet-ready videogame consoles will be used to connect students to the Internet in collaboration with Projectneat, Inc., a non-profit organization that donates Internet tools and services to American schools. (415/508-2800)

Mergers & Acquisitions

Gartner Group, Inc. announced an agreement to purchase 40 percent of Fox Industries, an Internet-content provider and Web solutions company based in Connecticut. (203/964-0096)

InnovaCom, Inc., a designer, developer, and manufacturer of semiconductor products for video and communications using MPEG-2 compression technology, has signed a letter of intent to acquire Antenna Technology Communications, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of satellite systems. (408/395-1161)

MetaTools, Inc. announced an agreement to acquire Real Time Geometry Corp., which specializes in real-time, 3D graphics and visualization technologies. (805/566-6200)

Microtest, Inc. announced the acquisition of Logicraft Information Systems, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of enterprise CD-ROM networking systems. (602/952-6400)

N-TK (Entertainment Technology), Inc. announced that it has acquired budget CD-ROM publisher Essex Interactive Media (310/403-0039) Voyetra Technologies and Turtle Beach Systems announced a definitive agreement merging the companies and creating Voyetra Technologies, Inc. (914/966-0600)

Zoran Corporation, a developer of integrated circuits and software for digital video and audio applications enabled by compression, announced that it has merged with CompCore Multimedia, Inc., an MPEG1 and MPEG2 video and audio hardware designer. (408/986-1314)

New Companies, Reorganizations, and Relocations

MarketScape, Inc. has moved to 5475 Mark Dablin Boulevard, Suite 210, Colorado Springs, CO 80918. (888/469-3223)

Megamedia Corp. has relocated to 47381 Bayside Parkway, Fremont, CA 94538. (510/623-1100)

Rimage Corporation announced administrative staff reductions at its Minneapolis facilities of approximately seven percent of its total staff. The company reports that the cuts are due primarily to the effects of the industry trend away from magnetic solutions and toward optical solutions. (800/445-8288)

Personnel

FPC, Inc., a Hollywood-based Kodak company, has named Bob Carlson as vice president, sales, recording media products. (800/235-6326)

Infosafe Systems, Inc. has named Arthur R. Medici as president and chief executive officer. (212/867-7200)

The One-Off CD Shops International named Patrick Smith as national sales manager. (801/531-7585)

PaceWorks, Inc. appointed Marcos Sanchez as director of marketing and sales. (415/855-0900)

Planet Digital Network Technologies named Tom Adamek to the post of president. (217/384-2050)

Sterling Software appointed Michael C. Downs as vice president of sales for the Storage Management Division. (800/854-4011)

FACTS, FIGURES, & FINDINGS

DVD-Video Players Projected to Sell 820,000 Units In First Year.

DVD-Video players are expected to sell 820,000 in their first year on the market, appealing primarily to high-end home theater enthusiasts, according to InfoTech's "DVD Assessment, Second Edition." (802/763-2097)

NEC and Sony CD-ROM Drives Share Business Market

Gallup's Benchmark brand-preference poll of the most widely used CD-ROM drives in business found large corporate users choosing NEC Technologies Inc. over Sony Electronics Corp. 22 percent to 18 percent. Midsize and small companies picked Sony as tops, however, with midsize businesses choosing Sony 17 percent to NEC's 16 percent, and small companies picking Sony over NEC seven percent to five percent. (800/288-8593)

Japanese Companies Produced 73 Percent of CD-ROM Drives in 1995

The International Recording Media Association reported that the five largest producers of CD-ROM drives in 1995 were all Japanese companies, accounting for 72.9 percent of all drives produced that year; but 95 percent of these drives were manufactured in parts of Asia outside of Japan. (609/279-1700)

CD-R Disc Drive Growth Forecasted to Wane by 2000

John Freeman, president of Strategic Marketing Decisions, reported at the 8th Annual Magnetic and Optical Media Seminar that he expected CD-R disc drive unit sales to rocket from an estimated 750,000 in 1996 to 2 million in 1998, and then drop off to about 500,000 by 2000. He also expects CD-R disc sales to climb from 50 million in 1996 to about 400 million by 2000. (408/395-5159)

$2.6 Billion Expected to be Spent on European Web Technology by 2005

Internet and Intranet-based training and education will be the focus of an expected expenditure of U.S. $2.6 billion on European Web technology by 2005, according to Datamonitor's report "Technology in Training and Education--Internets, Intranets, and Video. (212/661-2525)

53 Percent of U.S. Homes Will Have PCs by 2001

Forrester Research reported in "Unlocking PC Potential" that 53 percent of U.S. households will have personal computers by 2001, up from the current 38 percent home penetration rate. (617/497-7090)

Majority of U.S. Households Don't Plan to Hop on Internet Television Bandwagon

Despite the release of new products that allow access to the Internet via the television, 93 percent of American households polled for Dataquest's "Internet Television--The Next Boom or a Repeat of the Interactive Television Disaster?" said they have no plans to purchase Internet-enabled televisions or set-top boxes at any time. (408/468-8312)

Household Web Surfing Doubles 1995's Numbers

In the last months of 1996, an estimated 11 million households surfed the Web, more than double the 4.3 million in the same period for 1995, according to the quarterly "National Survey of Hardware Ownership" from PC-Meter L.P. (516/625-2302)

TOP TEN CD-ROM TITLES

THE CD-R INDEX

Vendors, please submit additions, updates, or corrections to Hugh Bennett, EMedia Professional contributing editor at 519/474-3466; Fax 519/474-3467; CompuServe--73144,1631.

THE CD-ROM DRIVE INDEX

Addonics

Portable 12X CD-ROM Drive, DOS 3.0, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, OS/2, 12X, EPP or SPP, 125ms, SRP $449, December 1996.

Portable 8X CD-ROM Drive, DOS 3.0, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, OS/2, 8X, EPP or SPP, 140ms, SRP $299, August 1996.

Altec Lansing

Automated Systems Methodologies

Gator GDO4380 8X Ultralite, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, UNIX, EPP, 8X, 135ms, SRP $419, July 1996.

Gator GDO4326 6X Combo, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Macintosh, UNIX, EPP/SCSI/Parallel Port/PCMCIA, 6X, 150ms, SRP $449, December 1995.

Gator GDO4325 4X EPP/SCSI Combo, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Macintosh, UNIX, SCSI/Parallel Port/PCMCIA, 4X, 195ms, SRP $419, January 1995.

Axonix

ProMedia 8XR, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 8X, ATAPI, 195ms, SRP $399, July 1996.

ProMedia 6XR, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 6X, ATAPI, 195ms, SRP $385, March 1996.

ProMedia 4XR, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 4X, ATAPI, 195ms, SRP $369, November 1995.

ProMedia 4XP, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 4X, Parallel Port, 195ms, SRP $369, November 1995.

CMS Enhancements

Platinum Portable CDPC6X, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, PCMCIA, 6X, 250ms, SRP $399, July 1996.

Platinum Portable CDPC4X, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Macintosh, PCMCIA, 4X, 250ms, SRP $349, April 1996.

Computer Connections America

CD Shuttle P/N CDS-8X-PS, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Macintosh, Windows NT, OS/2, SCSI/Parallel Port, 8X, 115ms, SRP $399, November 1996.

CD Shuttle P/N CDS-8X-P, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, OS/2, Parallel Port/PCMCIA, 8X, 115ms, SRP $249, October 1996.

Fidelity International Technologies

Micro Solutions

Backpack 166700, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, EPP, Sound Card, 8X, 180ms, SRP $499, August 1996.

Backpack 164700, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Parallel Port, Sound Card, 4X, 250ms, SRP $349, July 1995.

Backpack 164550, DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Parallel Port, 4X, 250ms, SRP $239, July 1995.

Panasonic

KXL-783M, Sound and Speakers, Window 3.1/3.11, Windows 95, PCMCIA, 8X, 180ms, SRP $499, November 1996.

KXL-D745, Speaker and Sound Card, Window 3.1/3.11, Windows 95, PCMCIA, 4X, 295ms, SRP $399, January 1996.

KXL-D740, Windows 3.1/3.11, Windows 95, PCMCIA, 4X, 295ms, SRP $249, November 1995.

KXL-D742, Macintosh, 4X, 295ms, SCSI, SRP $249, December 1995.

Sony Electronics

PRD-650MC, Macintosh, SCSI, 6X, 280ms, SRP $349.99, November 1996.

PRD-250mc, Macintosh, SCSI, 4X, 250ms, SRP $249.99, July 1996.

Vendors, please submit additions, updates, or corrections to The CD-ROM Drive Index, EMedia Professional, 649 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 4, Cambridge MA 02139; Fax 617/492-3159; kirkk@onlineinc.com.

CONFERENCE CALENDAR

March 1997

• 1-5 SPA's 1997 Spring Symposium (San Diego, CA; Software Publishers Association; 202/452-1600, Ext. 111)
• 2-6 Object World East (Boston, MA; Object World Corporation; 617/433-1830)
• 3-5 The ACM97 Conference (San Jose, CA; ACM97 Registration; 800/342-6626)
• 3-5 Consumer Online Services IV (New York, NY; Jupiter Communications; 800/488-4345)
• 3-5 Visual C++ Developers Conference (Orlando, FL; Visual C++ Developers Journal; 206/443-8004)
• 3-7 Object-Oriented Rapid Application Development Workshop (Boston, MA; DCI; 508/470-3880)
• 4-6 Computer Telephony Expo 97 (Los Angeles, CA; Computer Telephony 97; 212/691-8215)
• 8-11 1997 SXSW Multimedia/Interactive Festival (Austin, TX; SXSW Headquarters; 512/467-7979)
• 9-12 Support Services Conference & Expo (Nashville, TN; Softbank Expos; 415/578-5900)
• 10-12 Computers in Libraries (Arlington, VA; Information Today, Inc.; 609/654-6266)
• 10-14 Internet World (Los Angeles, CA; MecklerMedia; 203/226-6967)
• 13-15 Graphic Arts 97/The Charlotte Show (Charlotte, NC; Graphic Arts Show Company, Inc.; 703/264-7200)
• 13-15 REPLItech Europe (Barcelona, Spain; Knowledge Industry Publications, Inc.; 914/328-9157; 13-19 CeBIT '97: World Business Center--Office, Information & Telecommunications (Hannover, Germany; Hannover Fairs USA, Inc.; 609/987-1202)
• 16-18 ASIDIC 1997 Spring Meeting (New Orleans, LA; ASIDIC; 706/542-6820)
• 16-18 London International Book Fair (London, England; Reed Exhibition Companies; 203/840-5313)
• 18-20 FOSE 97 (Washington, DC; Reed Exhibition Companies; 800/791-3673)
• 18-20 Internet & Electronic Commerce Conference & Exposition (New York, NY; Expocon Management Associates, Inc.; 203/256-4700)
• 18-21 European Business Information Conference (Berlin, Germany; TFPL, Ltd.; 212/213-5990)
• 19-23 ITA's 27th Annual Seminar (Tucson, AZ; The International Recording Media Association; 609/279-1700)
• 22-27 Chi97 (Atlanta, GA; ACM SIGCHI; 800/342-6626)
• 24-26 Interop DotCom (San Jose, CA; Softbank Expos; 415/578-5900)

April 1997

• Computer Game Developers Conference (Santa Clara, CA; Miller Freeman, Inc.; 415/905-2784)
• 2-4 JavaOne (San Francisco, CA;) Softbank Expos; 415/578-5900)
• 7-10 NAB 97 & NAB Multimedia World (Las Vegas, NV; NAB 97 Registration; 800/342-2460)
• 7-11 ACM Hypertext 97 (Southampton, United Kingdom; ACM; 800/342-6626)
• 8-10 CD-R and CD-ROM Quality Seminar (Los Angeles, CA; Media Sciences, Inc.; 508/695-2934)
• 8-10 The DCI Data Warehouse Conference (San Jose, CA; DCI; 800/DCI-EXPO)
• 8-10 WinHEC 97 (San Francisco, CA; Microsoft Corporation; 800/254-5509)
• 8-11 Multimedia 97 (Poznan, Poland; Poznan International Fair Ltd.; +48 61 69 25 92)
• 14-16 ICCC/IFIP Conference on Electronic Publishing--New Models and Opportunities (Canterbury, Great Britain; ICCC/IFIP; +44-1509-223039)
• 14-17 AIIM 97 (New York, NY; Association for Information and Image Management; 800/477-2466)
• 21-25 Seybold Seminars╩(New York, NY; Softbank Expos; 415/578-5900)
• 24-27 Multimedia China 97 (Beijing, China; Seventh Wave; 818/353-8652)
• 28-30 EC/EDI 97 (Baltimore, MD; Data Interchange Standards Association, Inc.; 800/217-6113)

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