SRS Labs Launches SRSWOWcast.com To Broadcast Internet Music And Entertainment Programs
SRS Labs Inc. (Nasdaq: SRSL), the world's leading provider of audio and voice technologies to over 170 consumer electronics companies, including such industry giants as Sony, RCA, Pioneer, Philips, Kenwood, Samsung, Lucent, General Instrument and Sennheiser, today announced it will begin broadcasting music and other multimedia entertainment on its Internet broadcast site, http://www.SRSWOWcast.com, in January 2000 with the launch planned for CES, the nation's largest consumer electronics tradeshow. The new Web site will be the Internet's first streaming stereo and multichannel surround-sound broadcast site, with unparalleled sound quality made possible by SRS Labs' world renowned, proven and patented audio, theatre and voice enhancement technologies. The site will begin as the Internet's best sounding audio entertainment portal with features that include wide selections of music genres, interactive music communities, live concert performances, music chat lounges, audio-based infotainment, a music store and an artist colony showcasing unsigned, independent artists. Continually expanding beyond the Company's flagship WOW Thing products, SRSWOWcast.com's e-commerce offerings will include other innovative audio and video multimedia products that incorporate SRS Labs' industry-leading sound enhancement technologies. The WOW Thing Box, a cool translucent-blue consumer device designed specifically for headphones or powered speakers, including flat panel speakers or those designed for the iMac, has garnered rave reviews from high-tech industry insiders, such as ZDNet, Macworld, PC World and PC Magazine and has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, The Chicago Sun-Times and The Dallas Morning News. Both Wow Thing hardware and software are offered exclusively at http://www.wowthing.com. The Company's Internet business ventures will be focused and expedited under the umbrella of the subsidiary, SRSWOWcast.com. SRS Labs previously introduced the site and a corporate subsidiary last month as surroundmp3.com. The new name for both the site and the subsidiary reflects a broader corporate vision, expanded scope of online music and multimedia offerings, and capitalizes on brand visibility and momentum for its new WOW Thing consumer products and technology. ""Consumer and industry responses to the September launch of WOW Thing hardware and software and the WOW technology which powers the products have exceeded all of our expectations,"" said Tom Yuen, SRS Labs' Chairman and CEO. ""WOW Thing software is a terrific enhancement for MP3 on the Internet, however our WOW technology and the Internet broadcast site will encompass far more than just MP3 to enrich all audio infotainment provided over the Internet. For these reasons, we decided to rename the site and subsidiary SRSWOWcast.com,"" said Yuen. The mission of SRSWOWcast.com is to deliver, through SRS Labs' enabling audio technologies, the best sound and voice, and therefore the quality, for all entertainment provided over the Internet. A first partnership was announced earlier this month and is a cross-licensing agreement with http://WWW.COM, the industry's premier B2B music netcasting company with the Internet's largest selection of entertainment content. SRS Labs will feature http://WWW.COM's extensive music library content on http://www.SRSWOWcast.com. The Company will integrate its WOW technology to http://WWW.COM's Internet radio superstations, reaching millions of Internet broadcast listeners. Charles Cortright, founder and former CEO of Graphix Zone, will serve as Vice President and General Manager of SRSWOWcast.com. Cortright is known as an interactive entertainment pioneer who championed Graphix Zone's industry-leading multimedia products including ground-breaking and award-winning interactive CD-ROMs from Bob Dylan, Prince, Willie Nelson and Herbie Hancock. ""SRS Labs' WOW technology is going to revolutionize online music broadcasts. The potential for this technology to be used across a wide segment of Internet music sites is unlimited and we're just beginning to tap into that market,"" said Cortright. The management team is rounded out with Jennifer Drescher, who has been named Vice President of Marketing. Drescher has been with SRS Labs since the Company's inception in 1993. She most recently served as director of marketing, responsible for the September launch of the WOW Thing product line of hardware and software consumer products. According to Yuen, ""Jennifer has demonstrated an outstanding range of abilities and is truly dedicated to the success of our Internet business. I feel that her extensive industry experience and many years with SRS Labs will contribute greatly to the success of SRSWOWcast.com."" In addition to WOW, the Company will leverage its other technologies including CircleSurroundô and TruBassô for superior musical effects; and VIPô, the Company's patented Voice Intelligibility technology, to improve the quality of streaming audio for voice contents such as news and sports. ""Our goal is clear,"" said Yuen. ""We will continue to leverage our proven audio expertise, using http://www.SRSWOWcast.com to build a global online entertainment community and become the de facto standard for Internet audio enhancement technology."" About SRSWOWcast.com, Inc. SRSWOWcast.com, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of SRS Labs, Inc., a leading provider of audio and voice enhancement technology solutions. SRS Labs' business consists of licensing audio and voice enhancement technologies to manufacturers of consumer electronics, computer, gaming and telecommunications equipment; and the design, manufacture and distribution of components, integrated circuits, sub-assemblies and finished products for the consumer electronics and home entertainment markets. For more information on SRS Labs' technologies, the Company's worldwide licensing program or its design and manufacturing capabilities, visit the Company's corporate Web site at http://www.srslabs.com. For information on the Company's branded line of hardware and software products, visit http://www.wowthing.com. Source: SRS Labs Inc. Web Site: http://www.srslabs.com