RealNetworks And WebGlide Demonstrate ""Utopia,"" A Breakthrough Product That Streams High-Quality Computer Generated Video

In a significant move that will bring the benefits of high-quality computer generated video to millions of consumers, RealNetworksÆ, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK), the recognized leader in media delivery on the Internet, announced a comprehensive strategic marketing, development and distribution partnership with WebGlide, the developer of breakthrough computer generated video (CGV) technology and provider of an enhanced e-shopping solution. Under the agreement, WebGlide will integrate its CGV technology into RealNetworks' RealSystemô G2 to create a new product, code named ""Utopia,"" that delivers high quality computer generated video requiring less than 1/20th the bit rate required for conventional video. As a result, computer generated video of unprecedented quality can be streamed to any Internet user, ranging from dial-up connections to broadband. ""Utopia"" will be demonstrated publicly, for the first time, this morning during RealNetworks' CEO Rob Glaser's keynote speech at the Streaming Media West conference in San Jose, California.""High quality computer generated video has become a mainstay in Hollywood special effects for several years. Now, for the first time, 'Utopia' will bring that same fundamental technology into the Internet mainstream,"" said Rob Glaser, Chairman and CEO, RealNetworks, Inc. ""We are truly excited to be joining forces with WebGlide to integrate their ground-breaking CGV technology into RealSystem G2 and to deliver the results to tens of millions of Internet users around the world.""""We are thrilled with our alliance with RealNetworks, the pioneers and leaders of the Internet media delivery industry, who will enable us to expand the reach of our technology to millions of users"" said Tal Kerret, Co-Founder and CEO, WebGlide. ""The combination of our products, featuring patent-pending, award-winning 3D graphics technology, with RealSystem G2 will take WebGlide's CGV technology and e-commerce solutions to the next level and enable us to effectively expand our unique capabilities into exciting new application areas.""The companies also announced that RealNetworks will make a minority investment in WebGlide and that Rob Glaser will hold a seat on WebGlide's board of directors. This is the first such investment that RealNetworks has ever made.Applications For Computer Generated VideoThe RealNetworks and WebGlide solution will enable fundamentally new kinds of streaming computer generated video to be delivered over the Internet. The companies will be working together with content and application partners to create beacon applications that take advantage of this technology, such as entertainment, e-commerce, advertising, and electronic greetings.""WebGlide's technology is unique and will change the face of e-commerce,"" said Ajay Ramachandran, former E-Commerce Practice Leader for USWeb/CKS and current Vice President of Business Development & Strategic Alliances for Electron Economy - a Softbank and CrossPoint backed venture. ""The integration between RealNetworks and WebGlide is a powerful combination and will define the customer shopping experience, from narrowband to broadband connections, in the new era of immersive media.""WebGlide's Approach To Streaming Computer Generated VideoThree-dimensional computer generated video renders video of Interactive animated evironments, creating photo realistic results, which users can watch linearly or interact with, much like the real world. WebGlide has a three-pronged approach to streaming CGV; first, it enables the use of low-cost synthetic video created using standard authoring tools such as the popular Autodesk 3D Studio MAXÆ in combination with a WebGlide encoder and synchronization tool. Second, it provides high-quality streaming computer generated video with relatively little bandwidth consumption, achieved through WebGlide's compression technology which generates results 20-100 times deeper than comparable quality MPEG video streams. Finally, WebGlide delivers a new user interface paradigm - the Natural User Interface (NUI) which dramatically simplifies 3D navigation and playback.""Interactive animated environments will take the Web to a whole new level and a much broader audience,"" stated Carol Bartz, CEO of Autodesk. ""The RealNetworks and WebGlide solution will bring a new and exciting customer experience to the Internet and we are thrilled to provide the most popular 3D web animation tool for this authoring environment.""WebGlide Integration With RealSystem G2WebGlide will work with RealNetworks to integrate its computer generated video solution, via a next-generation client/server plug-in, code named ""Utopia,"" for RealSystem G2. WebGlide's CGV technology will take full advantage of the standards-based RealSystem G2 architecture, including SureStreamô for more reliable and continuous end-user playback. Customers will also be able to use Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL)-based layout for synchronizing the creation and combination of multiple data types, such as RealAudioÆ, RealVideoÆ, RealTextÆ, RealPixô and FlashÆ.AvailabilityRealNetworks and WebGlide plan to make available the beta release of ""Utopia"" for Windows and Macintosh users in the first half of 2000. The client pieces of Utopia will be available as a free download to all existing RealPlayerÆ G2 and RealPlayer 7 customers. Final naming and pricing will be announced at that time. In the interim, content developers can go to www.webglide.com to experience a browser-based version of WebGlide's CGV technology and to begin developing applications for ""Utopia.""About RealNetworksRealNetworks, Inc., based in Seattle, is the recognized leader in media delivery on the Internet. It develops and markets software products and services designed to enable users of personal computers and other consumer electronic devices to send and receive audio, video and other multimedia services using the Web. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks consumer software on the Internet at www.real.com. All RealNetworks systems and corporate information is located on the Internet at www.realnetworks.com. RealNetworks continues to maintain a strong leadership share of the streaming media market. As of December 1999, there are more than 92 million unique registered users of RealPlayer and more than 85 percent of all streaming media Web pages on the Internet use industry leading RealAudio, RealVideo, RealFlash, RealText or RealPix, and more than 350,000 hours of live RealAudio and RealVideo programming are available each week (Source: Hotbot).About WebGlideWebGlide, based in Manhattan's Silicon Alley with research and development based in Israel, is the innovator of a unique storefront solution that provides consumers with an enhanced shopping experience while enabling e-retailers to extend sophisticated brick and mortar retail tactics to their e-commerce sites. The technology powering the storefront, code name ""Utopia"", enables the creation, streaming and playback of photo-realistic and interactive environments on the Internet, using a dial-up modem

A full demonstration of the storefront, including more corporate and product information can be found at www.webglide.com.