Sonic Solutions Introduces Streaming DVDô

Sonic Solutions has revolutionized the market for streaming video applications with the introduction of Streaming DVDô, a new technology that combines the interactivity of DVD-Video with the ability to broadcast video content over the Web. Built on industry standards such as DVD-Video, MPEG-2 video and MP3 audio, Streaming DVD enables anyone with a personal computer and a high-speed Internet connection to create and broadcast interactive video from their desktop. ""Until today, video on the Internet has consisted only of individual video clips or webcasts,"" said Robert Doris, President and CEO of Sonic Solutions. ""Streaming DVD changes all that, and brings interactivity to streaming media for the first time, providing a far more engaging experience. Combined with Sonicís new PersonalBroadcastô technology, DVDit! users can even set up their own personal DVD broadcast station."" Streaming DVD makes it possible to create a video production that includes all of the interactivity of a standard DVD, yet is streamed over the Internet or a corporate intranet. Applications can include training and online courseware, product promotions, news and entertainment, and even home video production. Designed as an Internet extension to the popular DVD-Video standard, the ability to create Streaming DVD productions will be available as an optional format in all Sonic DVD authoring applications, giving users the ability to publish both for DVD-Video and the Internet using the same source content. With Streaming DVD, the high-quality MPEG-2 video used in Hollywood-style DVD-Video releases is supplemented with video in low bit-rate formats designed for Internet applications. By using the same navigation as DVD-Video, Streaming DVD retains the interactive menus and multi-language capabilities of the consumer DVD format, but adds the ability to publish and immediately access video content over the Internet. ""Streaming DVD is the best of DVD combined with the best of the Internet,"" said Barney Lee, Partner at USWeb/CKS, the worldís leading Internet professional services firm, based in San Francisco, California. ""For business-to-business applications, Streaming DVD will give us the ability to quickly create a high-quality DVD-Video master for our clients and then turn around and serve a web version of the same material almost instantly. This technology makes universal publishing of interactive video content easy."" About Streaming DVDSonicís new Streaming DVD technology includes three key components: authoring, broadcasting and playback. Streaming DVD authoring will be incorporated in Sonicís industry-leading line of DVD authoring applications, including Sonic DVD Creator, DVD Fusion and DVDit!. At the output stage of the DVD authoring process, users will have the ability to select Streaming DVD as an option in addition to DVD-Video. Streaming DVD content can be written to a hard disk or recordable DVD media, including cDVDô, the new standard for publishing DVD titles on CD recordable discs. Streaming DVD discs will play on standard set-top and PC-based players. Streaming DVD productions can be streamed from standard Internet file servers, without the need for specialized video servers at the ISP. For high-quality playback, direct from the desktop, Sonicís PersonalBroadcast technology turns Sonic DVDit! into a desktop broadcast server, so that anyone can begin publishing interactive video from their home. For playback, Streaming DVD-enabled players use standard DVD navigation commands and menu operations to deliver streamed productions just as if they were standard DVD-Video titles. Sonic plans to release Streaming DVD-enabled applications in June. The company is initiating an active licensing program for a range of technology partners including player manufacturers, Internet hosting and service providers, and content publishers. For more information, please contact Sonic at licensing@streamingdvd.com. About USWeb/CKS USWeb/CKS seeks to transform businesses in the digital economy and create sustainable market leadership for its clients. As the leading Internet professional services firm, USWeb/CKS has created a new standard for success in the digital economy - Time-to-Value. Time-to-Value means USWeb/CKS applies its extensive insight, experience and scale to deliver breakthrough results quickly. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with more than 4,500 professionals in 13 countries around the world. USWeb/CKS recently announced its intention to merge with Whittman-Hart Corporation. For additional information, visit www.uswebcks.com. About Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC)Based in Marin County, California, Sonic Solutions designs and manufactures DVD publishing and audio editing systems used by video, audio and multimedia professionals around the world. Sonic's product lines include DVD Creator, the leading system for professional DVD production; DVD Fusion, the first DVD publishing system designed for non-linear video editors; DVDit! (http://store.dvdit.com/), the easiest way to publish on DVD and the first DVD publishing application for consumers; and SonicStudio HD, the leading digital audio workstation to prepare recorded sound for release on DVD and CD. Sonic is a leader in advancing DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technology and is a full voting-member of the DVD Forum, the standards-setting body for the DVD format.