Aeon Digital Licenses Windows Media 9 Series for Its Next Generation DVD Player.

Business/Entertainment Editors

2003 International CES

HOLLYWOOD--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 2003

Aeon Digital Corp.:

-- Equator Technologies Multi-Format DVD Player Reference Design Used as Basis for Aeon Digital's Next Generation DVD Hardware Set;

-- Aeon Digital Proud to Include Polaroid as the First Distributor to License the Hardware Set

Aeon Digital Corp. has announced the availability of a Next Generation DVD Hardware Set, the first to offer support for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Media Video 9 Series encoding and playback.

The OEM hardware set that Aeon Digital has created based on the Equator BSP-15 chip will give the consumer the capability to do more than just play movies. The hardware set targets 3 market segments: DVD Player, Digital Recording and Broadband Entertainment. The hardware set has a TV tuner that enables users the ability to record their favorite television shows and gives them the capability of affordably recording digitally today. Aeon Digital's hardware set was designed around the robust feature set of Microsoft's Windows Media Video 9 Series that will enable the unit to record and play back to CDR-W 2 hours of high quality digital audio and video content.

The hardware set is Ethernet ready and will allow OEMs the power to enable consumers to stream Windows Media 9 Video content directly from the Internet and into a home entertainment center using a cable modem or DSL.

Polaroid(TM), which has announced a new line of consumer electronics at CES, has licensed Aeon Digital's Next Generation DVD Hardware set for use within their new DVD-DVR 700(TM). The Polaroid unit will begin to enter the consumer marketplace toward the later half of 2nd Quarter 2003. The suggested manufacturer's retail price will be $299.00.

Giovanni D'Andrea, CEO of Aeon Digital Corp., states, "Aeon Digital is the first company to license out a hardware set that encompasses Windows Media 9 Video encoding. We are thrilled to be working with Microsoft and Equator Technologies to deliver this new DVD hardware set that will enable the Next Generation in consumer DVD devices. We're extremely pleased that Polaroid has chosen to include our hardware set into their recently announced line of consumer electronics for distribution in North America. Using Windows Media 9 Video the future is here today."

"We are excited to provide the enabling technology for the new Aeon Digital's DVD Hardware Set. After our cooperation with Microsoft to become the first to deliver Windows Media 9 Series to the consumer set top box space last September, we are now taking the next step of enabling OEMs such as Aeon Digital to turn technology into products and get them to store shelves and living rooms," says Rich Christopher, President and CEO of Equator Technologies, Inc.

"This is an exciting step for home entertainment," said Dave Fester, general manager Windows Digital Media Division, Microsoft Corporation. "Together Aeon Digital and Equator are building on the innovations in audio and video compression with Windows Media 9 Series to tap totally new scenarios for consumers in their living rooms."

Based on the Multi-Format DVD Player Reference Design from Equator, the Aeon Digital OEM hardware set features a dual tray design:

Aeon Digital Hardware Set Player Features:

-- DVD player (SVCD, VCD, CD, MP3, WMV9)

-- CDR-W Burner capable of recording: WMV9 - 120 minutes;

VCD - 80 minutes; SVCD - 40 minutes

-- Programmable TV Tuner with Timer

-- Ethernet Port (Direct Internet Connection)

You will be able to see the Aeon Digital Hardware Set in action at the Microsoft Booth (LVCC -- South Hall 3 & 4 #29296, LVCC -- Center Hall 1 & 2 #6820), Equator Booth (LVCC -- South Hall #22197) and Polaroid Booth (LVCC -- #16625) during CES 2003.

About Aeon Digital Corp.

Aeon Digital Corp. is a privately owned company reshaping the world vision of home entertainment. Aeon Digital is positioning itself in the hardware and entertainment industry and is in the initial phase of building an Internet-based network which will deliver unlimited content from the Internet into the living room via the simple technology of "plug and play" television viewing. By combining the old technology of viewing entertainment with the new technology of digital recording, Aeon Digital is enabling consumers the choice to stream, record and play "what-they-want-when-they-want-it" on their TVs in the comfort of their living room by putting content into an actual format they can keep.

Aeon Digital is positioned to emerge as a leader in digital home entertainment within North America, Asia and Europe that will appeal to the consumer that wants an affordable alternative to "Record and Play Digitally Today!"(TM)

About Equator Technologies Inc.

Equator Technologies is a provider of high-performance, programmable and power-efficient system-on-a-chip (SoC) processors for video streaming and image processing applications. Equator offers its proprietary BSP family of chips, iMMediaTools(R) software development toolkit, media libraries and reference platforms to more than 150 customers worldwide. Equator's video-centric SoC solutions are available for digital media, digital video communications and video security and surveillance applications. Founded in 1996, Equator is a privately held company headquartered in Campbell, California, with additional offices worldwide. More information about Equator is available online at www.equator.com.