Argus Technologies announces MapGuide - Innovative new site debuts billboards for the information highway; new site does for on-line maps and billboard advertising what PointCast does for news and stock market information.

CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 29, 1996--Argus Technologies Inc. announced the opening of its new site at http://www.mapguide.com, the most exciting and interactive site yet to feature maps on the Internet. Complete with Interactive Web Sites, Classified Advertising, and fully interactive Billboards, the MapGuide introduces users to a whole new on- line experience.

The MapGuide site was developed using Argus's MapGuide Authoring, Serving, and Viewing Software for the Internet and corporate Intranets (see press release this date). The MapGuide Viewer Plug-In (designed for Netscape Navigator Version 2.0 or later), can be downloaded and used free of charge to access the MapGuide site.

The MapGuide site features rich and dynamic maps of the United States, Canada, and the World at varying levels of detail. Argus has teamed with leading cartographic and demographic data providers Business Location Research, Urban Decision Systems, American Digital Cartography Inc., and Compusearch Micromarketing Data and Systems to populate the new demo site with the most up to date and accurate maps and data available.

Users must download the free MapGuide Viewer in order to access the site and view the maps. Once they have done that, they can use the MapGuide Viewer to explore the high level of detail published in the maps, and even add to the maps on-line.

The US map includes a wealth of information down to and including streets, parks, schools, with complete coverage right across the country. And, three interactive layers allow anyone to add their web site, a classified ad, or an interactive billboard anywhere within the boundaries of the map. For example, you could advertise a weekend garage sale at your house by placing a billboard on the map, located at your house. That billboard would then automatically be displayed whenever anyone else using the MapGuide Viewer zooms to within a few miles of your house.

Users can also place web sites and classified ads on the maps. "The map becomes a visual guide for exploring the Web", says Rod Munro, President of Argus Technologies. It provides a geographic or location context to exploring the web that hasn't existing before the introduction of the Argus technology.

Another map published at the MapGuide site demonstrates some very exciting capabilities. In the "US Reports On Call" map, users can zoom in on an area, viewing progressively smaller levels of census geography (states, counties, census tracts, census block groups). After finding a neighborhood, street address, or area of interest, they can select the census block groups or tracts surrounding that particular area. They can then request and receive one of several detailed reports about the area on-line. A free report summarizes 1990 census information for the selected area. Users can select more complete reports with detailed information forecasted to the year 2005, and pay for these reports on-line.

The same software that Argus is using to operate the MapGuide site is available for license from Argus. Information about the MapGuide Server, the MapGuide Author, and the MapGuide Viewer can be viewed at Argus's corporate web site at http://www.argusmap.com. And the best news is, the MapGuide Viewer is free to end-users. That means that the MapGuide Viewer can be used by anyone who wants to access maps and information published on-line by companies using Argus's MapGuide Server and MapGuide Author.

"We're a GIS (geographic information systems) software company", continues Munro. "But as we developed our technology for the Internet, we became convinced that we needed a site to showcase the software. We ended up building the most complete mapping site seen to date on the web."

The site is already paying dividends for the company. Attracted by the MapGuide site, companies are licensing the MapGuide technology to build their own map sites to publish a variety of information on-line.

MapGuide provides an innovative solution to the problem of advertising on the web. "We can provide billboards specific to locations all across the country", says Munro. "And, the number of billboards we can support is almost unlimited, since our landscape is the size of the virtual United States and the world itself." "The billboards are exposed based on the user's interactive navigation (zooming and panning) in our maps. That's a natural way of linking advertising content to a user's preferences. We think that in itself adds an interesting new dimension to web navigation and exploration."

Technical Notes: The MapGuide Author, MapGuide Server, and MapGuide Viewer products allow the creation, management, publishing, and viewing over the Internet of intelligent vector-based maps in an integrated and standards conforming environment with existing HTML browsers and servers. The MapGuide Viewer Plug-In Version 2.0 supports open connectivity to MapGuide Servers for customers using a Netscape browser Version 2.0 or higher. Versions for Microsoft Windows Version 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows NT are available today. Support for Microsoft Explorer and the Apple MacIntosh is planned for later this summer. MapGuide Server supports Windows NT Advanced Server and is available for both Intel and DEC Alpha platforms using Netscape's Communications or Commerce Server, or O'Reilly's Website Server. MapGuide Author supports Windows 95 and Windows NT and is available for Intel platforms.

Argus Technologies Inc. is headquartered at 2800, 645-7 Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 4G8, Canada Telephone: [phone], Fax: [phone], email: [e-mail]. MapGuide, MapGuide Server, MapGuide Author, and MapGuide Viewer are all trademarks of Argus Technologies Inc.

Argus Technologies Inc. is a leading provider of geographic information systems and innovative spatial technologies to multiple industries. -0-

Note to Editor: MapGuide, MapGuide Author, MapGuide Server, MapGuide Viewer are trademarks of Argus Technologies Inc. Netscape Navigator is a registered trademark of Netscape Communications Corp. Windows 95, Windows NT, Microsoft Explorer, Windows NT Advanced Explorer, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft NT Advanced Server are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Apple Macintosh is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. O'Reilly's Website is a trademark of O'Reilly & Associates Inc. PointCast is a trademark of PointCast Incorporated. DEC Alpha is a trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation. Intel is a trademark of Intel Corporation. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

CONTACT: Rod Munro

Argus Technologies Inc.

403-294-0090

Email: [e-mail]