BackWeb brings personalization of the Internet to a new level; New technology enables companies to create "One to One" relationships with their customers.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 1996--Setting its sites on establishing a new medium for proactive, "one to one" online communication, BackWeb Technologies today introduced a breakthrough technology designed to fundamentally change the way companies do business and the way customers interact via the Internet. Called BackWeb, the new client/server system will enable companies to build direct, continuous relationships with customers and provide customized content based on their specific areas of interest. With BackWeb, customers will receive the information they want, delivered in the background within any active application running on their PC, so there's no need to search for it or wait for time-consuming downloads.

Unlike centralized, online information services which aggregate content from numerous sources, the patent-pending BackWeb system offers companies easy-to-use tools to create their own Internet channels. With BackWeb, companies can broadcast a wide range of customer requested information including entertainment, software downloads, news and information, and deliver it directly to targeted users based on their pre-selected areas of interest. Companies have complete control over the branding, editorial and "look and feel" of the content being delivered, utilizing a variety of compelling, multimedia formats.

"Companies on the Internet's World Wide Web are learning that posting information on their sites and hoping users will eventually stumble across it is not an effective way to market," said Eli Barkat, CEO and president of BackWeb Technologies. "With BackWeb, companies will know their message is reaching a very qualified audience because the user will have specifically requested the information."

The BackWeb Channel

By establishing a BackWeb Channel, companies of all types and sizes can create and deliver a wide variety of content to support a range of business models, including direct marketing, electronic commerce, subscriptions and sponsorships. Customized content can be delivered using a variety of presentation formats, including interactive animations, screensavers and wallpapers, called BackWeb InfoPaks. Using BackWeb InfoPaks, companies have the flexibility to broadcast to a wide audience, narrowcast to an audience segment or personalcast to an individual end user.

Customers will receive the BackWeb client free when they subscribe to a company's BackWeb Channel. Customers can select the type of information they want to receive and when they want InfoPaks displayed on their desktops. Once they subscribe, customers will automatically receive the information they want without having to waste time searching for it.

InfoPaks are transmitted in background downloads during a user's idle Internet connection time. Utilizing UDP (user datagram protocol), BackWeb's Polite Agent technology senses available bandwidth and downloads files incrementally when the user is not actively using his/her online connection, in effect "doubling" bandwidth. The Polite Agent gives priority to the user's foreground activities by stopping the download and making the full bandwidth available as soon as the user becomes active. If the user logs off before a download is completed, the Polite Agent notes where it left off and continues from that exact point the next time the user logs on. As a result, BackWeb's Polite Agent makes downloading even large, multimedia-rich files painless for the user. By the time they are alerted that the information they want is available, it is already resident on their PC.

Statistics regarding the user's interaction with each presentation are aggregated from the client to the server, allowing companies to measure the effectiveness of their InfoPak presentations.

"BackWeb has developed a dynamic technology that benefits both the company and the customer," said Jeff Pulver, Internet analyst and president and founder of Pulver.com, Inc., Great Neck, N.Y. "Its customizable features, engaging presentation styles and unique background downloading capability take full advantage of the Internet's potential."

BackWeb Partners

BackWeb's customization, personalization and creative flexibility in both the Internet and Intranet environments have already attracted a wide range of investors, business partners and Channel owners. The founders of BRM Technologies, the Israel-based company responsible for launching BackWeb Technologies, are the primary investors. SOFTBANK Holdings, Inc., and managing directors of Broadview Associates LLC, a global IT Mergers & Acquisition advisor, have also invested in the company. BackWeb is working closely with several business partners, including leading-edge new media companies, such as CKS New Media; Utopia Inc.; KPE (Kaufman Patricof Enterprises) and others to sell its technology and provide creative and value-added services. BackWeb's Business Partner program includes extensive training, certification, joint sales calls and pre- and post-sales support.

Companies that are BackWeb Channel owners or have begun developing customized content include, Infoseek Corporation, Ziff-Davis Publishing Company's ZD Net, The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, iWorld (Mecklermedia's Daily Internet electronic newspaper), General Motors and EarthWeb's Gamelan Java Directory.

"Infoseek's mission is to help Internet users find the information they are looking for quickly and efficiently," said Bill Rose, vice president of advanced development, Infoseek Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif. "BackWeb's innovative technology allows us to proactively deliver personalized, timely news to our customers to keep them up-to-date on the subjects they care about."

Technical Specifications

The BackWeb system is based on an open software platform which supports Netscape plug-ins, interactive animations, screensavers, wallpapers, local HTML pages, executable files, hot links direct to Web sites and Java applets played within the context of a browser. BackWeb will support all Internet and OS standard platforms as demand increases.

The BackWeb server is available today for Sun/Solaris Systems using a Pentium PC or Sun Sparcstation. Beta of a Windows NT server version is expected to be available later this year. The BackWeb client will require a 486 66Mhz or Pentium-based computer running Microsoft Windows 95. BackWeb client beta versions for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 3.1x and Macintosh are also expected by year-end. Release 1.0 of the server software and beta of the client are available for download by potential customers through the BackWeb Web site at: http://www.backweb.com.

The BackWeb client will be available free to users through the BackWeb Web site, Channel Web sites and through various co-marketing, distribution and OEM arrangements. The BackWeb server will be sold to companies for a base price, plus a scaleable monthly fee that will be charged based on the number of BackWeb presentations a company distributes. Annual costs for the BackWeb server and presentation distribution can range from $10,500 for low-volume Channels, to over $100,000 for extremely high-volume Channels. Intranet licensing is also available.

BackWeb Technologies is a software company dedicated to providing Internet interactive broadcast products that enable companies to build their own broadcast channels and establish direct, personalized relationships with their customers. Established in 1995, BackWeb Technologies was founded by BRM Technologies, Ltd., a company with a proven track record of delivering leading-edge products and developing new business opportunities in emerging markets. BRM is a founder of CheckPoint Software Technologies Ltd., a market leader in global network security software applications. -0-

Editor's note: If you are interested in receiving beta of the BackWeb server and/or client software, please contact Alan Mangelsdorf of Brodeur & Partners at [phone], ext. 224.

CONTACT: Alan Mangelsdorf OR Tracey Collins

Brodeur & Partners Brodeur & Partners

914/697-9711, ext. 224 617/622-2836

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