Be Inc. Licenses Beatnik Technology for Use in Its BeIA Client Platform; Audio Component Supports Playback of Rich Music Format Files on BeIA-Powered Internet Appliances.Business Editors/High-Tech WritersMENLO PARK Menlo Park. 1 Residential city (1990 pop. 28,040), San Mateo co., W Calif.; inc. 1874. Electronic equipment and aerospace products are manufactured in the city. Menlo College and a Stanford Univ. research institute are there. 2 Uninc. & SAN MATEO San Mateo (săn mətā`ō), city (1990 pop. 85,486), San Mateo co., W Calif., on San Francisco Bay; inc. 1894. It is a commercial and retail center with some high-technology manufacturing. San Mateo, Spanish for St. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 6, 2001 Be Incorporated (Nasdaq:BEOS) and Beatnik, Inc., a leader in interactive audio technologies and content for the Web and digital devices, today announced an agreement under which Be will include the Beatnik(R) Audio Engine (BAE(TM)) in its BeIA Client Platform, a component of Be's complete IA solution. Using the Beatnik Audio Engine, a BeIA-powered Internet appliance Also called "information appliance," "smart appliance," and "Web appliance," it is a device specialized for accessing the Web and/or e-mail. Designed for ease of use, it plugs into a telephone jack or LAN connection for Internet hookup. will be able to play Beatnik's Rich Music Format (RMF RMF Resource Measurement Facility RMF Rich Music Format RMF René Moawad Foundation (Hazmieh, Lebanon) RMF Rich Map Format (Worldcraft Half-Life mapping tool) RMF Relativistic Mean Field ) files, which can be used to sonify Web pages or any digital device. This technology makes it possible to create interactive audio environments and games on the Web and in digital devices. RMF files are typically in the range of 10k to 400K while the equivalent MP3 file would be 1MB to 4MB. "By incorporating the Beatnik Audio Engine into the BeIA Client Platform, we are able to provide consumers with a media-rich Web experience enhanced by RMF files, which are incredibly compact and play back almost instantly when triggered," said Lamar Potts, vice president, sales and marketing at Be. "This agreement further demonstrates Be's commitment to meeting the needs and demands of users by offering a responsive, dynamic Web experience. Be is dedicated to truly making BeIA the complete Internet appliance solution." "Beatnik is focused on the delivery of high-quality music and sound to the Web, games and digital devices," said Bahman Dara, vice president of marketing and strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. for Beatnik, Inc. "One of the key characteristics that the Beatnik Audio Engine and the BeIA Client Platform share is a small footprint and the ability to run on minimal memory. Together, the two companies will offer an impressive audio experience for users." About BeIA: the Complete IA Solution BeIA consists of three components: the BeIA Client Platform, the BeIA Management and Administration Platform (MAP), and BeIA Integration Services. This integrated package of small footprint client-side software; development, customization and device management tools and services; and key services and third party technology, delivers a complete Internet appliance solution to device and service providers, including consumer electronics companies. About the Beatnik Audio Engine The BAE enables users to experience CD-quality audio and music through a variety of digital devices including mobile phones, PDAs and set-top boxes The cable TV box that sits on "top" of the TV "set," although it is often located several feet away in an equipment rack. The set-top box descrambles the premium channels and provides a tuner for the higher cable numbers that very old TVs did not support. using extremely small file sizes. The BAE requires no special hardware and works as the complete low bandwidth audio solution for digital devices. The BAE can play back popular formats such as MP3, WAV, AIFF AIFF - Audio IFF and MIDI MIDI in full Musical Instrument Digital Interface Protocol for transmission of musical data between digital components, such as synthesizers and a computer's sound card. MIDI uses 8-bit asynchronous serial transmission with a data rate of 31. . The BAE enhances MIDI by adding custom samples to recreate the original sound of the music. This expanded capacity gives composers an unprecedented variety of sounds to use in the creative productions. About Beatnik Beatnik brings a scalable, high-quality audio content platform to the Web, games and digital devices through a combination of technology, content and services. Beatnik's solution includes a line of platform applications, production music, sound content and the Mixman software product line, enabling the integration of interactive audio into the Web and digital world. Beatnik develops, markets and sells its sonification technology to a community of creative professionals, technology licensees and consumers - enabling them to build and interact with music and sound over the Web, on computers and digital devices. Incorporated in 1996, Beatnik was founded by musician and composer Thomas Dolby Thomas Dolby (born Thomas Morgan Robertson, on 14 October 1958) is an English musician, producer, and inventor. Life and career Thomas was born in London. His father, Martin Robertson, was an internationally-distinguished professor of classical Greek art and Robertson. Mixman Technologies, Inc. was acquired by Beatnik in December 1999. Beatnik and RMF are registered trademarks of Beatnik, Inc. About Be Incorporated Founded in 1990, Be Incorporated creates software solutions that enable rich media and Web experiences on Internet appliances and personal computers. Be's headquarters are in Menlo Park, California Menlo Park is a city in San Mateo County, California in the United States of America. It is located at latitude 37°29' North, longitude 122°9' East. Menlo Park had 30,785 inhabitants as of the 2000 U.S. Census. , and its European office is in Paris, France. It is publicly traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol BEOS. Be can be found on the Web at http://www.be.com. Be, BeIA and the Be Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Be Incorporated in the U.S. and other countries. All rights reserved. Be Inc (company) Be Inc - The company that produced the BeBox, founded by Jean-Louis Gassee, former product chief at Apple. . Forward-Looking Statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. The statements contained in this Press Release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" including without limitation plans for product development and release, future product performance, and the benefit of such products to customers, appliance manufacturers and developers. Actual events or results may differ materially as a result of risks facing Be Incorporated or actual results differing from the assumptions underlying such statements. Such risks and assumptions include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to product development, our ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships, the competition and market acceptance of BeIA, and our ability to meet customer and developer demands. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by the "Risk Factors" and other cautionary statements included in Be Incorporated's Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the year ended December 31, 1999, and other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
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