BridgeCo Successfully Commercializes its BeBoB Application for the Music Industry: Four Manufacturers Demonstrate BeBoB-enabled Products at NAMM 2004.

Entertainment Editors/Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

NAMM 2004

ZURICH, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2004

BridgeCo announces that four leading music equipment manufacturers -- Apogee, Edirol, PreSonus Audio Electronics, and Tascam -- are demonstrating products based on BridgeCo's BeBoB application at NAMM 2004.

This broad-based commercialization confirms that BridgeCo's fast-tracked 'design-development-delivery' program has successfully met manufacturers' and users' demands for a complete IEEE 1394-based, multi-channel audio interfacing package.

The BeBoB -- BridgeCo Enhanced Breakout Box -- application provides musicians at all levels with plug 'n play connectivity between their PC or Mac, and all their music equipment, including their music instruments, microphones, and effects equipment. Now, they can simply plug all their music equipment into a single BeBoB-enabled breakout box, and connect that directly to their computer via an IEEE 1394 interface. Consequently, by eliminating cumbersome and expensive internal PCI plug-in cards, the BeBoB 'upgrades' the PC or Mac from a limited I/O device at the margins, to an unlimited I/O device at the center of the creative process. Also, traveling musicians can now reduce their equipment burden significantly by using IEEE 1394-enabled PC and Mac notebooks in conjunction with their music equipment.

For these four manufacturers, the rationalized BeBoB design enabled them to efficiently and economically accelerate their products' time-to-market. The BeBoB application package consists of application software, running on BridgeCo's DM1000 network and signal processor, which is compatible with available high performance drivers for MS Windows XP and Mac OS X operating systems. Manufacturers are also provided with printed circuit board (PCB) schematics and layout designs. The package can be easily configured or customized for specific products by the manufacturer, third-party systems integrator, or BridgeCo.

"The BeBoB design is optimized to provide the lowest possible system cost across a wide range of price/performance options. The resulting flexibility and product differentiation opportunities are just what the manufacturers demand in the highly competitive music equipment market," noted Christof Heidelberger, CEO, BridgeCo. "The BeBoB complements our suite of CE applications, including the recently launched Wireless Audio Adapter. Together, these applications make BridgeCo the pioneer of digital entertainment networking applications that provide users with 'more choice, less wire, and no hassle' access to rich media sources."

"Our long standing relationship with BridgeCo is founded on their innovative, flexible platforms, unrivalled high quality support, and commitment to competitive price-performance levels. BridgeCo's BeBoB is the perfect solution for adding FireWire interfaces to our high quality lineup of digital audio equipment for studio professionals and home recording enthusiasts. Native support for the latest IEEE 1394b networks, and built-in flexible signal processing capabilities, enable us to seamlessly integrate the BeBoB into our products and extend them in new, innovative directions. With the BeBoB, we accelerated the process from concept to product, and benefited from significant cost and time-to-market reductions. Above all, our BeBoB-enabled products meet user demands for simple plug 'n play connectivity between their music equipment and computer, while continuing to achieve the highest audio quality standards," stated Betty Bennett, CEO, Apogee.

Kimitaka Kondo, President of Edirol Corporation said, "Edirol, a member of the group of Roland companies, is a world leader in the development and manufacturing of products for digital audio, MIDI and video enthusiasts. We are happy to announce our first FireWire device, the FA-101. During development it was clear that the BridgeCo BeBoB was the best application for our product. BridgeCo gave us reliable service and support to back up the high quality and leading features of the BeBoB. Our excellent business relationship with BridgeCo enabled us to produce the FA-101 in record time, meet aggressive production schedules, and still maintain our demanding audio quality standards."

President of PreSonus Audio Electronics Jim Odom states, "PreSonus will introduce the FIREPOD at NAMM 2004 (Booth No. 6320) which will be the first of many IEEE 1394 FireWire interface products from PreSonus utilizing BridgeCo's BeBoB design. The BridgeCo application enables PreSonus to quickly and cost effectively provide professional-level FireWire audio products at a price and performance level that customers expect from PreSonus."

"BridgeCo has provided a solution for the audio industry that is basically plug & play. That speed and ease of use is essential for the pro recordist and a real benefit to the expanding audio community. We're pleased to be part of that," stated Jim Bailey, Product Development Manager, Tascam USA.

Company Profiles

BridgeCo:

BridgeCo is the pioneer of digital entertainment networking applications that provide consumers with 'more audio, less wire, and no hassle' access to rich analog, digital, and Internet media sources. The applications cover a wide product range including wireless audio adapters, audio/video receivers, DVD players/recorders, multimedia loudspeakers, and musical instruments. Underlying these are BridgeCo's proprietary semiconductor and software technologies that network PCs to CE devices, via widely-used standards and compliances -- e.g. IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 1394, UPnP, WiFi, and DHWG -- for network and signal processing. BridgeCo is an ISO 9001-certified company based in Zurich, Switzerland. Its key investors include Benchmark Capital, Earlybird, Infineon Ventures, and Intel Capital. For details, visit www.bridgeco.net.

Apogee:

Apogee Electronics Corporation is a leading manufacturer of digital audio conversion systems for studio professionals and home recording enthusiasts. Based in Santa Monica, California, Apogee was founded in 1985 and initially made its name designing filters. Later, Apogee's complete conversion systems pushed the envelope of digital audio quality and solved many of the early problems with digital audio technology. Apogee converters have become regarded as the reference standard for digital audio conversion. Products such as the award-winning AD-8000 and Trak2 have become the benchmark by which digital audio conversion is judged. For details, visit www.apogeedigital.com.

Edirol:

Edirol, a member of the group of Roland companies, is a world leader in the development and manufacturing of products for digital audio and video enthusiasts. Edirol offers tools for desktop media production (DTMP) covering applications such as digital audio capture, video editing and presentation, MIDI controllers, sound modules and interfaces, software synthesizers and audio monitors. The company is committed to providing ways for anyone to express their imagination in music, audio and video. For details, visit www.edirol.com.

PreSonus Audio Electronics:

Founded in 1995, PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc. designs and manufactures audio processing products that are sold and used in more than 40 countries for the purpose of broadcast, recording, sound reinforcement and live streaming. For details, visit www.presonus.com.

Tascam:

Tascam, the company that invented the home studio revolution, is one of four divisions of TEAC Corporation, a $1.2 billion manufacturing company headquartered in Japan. While the other divisions of TEAC have grown into a multitude of high tech industries including data storage devices, consumer electronics tools and industrial products, Tascam has remained dedicated to making innovative products for capturing creativity in the field of music and audio. For details, visit www.tascam.com.