Interactive Network, Inc. to Acquire 100% Ownership of TWIN Entertainment; Interactive Network Gears Up to Grab Share of Expected $32 Billion Market.Business Editors LOS ALTOS Los Altos (lôs ăl`tōs, lŏs), residential city (1990 pop. 26,303), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1952. There is diversified light manufacturing. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 26, 2000 Interactive Network, Inc. (OTCBB OTCBB See OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB). :INNN), a developer and licenser of intellectual property for interactive television ("iTV") and Internet applications, announced today that it has entered into a letter of intent under which Interactive Network will acquire 100% ownership of TWIN Entertainment. Currently, Interactive Network owns 50% of the outstanding stock of TWIN, and the other 50% is owned by TwoWayTV of Great Britain Great Britain, officially United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 60,441,000), 94,226 sq mi (244,044 sq km), on the British Isles, off W Europe. The country is often referred to simply as Britain. , the premier iTV operator in Europe. TWIN was originally founded as a joint venture between the two companies in January 2000. With this acquisition, Interactive Network moves from a licensing strategy to an operational strategy. Interactive Network and TWIN will combine into one company Interactive Network's significant suite of gaming, enhanced TV Enhanced TV (ETV) is one example of interactive TV. It is used in particular in reference to Two-Screen Solutions TV + PC services. Generally users of these ETV services have their TV and computer in the same room, and navigate their web browser to a particular program-specific Web , and interactive advertising patents together with the exclusive license to TwoWayTV's technology and know-how in the delivery of digital based interactive play content to multiple platforms Refers to two or more operating environments, which typically include the CPU family and operating system. For example, if versions of a program run on Windows and the Macintosh, the software is said to support multiple platforms. . Commenting on the acquisition, Bruce Bauer, chief executive officer of Interactive Network, stated, "The acquisition of the remaining 50% of TWIN marks the second phase of a strategy begun two years ago to rebuild Interactive Network into a fully operational company. Other than our UK partner, TwoWayTV, we believe there is no other company, on a global basis, that can do what we can do in iTV under license and patent protection. That positions us to solidify Interactive Network as the premier iTV operator in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . "As important, this will modify our patent strategy to pursue enforcement of our patents rather than seeking to openly license our technology. We're making a statement today, 'If you want to have viewers play along competitively with TV programming, or insert interactive ads into games, then you are going to have to go through us.'" Under the terms of the letter of intent, which is subject to final approval by both Interactive Network's and TwoWayTV's boards of directors, TwoWayTV will receive restricted common stock in Interactive Network in exchange for its interest in TWIN. Complete details of the transaction are not being disclosed, pending the signing of a definitive agreement and associated filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The newly merged Interactive Network, combining Interactive Network and TWIN (the "Company"), intends to utilize patented, proven and deployed end-to-end solutions for iTV, to launch an enhanced iTV channel featuring both scheduled and "on-demand" programming. The strategy is to capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on` v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>. the exploding market for iTV, estimated by USA Today USA Today National U.S. daily general-interest newspaper, the first of its kind. Launched in 1982 by Allen Neuharth, head of the Gannett newspaper chain, it reached a circulation of one million within a year and surpassed two million in the 1990s. to reach $32 billion by the year 2006. Widespread adoption of iTV by consumers is on the horizon, with growth estimated by Interactive Week to be close to 4000%, anticipating 8.3 million iTV users on board by 2004. With iTV, from their living rooms viewers can compete in their favorite game shows and live sporting events, purchase merchandise used or worn by their favorite TV characters, and chat with friends, all with a click of a button. The Company recently entered into a partnership with Liberate Technologies (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :LBRT LBRT Little Black Rubber Thingy LBRT Low Buck Racing Team ), one of the nation's leading interactive television software providers, under which the Company will supply interactive games and entertainment for broadcast through POPTV(TM). Further, the Company has also entered into an agreement with the Public Broadcasting Service “PBS” redirects here. For other uses, see PBS (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS (PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, ) under which the Company has agreed to produce educational, fully interactive TV games based upon PBS KIDS PBS Kids (often styled all-caps as "PBS KIDS") is the umbrella brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. programs. Bauer added, "This not only strengthens Interactive Network from a technology standpoint, but combined, we become more attractive to the capital markets and investment community, and more attractive to technical experts and management needed to execute on our business strategy. This is a case of one plus one equaling three -- or perhaps five or six! iTV is going to be a multi-billion dollar business and we intend to be the dominant player in the US markets. Add to that our close affiliation with TwoWayTV of Great Britain, and the vision is there for us to become one on a global scale, dominating both domestic and international markets. Don't change your station, stay tuned, we're just getting started." About Interactive Network Inc. Interactive Network holds a portfolio of six interactive game application and advertising related patents. The Company non-exclusively licenses and holds a fifty percent equity in TWIN Entertainment (see "about TWIN" below), an equally owned joint venture with another licensee of Interactive Network, TwoWayTV. Interactive Network was incorporated in 1986 and publicly traded since 1991. It helped pioneer and introduce interactive TV technology by providing an interactive service which ultimately delivered over 40 hours of daily interactive content to six major cities in the early nineties. Shows made interactive included major sporting events, game shows, murder mysteries, soap operas, educational and children's programs, news broadcasts, and many TV specials. Its major corporate shareholders are AT&T (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :T), Motorola Inc. (MOT), General Electric Inc. (NYSE:GE), Sprint (FON Fon People of southern Benin and adjacent parts of Togo. They speak a dialect of Gbe, a Kwa language of the Niger-Congo language family. Numbering about 3 million, the Fon are mainly farmers. ), Gannett (GCI GCI Ground Circuit Interrupter GCI Getty Conservation Institute GCI Global Commerce Initiative GCI Green Cross International (non-profit international environmental organization) GCI Growth Competitiveness Index GCI Great Cities Institute ) and A.C. Nielsen. For more information visit www.interactivenetwork.net. About TWIN Entertainment TWIN Entertainment is a joint venture between Interactive Network, Inc. and Two Way TV to bring live competitive interactive TV games to the US and Canadian markets. The joint venture intends to exploit Interactive Network's significant patent portfolio and Two Way TV's leading edge content, productions systems, operating platform and patents for digital interactive services. TWIN Entertainment is actively pursuing partnerships to produce live interactive TV entertainment for distribution on digital satellite, cable, and broadband Internet platforms. For more information visit www.twinentertainment.com. Except for historical financial information that may be contained herein, the matters set forth in this release are forward-looking statements that are dependent on certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to such factors as market demand, pricing, and changes in worldwide economic conditions. |
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