LearnKey Announces Support for Windows Media 9 Series; Microsoft Platform Delivers Better Performance, Value for Enterprise E-Learning Customers.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 24, 2003

LearnKey, provider of online learning solutions, today announced at Training 2003 its plans to offer its online courses using the new Microsoft Windows Media 9 Series platform for encoding and delivery of high quality streaming media content.

For enterprise e-learning customers that have been using LearnKey's streaming media-based training courses over the past three years, Windows Media 9 Series support means faster, higher quality and more cost-effective streaming of LearnKey video and audio training content over the Web and over intranets.

As a first step, 30 LearnKey training titles encoded in Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series will be available on the Web and in MediaPoint(TM) online companion CD format beginning on March 1. The company is also in the process of encoding another 130 titles in Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series that will be offered to customers in the coming weeks. LearnKey also plans to use the new Windows Server 2003 for delivery of its online courses when it becomes available on April 24.

LearnKey has embedded the Windows Media Player 9 Series in the company's courseware user interface to give customers seamless delivery of training content using the powerful playback capabilities of this new player.

"The Windows Media 9 Series platform provides LearnKey with a simple, straightforward solution to integrating full motion video and audio," said LearnKey President David Clemons. "Our online learning customers have requested that we adopt Microsoft streaming technologies, and we believe that by supporting the latest digital media technology the overall experience of end users will be greatly enhanced."

Once the components of the new Windows Media 9 Series platform are in place, LearnKey customers and end users can benefit from Windows Media 9 Series for enterprise-wide delivery of streaming media in many ways including:

-- Cost effectiveness - Unlike other media players, Windows Media 9 Series does not require purchase of separate media server licenses. With the efficiency of its audio and video compression, Windows Media 9 Series helps reduce content delivery costs over the Web.

-- High quality video - Windows Media 9 Series offers the highest quality audio and video at the lowest data rates, which is critical for efficient Web delivery of course offerings.

-- Faster streaming - Windows Media 9 Series can deliver an "instant on, always on" experience to broadband users and can significantly improve the experience for dial-up users.

"The efficient delivery of high quality audio and video is increasingly important in the online learning industry, and LearnKey is offering key innovations to its customers by providing them with the latest digital media technology," said Jonathan Usher, director of the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft. "By building on the Windows Media 9 Series platform, LearnKey will cost-effectively deliver the richest digital media experience to its customers."

The LearnKey course library comprises more than 500 three-hour sessions of streaming media learning content. LearnKey courses feature video instruction by subject matter experts, interactive simulations, learning labs, pre-course skill assessments and post-course evaluation exams.

Customers access courses over the Web using LearnKey's OnlineExpert(R) delivery technology. Each OnlineExpert portal can be customized to meet an organization's specific e-learning needs. LearnKey online learning solutions include the LearnKey Management System (LMS), which enables administrators to manage student accounts, monitor progress and track all student profiles, training activities and performance reports.

A free trial of LearnKey online learning in Windows Media Video 9 is available at http://wmp9.onlineexpert.com.

About LearnKey Inc.

LearnKey Inc. delivers Web-hosted and behind-the-firewall online learning solutions and world-class self-paced training courses to enterprise and individual clients around the globe. Available course titles include IT skills training for technical certification candidates and software developers, as well as business and interpersonal skills courses. LearnKey has been a recognized world leader in the e-learning industry since 1987, and continues to add courses to the largest library of streaming media training content available.

LearnKey is a registered trademark of LearnKey Inc.

All others are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.