PrediWave Unveils New Interactive Interface That Puts VOD and More At Viewer's Finger Tips.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2002

Enhanced Menu Offers Greater Ease-of-Use For Consumers Gaining

Access To Unlimited Interactive Services; Cable Or Satellite DBS 

Systems Provided With Simple Delivery Of Hot Movies, Classic Films,

Music Videos, Shopping And Other Revenue Generating Services

PrediWave(TM), a global pioneer in providing cost-effective and bandwidth-efficient technologies for the delivery of video-on-demand (VOD) and interactive TV services, today unveiled a new and improved interface for its Advanced Content Delivery System. With the advent of this enhanced menu interface, PrediWave is providing cable or satellite DBS viewers with quick access to unlimited interactive services and true VOD. PrediWave's new menu interface presents content in the following segments: Digital Broadcasting (digital/analog basic and premium channels), Video-On-Demand (current titles), Video-on-Request (classic movies) and MyTV, a collection of personal favorites including the entire spectrum of interactive content (shopping, games, sports), text options (books, newspapers, bill paying, etc.), distance learning courses and special services offered by the cable or DBS distributor. Each of these can be downloaded and stored for viewing at an optimum time, with personal video recording capabilities including pause, rewind, slow motion and fast forward features.

PrediWave's onscreen navigation and the remote control are so user-friendly that they require a minimal amount of instruction. Subscribers select choices from the Electronic Program Guide by highlighting the preferred program and then commanding the system to either play or record. Replaying is as easy as opening the stored selections, and then pushing "play" on the remote.

"Our goal was to develop a new interface designed to be the simplest programming solution available to consumers today," said Tony Qu, president of PrediWave. "An extremely user friendly menu and enhanced feature set places us ahead of current offerings in the VOD and iTV marketplace. By providing an effortless way to gain access to hot movie titles, one of your old favorites or just finding the digital broadcast channel of choice, we enable consumers to have a personalized and interactive experience without the complications that come with other VOD products."

What makes PrediWave's system a huge advantage for cable operators and DBS distributors is that the technology enables "true" video on demand for every subscriber on the system -- at the same time. That is possible because PrediWave requires only one stream of bandwidth per title to service an infinite number of viewers, instead of one stream per customer. Utilizing a "broadcast" type of delivery, it provides a personalized viewing experience. While providing optimum functionality, PrediWave also enables the cable operator or satellite distributor to customize a solution to the company's specific needs and graphic identification. The PrediWave system has been created to help television distribution businesses drive revenue through reaching the greatest marketplace with a cost efficient and scalable model that offers the least expenditure of dollars and bandwidth.

Additionally, based on the PrediWave model, an unlimited revenue potential is provided for cable and DBS systems. As the customer base expands, the only added cost to deliver content is a set-top box per household. Incremental income from movies (both hot titles and classic films), games, music videos, shopping and other new services can be delivered with the very same equipment without requiring a vast increase in bandwidth or additional build-outs. PrediWave's VOD technology is agnostic, serving all kinds of data or programming to unlimited numbers of subscribers. Operators need not have separate VOD and iTV technology suppliers -- it's all part of the package.

PrediWave is currently deploying its revolutionary system in China, and is scheduled to have full deployment in 200,000 homes by the end of 2002.

STRONG VALUE PROPOSITION FOR CABLE AND DBS SYSTEMS

The U.S.-developed PrediWave technology (PrediWave(TM), PrediWay(TM), PrediCast(TM), PrediMatrix(TM)) is based on a predictive statistical algorithm or "wave", and built around a streamlined packet-based standard system incorporating patented hardware and software. This unique advantage enables PrediWave's Digital Broadband Delivery System to utilize one stream of bandwidth per piece of content, rather than one increment per customer. As a result, PrediWave enables VOD to be delivered in a manner that requires the smallest amount of bandwidth to date, even on a one-way system, allowing satellite and cable operators to give viewers the control they desire without encountering bandwidth bottlenecks. PrediWave's system consists of head-end servers and individual set-top boxes providing DVD quality, VOD content and PVR capabilities. Adding VOD servers is all that is necessary to expand the system's capacity. The satellite operator simply needs to dedicate one 30Mb/s channel to each two-movie VOD server. In addition, the system can expand to provide interactive television, streaming media, games, high speed Internet access and voice exchange as the operator upgrades to bi-directional services. Each PrediWave system is tailored to the needs, business strategies and growth expectations of its satellite and cable customers.

ABOUT PREDIWAVE

PrediWave is pioneering a complete digital broadband delivery system. The company delivers any content "on demand" to an unlimited number of customers simultaneously, initially featuring integrated video on demand (VOD), digital television (DTV) broadcasting, video on request (VOR) and personal video recording (PVR) capabilities. It uses the existing technology infrastructure of today's cable and DBS systems for a simple, cost-effective solution with minimal capital investment. This revolutionary delivery system can be expanded to include a range of services including interactive TV, streaming media, games and high-speed Internet access. PrediWave's groundbreaking approach offers head-end servers and bandwidth capacity scaled according to how many movies an operator plans to deliver, not how many points of delivery. In 2001, PrediWave entered the Chinese marketplace and successfully deployed its trial system with Beijing Cable Company (BCTV). PrediWave and Fujian Cable Company established an agreement to provide 4.6 million PrediWave STBs to Fujian customers from 2002. Founded in 1998, the company is headquartered in Fremont, CA, with offices in Beijing, China and San Jose, CA. For more information, visit www.prediwave.com.