SpruceUp DVD Authoring Software Supports Pioneer's First-Ever Combination DVD/CD Recordable Drive.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2001

Software and Drive Provide Most Compatible DVD/CD Solution for

Consumer Audio and Video Authoring and Editing

Spruce Technologies, Inc., the market leader in new media authoring solutions and services, today announced the availability of SpruceUp(TM), the world's first and only Web-enabled personal DVD authoring software, for Pioneer's groundbreaking combination DVD/CD Recordable Drive for PCs. Pioneer New Media Technologies, Inc. [NYSE: PIO], the leader in recordable DVD technology, announced its DVR-103 third-generation drive, the OEM version, for DVD-R, CD-R and CD-RW recording formats, in 4Q 2000. Its DVR-A03 retail version will be shipping in May 2001.

SpruceUp Version 1.1

SpruceUp establishes new standards for personal DVD authoring, allowing users to shape captured content and author their own rich and captivating productions--such milestones as weddings, birthdays, reunions, graduations, conferences, corporate presentations, and product catalogs--to share with family, friends, colleagues, and clients on their Windows PCs. SpruceUp is the only low-cost product with SpruceLink(TM), for built-in support of WebDVD connectivity that adds dynamic Web links to productions as simply as typing a URL. SpruceUp users become productive more quickly because it is designed for the Windows desktop, with key authoring/editing functions built right in. Flexible support for commonly used file formats means users aren't locked into buying additional templates for each new project. Taken together, the features in SpruceUp typically cost five to eight times more than its $129 price.

"SpruceUp delivers the ease-of-use, feature richness, creative freedom and performance-price value that consumers have come to expect in the personal software market," said Kirk Paulsen, Executive Vice President of Spruce Technologies. "When you combine SpruceUp with the Pioneer recordable combination drive, you equip consumers and video enthusiasts with the best authoring software tool and an unbeatable medium to showcase their work using standard DVD video players and DVD or CD ROM drives."

Pioneer's DVR-103 Drive

Pioneer's DVR-103 drive reads and writes three recordable formats including DVD-R, CD-R and CD-RW, and offers up to 4.7GB of storage capacity per DVD side. In addition, the groundbreaking drive is capable of recording DVD-R discs at twice normal speed (2X)--another industry first. The new drive begins shipping to the OEM market in Q1 2001; the retail version, the DVR-A03, begins shipping to distributors in May 2000.

"Pioneer is offering more freedom of choice, performance and value within a single removable storage medium," said Andy Parsons, senior vice president of product development and technical support at Pioneer New Media Technologies. "SpruceUp has the capability to make full use of our new recordable DVD/CD drive for a broad range of video editing and archiving applications."

About Spruce Technologies, Inc.

Spruce Technologies, Inc. is a global market leader in DVD authoring applications for the creation of interactive broadband content. At the core of every Spruce application is a modular authoring architecture known as the SpruceCore, supporting the most complex commercial DVD projects without requiring extensive programming expertise. Spruce's award-winning solutions include: DVDMaestro(TM), the market leading professional DVD authoring solution; DVDTransfer(TM), the world's first automated system for unattended conversion of videotape to DVD; DVD Performer(TM), the first professional yet affordable integrated DVD encoding and authoring solution; and SpruceUp(TM), the first full-featured personal DVD authoring solution for Windows PCs. These applications support SpruceLink(TM), a breakthrough WebDVD technology for installation-free playback of Web-enabled DVD titles on CD-ROM and DVD-ROM equipped PCs. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Spruce Technologies is a privately-held company with a track record of profitable growth since its founding in 1996. For more information, contact Spruce at 408-861-2200, or visit our Website: http://www.spruce-tech.com

About Pioneer New Media Technologies

As an industry leader in the digital marketplace, Pioneer New Media Technologies Inc., continues to provide the industry's most innovative technologies for professional and industrial business applications. World's-first technologies introduced by Pioneer include recordable DVD-R drives, multiple-disc CD-ROM changer, mass storage DVD library and first multi-functional optical drive capable of reading and writing to both M-O and WORM, and combination DVD/CD recordable drive.

The optical division's products include DVD-R and DVD-ROM drives, DVD/CD library systems, M-O/WORM optical drives and media, and DVD-R media for a wide range of applications in the education, government, legal, banking, medical, insurance, finance, industrial and general business markets. The company is also a leading supplier of DVD-ROM drives to the majority of first-tier OEM PC manufacturers. For more information, contact Pioneer New Media Technologies, Inc., at 2265 E. 220th Street, Long Beach, Calif. 90810; phone [phone] or [phone]; URL: www.pioneerelectronics.com

Note to Editors: DVDMaestro, DVDonCD, DVDPerformer, SpruceCore, SpruceLink, and SpruceUp are trademarks of Spruce Technologies, Inc. Other company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners and may be registered in certain jurisdictions.