imeem Introduces Fun, Secure Way to Share Personal Content with Friends and Colleagues Online; Free Application Gives Users Complete Control over Creating Private Online Communication, Blogs, Photo Sharing and More.

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- imeem, a consumer software company dedicated to improving people's digital lives, announced today the first public release of its fun, free, and easy-to-use software that allows friends and family to instantly communicate and share personal content over the Internet in a private, secure manner.

Whether it's sharing vacation photos with your family, publishing blogs to a chosen audience, privately collaborating within a large group, or instant messaging with friends, imeem has solved the frustrating problem of having to use complex and inconsistent publishing, browsing, messaging, security, and content management tools to digitally interact with the people most important to you.

"imeem is a quantum leap in web simplicity and security, and was developed to be the foundation for people's digital lives," said Dalton Caldwell, co-founder and chief executive officer, imeem. "Your digital life reflects who you know, how you interact and the choices you make to share digital content openly and privately. imeem makes being digital a richer, more rewarding experience."

Up until today, consumers hoping to take greater advantage of the web have been forced to gain proficiency with an expanding array of complex publishing tools, while assuming significant security and intellectual property risks. imeem alleviates these barriers by bringing together a set of easy-to-use tools centered on securely sharing personal digital content within individually-defined networks. Consumers can devote less time to worrying about how, when, and who to share their digital lives with, and more time being digital.

With imeem you can:

--Create public or private online communities, called "meems," on any topic of interest

--Have 100% control over who has access to you and your information

--Share your digital life with friends and family, including photos, documents and more

--Create blogs to share your personal thoughts with the entire world or just a few friends

--Chat with friends, co-workers and family via instant messaging, or hold group chats with several people at a time

"There is clearly a growing market for an application that allows consumers to easily share private content with each other," said Ben Bajarin, analyst, Creative Strategies. "Currently, there are point products that let you share photos, or blog, or instant message -- but there is nothing out there that brings all these digital activities together in a client-side application with a simple user-interface. And certainly, nothing that lets consumers determine the level of privacy they want. For dispersed groups of people looking to share photos, blog and generally interact online in a private manner, imeem does a great job."

The imeem difference

Unlike competing web-based software, imeem was created around the idea of being able to meaningfully and instantly communicate with the people that matter most to you. Core to this concept are "meems." Meems are social groups for chatting and interacting, which can be created or joined by any imeem user and are conceived based on a concept or idea. Once in a meem, consumers can chat, blog, share files and interact with people of common mindsets -- all in a safe and secure environment.

"Meems allow for direct interaction with friends and with people who share the same interests," said Jan Jannink, co-founder and chief technical officer, imeem. "But what's really special about meems is the idea that they can be private. Users can create private meems exclusively for friends or family groups. That way, any information shared in those meems stays there. For example, a user can say 'of my twenty buddies, there is a select group of five that I want to share my political opinions with.' imeem is all about giving the user complete control of security and privacy."

Completely free, totally secure

The imeem application is 100% free and can be downloaded by visiting http://www.imeem.com/.

With every facet of imeem, be it blogging or chatting, consumers have complete control over their level of privacy. This means, as an imeem user, you determine how much information others can see about you. What's more, all data sent through imeem is encrypted, barring outsiders from tracking your communications. The information stored on your hard drive is encrypted prior to storage -- meaning only people with access to your computer, and your imeem username and password can access your files.

About imeem, inc.

imeem is a consumer software company dedicated to improving people's digital lives. The company offers consumers integrated communications software designed to help them create and sustain unique and private online communities. Featuring adjustable privacy settings and industry-leading security, users have control over how they connect and share ideas and information with others.

imeem takes its name from "meme" -- a term coined by biologist Richard Dawkins to describe ideas that communities adopt and express. The company is located in Palo Alto, CA, and is supported by Morgenthaler Ventures.

For more information or to download imeem, visit www.imeem.com.