PR14/8.03.95 8 March 1995 ORACLE NEW MEDIA SOFTWARE PRODUCTS TO RUN ON ONLINE MEDIA'S NEW SET-TOP PLATFORM Oracle Set-Top Alliance Member Demonstrates Oracle's Portability and Expands International Scope of Alliance Oracle Corp. today announced that Online Media will port Oracle New Media software onto its new television set-top platform. Online Media is the fourth set-top platform and the first European set-top platform to support Oracle New Media software products. Oracle New Media software products support other set-top environments including the Apple set-top box operating system, Microware's DAVID and Scientific-Atlanta's PowerTV. "With Online Media's port of Oracle New Media software, Oracle will support more platforms for interactive multimedia services than any other software vendor," said Farzad Dibachi, vice president of Oracle's New Media Division. "Our software's wide-ranging portability will help us accelerate the delivery of interactive multimedia services to consumers on the information highway." "The Oracle environment allows software developers to write interactive multimedia applications without limiting the set-top devices with which they can work. End-users don't want to concern themselves with connectivity; they want to know that the set-top box will talk to the infrastructure that is provided," said Malcolm Bird, chief executive of Online Media. "Oracle's environment makes it possible for set-top designers to be innovative in their product architectures, which means that new families of products will emerge with additional capabilities while retaining compatibility." Online Media is a member of the Oracle Set-Top Alliance, a group comprised of more than 50 industry-leading set-top device vendors, set-top component manufacturers and providers of other set-top related technologies. The Oracle Set-Top Alliance is an international forum that facilitates the open exchange of information and encourages discussion of a wide range of technology, business and standards issues facing the interactive television industry. It was formed by Oracle in January 1994 to promote interoperability and speed the delivery of interactive television services to consumers. The Oracle New Media suite of software products and services provides an end-to-end interactive multimedia solution. Oracle Media Objects is the first authoring tool for creating broadcast-quality multimedia applications for both CD-ROM and interactive television-effectively bridging the gap between PCs, TVs and other emerging information appliances. Oracle Media Server acts as a multimedia library that stores, retrieves and manages all forms of information: video, audio, images, text and tabular data. Oracle Media Net enables TV set-top devices to access multimedia content from the Oracle Media Server. Notes to Editors: Online Media, a UK-based set-top device vendor, is a division of the Acorn Computer Group, which is majority owned by Olivetti. Online Media has the full backing of Olivetti Telemedia, the division that is expanding the operations of the Olivetti Group in telecommunication systems and services. Online Media has been established to provide innovative, affordable interactive products in hardware, software and services to meet the requirements of the markets emerging from the information superhighway. The first product, a set-top box for digital interactive television (DiTV), is already in production and use. Online Media heads the consortium running a leading demonstration of interactive TV in Cambridge, England. Oracle Corp., a $2 billion company with headquarters in Redwood Shores, Calif., is the world's leading supplier of information management software. Oracle develops and markets Oracle Media Server and the Oracle7 family of software products for database management; Co-operative Development Environment (CDE), a complete set of tools for enterprise-wide, client/server application development; and Oracle Co-operative Applications, packaged client/server solutions for accounting, manufacturing, distribution, human resources and project control. Oracle software runs on personal digital assistants, set-top devices, PCs, workstations, minicomputers, mainframes and massively parallel computers. The company offers its products, along with related consulting, education and support services in more than 90 countries around the world. Trademarks: Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. Oracle Media Server, Oracle Media Net, Oracle Media Objects, Co-operative Development Environment, Oracle7 and Oracle Co-operative Applications are trademarks of Oracle Corporation. All other product or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.