Sigma and Envivio Establish Strategic Alliance to Develop Industry Leading MPEG-4 Solutions
NAB showcases the industry's first mixed media (MPEG-4 system with MPEG-2 video) demonstration
Brisbane, California, Date: April 17, 2001 — Sigma Designs (Nasdaq: SIGM), a recognized leader in digital video decoder solutions and Envivio.com Inc, a leader in MPEG4 end-to-end broadcasting solutions, announced a strategic alliance to jointly develop industry-leading interactive video solutions based on the MPEG-4 standard. The first demonstration of their combined technologies will be on display at NAB 2001, showing MPEG-4 interactivity, authored by Envivio software and being decoded by Sigma silicon and software.
This alliance brings together Sigma's expertise in MPEG decoder silicon and streaming video software with Envivio's industry-leading MPEG-4 authoring and system-level software. As a part of the alliance, Sigma will integrate Envivio's MPEG-4 system level software for use in its upcoming MPEG4 compliant silicon solutions. Sigma has also made an equity investment in Envivio.
Working together, Sigma and Envivio will continue the joint development of advanced features and optimized hardware/software solutions for MPEG-4. The joint technology being developed features sophisticated interactivity and fully compliant ISO-MPEG-4 solutions. When released, their feature set will enable highly interactive streaming with the ability to support independent graphics, object-based management of independent audio, video, graphics and other media streams, interactivity and personalization.
"Envivio brings substantial expertise and advanced development of MPEG4 technologies which are needed in the next generation of set-top appliances," said Ken Lowe, Vice President of Business Development for Sigma. "For Sigma, it represents an ideal enhancement to our silicon and video-on-demand software technology, which continues to build increased momentum in the interactive set-top box segment."
"We look forward to a long and productive partnership with Sigma Designs," said Alexander Hoag, COO of Envivio. "Their innovative designs and aggressive market development position them as a leader in the emerging MPEG-4 market. The joint development of MPEG-4 capabilities over MPEG-2 transport streams will ease new technology adoption reservations and will markedly decrease adoption costs."
About Sigma Designs, Inc.
Sigma Designs is a leader in the fast-growing digital video market. Sigma specializes in digital video decoding for DVD playback applications, as well as for streaming video over corporate intranets and extranets, and for the emerging interactive digital set-top box Internet information appliance market. Sigma's products are designed to advance digital video technology in high-speed, high-bandwidth transmission for business, home, and education markets. Sigma Designs' products, marketed under the REALmagic trade name, are sold worldwide through a direct sales force, distributors, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). For additional information, visit the Company's web site at http://www.sigmadesigns.com.
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REALmagic and Sigma Designs are registered trademarks of Sigma Designs.
About Envivio
Envivio.com, Inc. is the leading developer of end-to-end MPEG-4 interactive broadcasting solutions utilizing MPEG-4's rich set of integrated streaming media elements: high performance audio and video, two- and three dimensional graphics and animation, and rich interactive user experience. The company maintains a worldwide perspective on creating MPEG-4-based solutions to enable broadcasters, distribution network operators and content developers to build new revenues and utilize the efficiencies of targeting content at the full range of MPEG-4 capable devices. Envivio's solutions include Envivio Broadcast Studio for MPEG-4 authoring, Envivio Media Servers to distribute, and EnvivioTV™ to receive MPEG-4 content. The company is privately held and has received investments from Royal Philips Electronics, France Telecom, Sigma Designs, Aurora Ventures, Global Accelerator and other leading broadband media investors.
