INDIANAPOLIS, IN, November 21, 2005 — Escient, the pioneer in advanced digital media management, have introduced the FireBall SE-D1 DVD and Music Manager, which lets users access and manage up to 400 DVDs or CDs through Escient’s intuitive, award-winning on-screen interface. With a suggested retail price of just $999, the SE-D1 offers home entertainment enthusiasts many of the same advanced performance and convenience features of Escient’s award-winning media managers at a more affordable price. Working in conjunction with the Sony DVP-CX777ES DVD/CD changer, the SE-D1 provides users with instant access to all DVD movies or CDs in their collection.
Noted Bernie Sepaniak, president of D&M Holdings’ RioReplayTV, Escient and ACT divisions. “As people continue to build large DVD and CD collections, there’s a growing need for a simple and convenient way for them to access and enjoy all their movies and music. The SE-D1 is the ideal solution for people who want quick and easy access to their entertainment, offering a host of features and capabilities previously only available with higher-priced media managers or custom installed systems. The SE-D1 literally makes storing, browsing, and enjoying your movies and music as easy as changing channels on your TV, with no more worries about scratched, lost, or damaged discs.”
The Escient FireBall SE-D1 utilizes the company’s patented automatic transport and DVD identification technologies, as well as CD recognition technology from Gracenote CDDB and music metadata from AMG, to instantly find and play desired DVD or CD’s. In addition, it accesses Escient’s world-renowned MovieDB DVD database, to provide users with an integrated movie guide that automatically displays titles, genre, cast information, ratings, running time, and cover art for every movie in the DVD collection.
The Escient FireBall SE-D1 is designed to integrate smoothly into IR-based home control and audio/video distribution systems, whereby users can instantly access any DVD or CD playlist, genre, artist, album, movie title, or Internet Radio station at the touch of a button. For total ease of set-up, a built-in video switcher provides movie or user interface selection and A/V routing to a connected receiver or TV using only one input. In addition to the on-screen interface, the SE-D1 can be controlled from any standard web browser, wireless PDA or web pad using standard wireless home networks. The SE-D1 also supports streaming MP3 and CD-quality FLAC encoded digital music from connected FireBall servers located on the same network.
The SE-D1 incorporates advanced features such as: highly reliable operation, automatic disc recognition, free WMA and Shoutcast Internet Radio via the Escient RadioDB Tuning Service, web browser control, and multi-zone support. It also offers gapless track playback when streaming from a FireBall Digital Music Server, and the ability to “skin” the interface for the ultimate customization. For added convenience, the SE-D1 lets users choose either a 4:3 or widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio for the on-screen user interface.
The Escient SE-D1will begin shipping in December at a suggested retail price of $999.
About Escient
Escient is a division of D&M Holdings U.S., Inc., and is the pioneering leader in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, sales, distribution and support of a groundbreaking category of audio/video products that meld the power of the Internet seamlessly with intuitive home-entertainment devices. Escient’s products and services are designed to enhance the entertainment experience by providing previously unheard-of ways to access music, movies and related content throughout the home. The company possesses a deep portfolio of designs for new products including media servers, DVD systems, remote players and networking and streaming devices, that are brought to market under the Escient brand through a channel of over 800 locations throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Mexico, and in partnership with other leading global consumer electronics brands.
About D&M Holdings Inc.
D&M Holdings Inc. (TSE II: 6735) is based in Tokyo and owns the Denon, Marantz, McIntosh Laboratory, Boston Acoustics, Snell, D&M Professional, ReplayTVa, Rioa and Escienta brands. Denon, Marantz, McIntosh and D&M Professional are global industry leaders in the specialist home theater, audio/video consumer electronics or professional audio markets, with a strong and long-standing heritage of manufacturing and marketing high-performance audio and video components. Boston Acoustics, with its signature Boston Sound, is a leader in premium loudspeakers for home and audio markets. Snell is a super premium speaker brand. The ReplayTV, Rio and Escient brands represent award-winning technologies in digital home entertainment. Additional information is available at www.dm-holdings.com.
DISCLAIMER
Statements in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may include forward looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the company. We wish to caution you that such statements are just predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. Forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties surrounding competitive and industry conditions, market acceptance for the company’s products, risks of litigation, technological changes, developing industry standards and other factors related to the company’s businesses.
Escient and the Escient logo are registered trademarks and FireBall is a trademark of Digital Networks North America, Inc.
