Escient Vision Series Products to Ship Feb 2008

VS-100 / VS-200	VC-1	VX-600

Exciting New Solutions for Managing and Instantaneously Accessing Movies, Music and Other Digital Media

Escient, the pioneer in digital media management, announced today that its highly anticipated Vision Series Media Management products will begin shipping in February, 2008, providing users with the ability to play and import all their movies, videos, music, and photos using the front-panel drive and home network*. Escient’s Vision Series products, including two versions of an all-in-one server/player, Models VS-100 and VS-200, as well as the VC-1 networked audio/video zone player (all with HDMI 1.3 capability), and the large-capacity VX-600 media server, will provide consumers with elegant new solutions for managing, accessing and enjoying movies and music throughout the home, all via a single intuitive interface.**

The VS100 and VS200, for example, are advanced hard drive-based components, with RAID backup, that let users store, manage and stream all their movies, music and photos to a host of devices within their home network. Throughout the Vision Series line, advanced lifestyle-enhancing features and capabilities are integrated smoothly, such as access to the Rhapsody*** music service’s extensive music catalog, offering exclusive content from MTV, VH1 and CMT and professionally programmed Rhapsody Channels for enjoyment in any room of the home.

Bill Carson, General Manager of Escient, noted: “Escient’s vision for the future is one in which people have an easy way to access and enjoy all their entertainment media throughout the home via a single intuitive interface, and our new Vision series products literally make this promise a reality. Most importantly, each new product in the series is designed to give custom installation professionals all the tools they need to bring their clients’ whole-home networked audio and video entertainment solutions.”

INTRODUCING THE ESCIENT VISION… FEATURING ALL-NEW INTERFACE!
Escient’s 5th-generation Vision Series products allow users to store movies, music, and digital photos and instantly enjoy them from any room of the home through the all-new high definition Escient User Interface. Through a variety of advanced easy-to-use features, the Escient Vision Series makes it possible for users to watch a DVD on the HD projector in the theater, listen to music in the bedroom, or view a slideshow of favorite family photos (complete with an audio soundtrack) on the new HD display in the den.

HDMI 1.3 Capability and Upscaling to 1080p
The Escient Vision Series products provide the most sought after features by custom installers and consumers who wish to create a “digitally connected” home. The VS-100 and VS-200 all-in-one server players and the VC-1 networked audio/video zone player all feature HDMI 1.3 support and upscaling to 1080p for the ultimate in image quality from all sources. All three also feature external control capability via Ethernet.

The VS-100 provides dual 500GB**** drives while the VS-200 provides dual 1TB**** drives, and both also feature reliable RAID 1 redundancy. The VC-1 is a high-performance networked audio/video zone player that can stream audio and video from Vision servers, allowing playback of music, movies, and photos from any room of the home. Finally, the large capacity media server, Model VX-600 features four 1TB**** drives in a RAID 5 configuration and provides virtually unlimited storage expansion capability for Vision VS and VC devices. The VX-600 provides advanced early detection monitoring systems for reliable installations in any networked home.

Continuing Escient’s unmatched excellence in integrating digital media management systems into state of the art audio/video systems, the Vision series supports the proven external control capabilities of the Escient Fireball Media Management product line.

Escient’s Vision Series products are scheduled for shipment in February 2008 at the following suggested retail prices: VS-100 (SRP: $3,999), VS-200 (SRP: $5,999), VC-1 (SRP: $1,999), VX-600 (SRP: $7,999).

Press Note: Escient will be demonstrating its new Vision series to the press at CES during Digital Experience (Sunday, January 6, Caesar’s Palace – Augustus Ballroom from 7 – 10 PM and at the company’s Press Open House on Wednesday, January 8, at Mandalay Bay – Lagoon Ballroom, South Convention Center, 2nd Floor from 8 – 10 AM).

* Does not include ability to play Blu-ray or HD DVD discs.

**** One gigabyte, or GB, equals one billion bytes and one terabyte, or TB, equals one trillion bytes when referring to hard drive capacity.

About Escient
Escient is part of Digital Networks North America, 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 1000 locations throughout the Americas, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan and in partnership with other leading global consumer electronics brands. Escient, Fireball and Vision are registered trademarks of Digital Networks North America, Inc.

ABOUT REALNETWORKS
RealNetworks, Inc. is the leading creator of digital media services and software including the award-winning Rhapsody Internet jukebox service and RealPlayer 10, the first product to integrate finding, organizing, buying, playing and managing digital audio and video in a single product. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks’ consumer software at http://www.real.com. Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use RealNetworks’ products and services to create and deliver digital media to PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. RealNetworks’ corporate information is located at http://www.realnetworks.com.(RealNetworks, RealPlayer, Rhapsody and RadioPass are registered trademarks of RealNetworks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.)