Quark and Diba to merge technologies for new "information appliances"

QUARKIMMEDIA TO PLAY INTEGRAL ROLE IN NEW CLASS OF INFORMATION DEVICES

April 26, 1996 -- DENVER -- Quark Inc. announced today that Diba Inc., a
Silicon Valley hardware and software company, will support QuarkImmedia in
Diba's new interactive digital electronic appliances (IDEAs), which will
make QuarkImmedia-formatted multimedia and interactive content accessible
to millions of consumers nationwide. In addition, Quark also announced it
has acquired an equity position in Diba. Financial terms of the purchase
are not being disclosed by either firm.

IDEAs are designed to blend the convenience and affordability of consumer
appliances with the power of personal computers. Each unit will be encased
in a hard plastic exterior containing a microprocessor, built-in memory,
Diba operating software, and custom application software designed by Diba
and information service or content providers. Depending upon the IDEA,
consumers will be able to view content either through an LCD
(liquid-crystal display) or via the consumer's television.

"Diba is building the foundation for a new generation of information
tools," said Quark president and CEO Fred Ebrahimi. "And with the
introduction of QuarkImmedia, Quark is building the foundation for content
creators to create QuarkImmedia-based information that will be accessed by
millions of consumers through Diba's appliances."

QuarkImmedia, to be released in the United States in midsummer, is a
multimedia and Internet authoring tool which consists of two components:
the QuarkImmedia design tool and the QuarkImmedia Viewer. The design tool
works in conjunction with QuarkXPress to let designers create multimedia
projects by incorporating interactivity, sound, animation, movies, and
hyperlinked text into QuarkXPress documents. The QuarkImmedia Viewer,
which can be distributed royalty free, is a stand-alone application that
runs projects created in QuarkImmedia.

"The fact that so many publishers, advertising agencies, and retailers
worldwide already use QuarkXPress as their electronic publishing tool of
choice will provide Diba consumers with instant access to the wealth of
QuarkImmedia-designed content," said Farzad Dibachi, cofounder of Diba.
"In addition, we think supporting the QuarkImmedia Viewer on our platform
will provide IDEA users with compelling new interactive and dynamic
multimedia applications."

Diba unveiled the first prototypes of its appliances, based on the
Diba-application software foundation, to the press this week. A particular
IDEA will perform a single function, enabling consumers to use the devices
right out of the box. For example, a Diba-based Internet appliance with
the QuarkImmedia Viewer will give consumers inexpensive and easy access to
the burgeoning amount of information on the Internet and World Wide Web.
The QuarkImmedia Viewer is expected to be part of a number of Diba's
forthcoming family of appliances.

"We are strong believers that consumers are looking for alternative -- that
is, easier to use and more affordable -- ways to access the wealth of
digital information available today," Ebrahimi said. "Personal computers
and workstations will increasingly be used by software professionals to
develop content, while devices such as Diba's IDEAs will be used by
consumers to access this content."

Diba's IDEAs will be compact, ranging from the size of a standard telephone
to the size of a portable CD player. They will cost less than $300 to
manufacture, and depending upon the business model of the content and
service provider, could be offered to consumers for either a nominal fee
or at no cost (along with an information service fee). The first devices
will be available by the end of 1996. Diba's IDEA platform will be one of
many to support the QuarkImmedia Viewer.

Located in Belmont, Calif., Diba Inc. is a software platform and tools
company specializing in IDEAs for homes, schools, and offices. The company
was founded in 1995 by Farzad Dibachi, formerly senior vice president of
Oracle Corp.; and Farid Dibachi, formerly CEO and founder of Wavetron
Microsystems Inc. Diba is privately owned and financed.

Based in Denver, Quark Inc. develops and distributes publishing software
for commercial publishing, graphic arts, and corporate communications
professionals using microcomputer-based systems. Quark's products include
QuarkXPress for Macintosh, Power Macintosh, and Windows; QuarkXPress
Passport, the multilingual version of QuarkXPress; QuarkImmedia,
professional design software for multimedia and Internet publishing; and
the Quark Publishing System, a high-performance editorial management and
document production system. Founded in 1981, Quark is privately held.
 
 =========================================================
 From the 'New Product News' Electronic News Service on...
 AOL (Keyword = New Products) and Delphi (GO COMP PROD)
 =========================================================
 This information was processed from data provided by the
 company/author mentioned. For additional details, please
 contact them directly at the address/phone# indicated.
 Trademarks are the property of their respective owners!
 =========================================================
 All submissions for this service should be addressed to:
 BAKER ENTERPRISES,  20 Ferro Dr,  Sewell, NJ  08080  USA
 Email:   rbakerpc@aol.com   --or--   rbakerpc@delphi.com
 =========================================================
