Hybrid Compact Disc Recording System to Ship 
OMI System Streamlines CD Production, Distribution and Purchase

San Jose, California (March 30, 1993) - Optical Media International (OMI)
today announced that it will ship in April a version of its Macintosh line
of QuickTOPiX CD publishing and premastering software that will produce a
CD with a "hybrid" file system. The hybrid format, a combination of the
Macintosh Hierarchical File System (HFS) and the ISO 9660 cross-platform
standard, allows CDs to be read on Macintoshes, PCs and other computers
via the most popular file system for each platform.

The hybrid CD format removes one of the major bottlenecks in the
development, marketing, and use of compact discs, namely the need to
produce a Macintosh-specific CD for Apple users and a second,
cross-platform CD for other users. This requirement was a major effort and
expense for developers who had to produce dual discs, for distribution
channels that had to stock both formats, and for end-users who had to be
concerned with compatibility.

Though the ISO 9660 format is readable via Apple Computer's "Foreign File
Access," Macintosh users prefer to access compact discs via the Macintosh
native file system, HFS. HFS provides Macintosh users such benefits as
long file names and informative icons. On the other hand, PC users and
most UNIX users prefer to read CDs through the ISO 9660 file system.

The availability of the hybrid CD format via OMI's TOPiX CD Recording
system and the new double-speed CD Recorders from Philips, Sony and Kodak,
users can now affordably produce compact discs that can be read in
virtually any CD-ROM drive attached to a DOS, Macintosh, or UNIX computer.
Pricing for the CD Recorder and OMI's software start at $8,500.

The TOPiX line of CD publishing and premastering software has a
multiplatform architecture. With current OMI products, users can choose
the platform that best suits their needs for developing, testing,
premastering, and creating CDs. In addition to creating Write Once CDs
that can be used for limited quantity business communication and testing
or sent for mastering and replication, QuickTOPiX also supports CD
simulation and the creation of industry-standard premaster tapes for
submission to a CD factory.

Optical Media International is a privately held firm headquartered in Los
Gatos, California, founded in 1985. A pioneer in the CD-ROM industry, OMI
developed the first PC-based CD-ROM premastering system, the first
PC-based multiformat CD recording system, the first Macintosh-based CD
premastering and CD recording system, and the first CD-ROM XA premastering
system.

Optical Media International
180 Knowles Drive, Los Gatos, California 95030
(408) 376-3511; fax: 408-376-3519

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