HOT (HANDS ON TECHNOLOGY) INTRODUCES CRUSH, FIRST INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA
TITLE FOR DEVELOPING COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES

HOT Receives $1 Million in Advance Product Orders For CRUSH

BURLINGAME, Calif.--Sept. 19, 1995-- HOT (Hands-On Technology), the first
multimedia publisher to focus exclusively on the needs of the business
market, today announced the availability of CRUSH, an interactive
multimedia software tool designed to help marketing and sales
professionals develop marketing strategies and action plans for crushing
their competition. HOT has already received $1 million in product orders
from customers eager to utilize CRUSH. 

CRUSH is a real-time marketing insight tool that enables marketers to
segment their market effectively; identify and analyze trends and
competitors; map competitive positions in the market; and create reports,
presentations and action plans to develop winning competitive strategies.
Targeted to marketing and sales professionals, strategic planners and
entrepreneurs, CRUSH prompts users to combine data about their specific
organizations--even existing files on users' desktops, servers or Internet
sites--with the information already available in CRUSH to help them refine
their marketing objectives and evaluate competitive strengths and
weaknesses. 

Initial market response to CRUSH has been very strong. "The CRUSH launch is
the most successful launch of any multimedia business title and one of the
most successful launches of any multimedia title," said Rick Davis, HOT's
vice president of marketing and sales. "No other business title has
achieved a $1 million backlog of orders at the time of launch. This
demonstrates the need the market has for this type of business
application." 

CRUSH: Creating Customized Marketing Strategies

CRUSH allows business professionals to gather and organize vital
competitive data, build a customized competitive database and develop
reports and action plans to accomplish users' competitive marketing goals.
CRUSH also includes case examples that demonstrate how leading companies
have successfully coped with marketing challenges by identifying market
trends, determining their company's strengths and weaknesses and/or
mapping their competitive positions. The product is based on the proven
methodologies of Regis McKenna, the well-known marketing guru and chairman
of Regis McKenna Inc., a leading marketing consulting and communications
firm. Regis McKenna acts as a mentor in CRUSH, allowing users to benefit
from McKenna's useful tips to analyze and improve their competitive
situation. 

CRUSH is HOT's first product and the first title in a family of interactive
multimedia products the company will develop that incorporate the proven
methods of well-known corporate leaders and an integrated set of tools to
bring the latest success secrets and business methodologies to the
desktops of corporate business professionals and entrepreneurs. HOT's
CD-ROM-based products are built with sophisticated multimedia technology
that allows users to interact with their expert mentor to gain insight and
apply the mentor's proven methodologies to their own unique business
situation. 

"Multimedia has been a technology in search of a business," said Michael
Mellin, president and chief executive officer of HOT. "CRUSH is one of the
first multimedia applications to justify the use of multimedia computers
and titles in the business environment. We plan on delivering many
products that will help showcase the power and capability multimedia tools
can provide business professionals." 

CRUSH runs on Windows, Macintosh and PowerPC multimedia personal computers
with a CD-ROM drive and is priced at $499. The Macintosh version is
available immediately, with the Windows version shipping next month. 

On-Line Access and Consultants Network Provide Additional Marketing
Resources 

In a related announcement, HOT today launched its HOT Internet Home Page
and the HOT Consultants Network to provide additional marketing resources
for its customers. 

The HOT Internet Home Page (http://www.HOT.sf.ca.us) supplies customers
with any additional service and support they may need. The home page gives
Internet users exposure to a range of information resources as well as
access to other valuable sites on the Internet, making other useful
material and specialized reports accessible with the touch of a button. 

The home page is also the site of the HOT Consultants Network (HCN). HCN
allows planners, marketers, entrepreneurs and other industry decision
makers to identify certified marketing experts for solutions to specific
marketing problems. HCN not only includes information resources, but also
lists qualified and respected industry experts that provide value-added
marketing expertise.

By visiting HOT's home page, users can join in live conferences and
seminars with industry leaders and educators or participate in user
roundtables. It also provides users with a direct connection to the HOT
staff and the ability to receive on-line product demonstrations, such as
CRUSH.

About HOT

HOT is a privately funded company. Major investors include R.R. Donnelley &
Sons; Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Olivetti Ventures; New Enterprise
Associates; and several prominent individuals, including Regis McKenna,
the marketing expert featured in HOT's first product and Bill Campbell,
president and CEO of Intuit. 

Headquartered in Burlingame, Calif., HOT (Hands-On Technology) develops,
manufactures and markets a new category of interactive CD-ROM-based
products called "real-time insight tools" designed for business
professionals. Founded in 1993, HOT is the first multimedia publisher to
focus exclusively on the needs of the business market. 

Hands-On Technology
577 Airport Blvd, Suite 450
Burlingame, CA 94010
415-579-7755,  fax 415-579-7739
Internet: info@HOT.sf.ca.us
 
 =========================================================
 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@delphi.com  -or- RBakerPC (on AOL/Delphi)
 =========================================================
