Apple Computer Announces Licensing Of DataBeam Information Sharing
Technology

Apple QuickTime Conferencing Users to Share Applications and Files
Seamlessly and Easily with Windows, OS/2 and DOS Users Worldwide

CUPERTINO, California--August 28, 1995--Apple Computer, Inc. today
announced that it has signed an agreement to incorporate DataBeam's
Collaborative Computing Toolkit Series into its line of QuickTime
Conferencing products. Based on the International Telecommunications
Union's (ITU) T.120 standard, the technology will allow Apple QuickTime
Conferencing users from around the world to video and audio conference,
share applications and files and annotate and modify text simultaneously.
Users will be able to share information regardless of the type of personal
computer system (Macintosh, OS/2, Windows and DOS) or network (Ethernet,
ATM, ISDN, analog line modems, the Internet) they use.

"In February we demonstrated QuickTime Conferencing cross-platform video
conferencing compatibility between Apple computers and PC-compatibles
through the video standard, H.320," said Howard Green, program manager in
the Apple Interactive Media Group. "We've now fortified QuickTime
Conferencing by going beyond standards-based video and audio conferencing
to allow users and developers to work collaboratively through shared
documents, data, video, audio and text."

With QuickTime Conferencing, a group of users will be able to create, read
and modify electronic documents together, regardless of location or choice
of personal computer. For example, five regional managers based in
different parts of the world -- Paris, New York, Tokyo, Austin and
Vancouver -- can create and review a sales forecast together, in real
time. Each participant can see the other regional managers in video
conferencing windows on the monitor. They can also view, annotate and
change the forecast document or spreadsheet and can see the annotations
and changes as they occur. The forecast document is visible and shared
across each user screen, combined with the real-time, live video images of
each participant.

Research results from The Gartner Group and The Yankee Group, as well as
secondary research, and surveys of Apple customers and over 400 QuickTime
Conferencing beta users, indicate that standards-based application and
file sharing are among the most important features for a productive
videoconferencing and collaboration product.

Information Sharing Through Standards

By licensing and integrating DataBeam's T.120 protocol implementation,
Apple can assure QuickTime Conferencing users and application developers
that virtually any product that incorporates these protocols will be
compatible and fully interoperate with Apple's QuickTime Conferencing
collaboration products, anywhere in the world. DataBeam has licensed their
T.120 protocols to Microsoft and PictureTel among others. Intel announced
that they intend to support T.120 technology. Apple's licensing of this
common implementation of the T.120 specification will assure the highest
possible level of interoperability of Apple QuickTime Conferencing
products with any other type of personal computer, including Windows, OS/2
and others. On May 22, 1995, AT&T WorldWorx Network Services and Apple
Computer announced an agreement that provided Macintosh users with access
to other H.320 and T.120 standards-based videoconferencing products over
AT&T's global wide area network.

DataBeam's technology is based on the T.120 standard for multi-point data
communications, an open set of protocols developed by the ITU to establish
interoperability among conferencing vendors, products and services. The
T.120 standard defines a common protocol or "language" that is completely
independent of the personal computer being used. This allows any desktop
data and document collaboration system to "talk" with other systems and
networks using a uniform set of rules that ensure shared information will
be accurately and dependably transmitted and received, with the full range
of features available to all participants.

"The integration of DataBeam's implementation of T.120 is part of Apple's
global strategy to deliver no-excuses, platform independent
interoperability," said Allan White, senior director of Apple's
Communication & Collaboration Programs Business Development Group. "We
will deliver communication and collaboration products that provide
extraordinary ease of use and immediate communications with any user
across the world. Apple customers will not need to know what type or brand
of computer resides on the other side of the office or global network."

"One of the key benefits of T.120 is that it was designed to be platform
independent," said David Panos, vice president of marketing for DataBeam.
"We constantly hear from end-users that they want their vendors to provide
solutions that are interoperable with their Macintosh systems. Apple's
commitment to T.120 makes this a simple reality for everyone."

Apple Opens Up New Markets for Developers

Apple has structured the DataBeam licensing agreement in a way that will
allow developers to incorporate T.120 protocols into their Macintosh
applications without complex licensing requirements. Apple plans to
provide QuickTime Conferencing developers with one-stop shopping
convenience when developing or bringing their existing applications to the
Macintosh open standards environment. As part of Apple's goal to make
supporting the Macintosh platform as simple and convenient as possible,
developers will be able to license the T.120 technology directly from
DataBeam or Apple. By providing an open protocol-based development
environment with the same T.120 and H.320 protocols used in other major
platforms such as Windows, OS/2 and others, QuickTime Conferencing
developers will have the opportunity to create products that reach
millions of users across multiple platform markets including Macintosh,
OS/2, DOS, UNIX, Windows 95 and beyond. Apple's use of a common,
internationally adopted protocol and DataBeam's industry standard
implementation of T.120, will allow software developers to develop their
applications for both the Macintosh as well as for other platforms such as
Windows, OS/2, and vice versa, with a high level of confidence of assured
interoperability.

QuickTime Conferencing is a standards-based architecture that allows users
to share and annotate text, images, screen capture, sound, video and
virtual scenes real-time among fellow conference participants in a variety
of locations worldwide. QuickTime Conferencing allows video conferencing
and collaboration between Macintoshes, PC, UNIX and room-based video
conferencing systems through the H.320 and T.120 teleconferencing and
collaboration standards. Users can also broadcast and view multimedia,
record conversations and transform those conversations into QuickTime
movies.

The QuickTime Conferencing application, Apple Media Conference, is included
in the recently announced Power Macintosh 7500 and Power Macintosh 8500.
This marks the first time a desktop system can be purchased
videoconferencing and collaboration ready. Apple plans to offer current
Macintosh owners the QuickTime Conferencing Kit, a videoconferencing and
data collaboration kit containing the Apple Media Conference software, the
QuickTime Conferencing system extension, and an NTSC analog output camera.
The kit is planned to be available from Apple this Fall for use in LAN or
direct-connect Internet environments. The QuickTime Conferencing ISDN Kit
is a WAN-capable upgrade to the QuickTime Conferencing Kit, and contains
an H.320 hardware CODEC (compression/decompression), and the necessary
ISDN-connectivity software. This gives customers the ability to conference
long-distance and cross-platform with any other H.320-compliant system, at
high-quality ISDN data rates, and is planned to be available in the first
quarter 1996.

The Apple Media Conference application can also be used with a variety of
third-party CODECs. The QuickTime Conferencing Kit is planned to be
available for under $300 and the QuickTime Conferencing ISDN Kit is
planned to be priced at around $1,750. T.120 technology is planned to be
incorporated into Apple's QuickTime Conferencing product in 1996.

DataBeam is the leading supplier of standards-based collaborative software
technologies and developers' tools. The company's Collaborative Computing
Toolkit Series enables communications, networking, telephony, conferencing
and gaming products with real-time collaboration capabilities. DataBeam's
related multi-point application software is used by Fortune 1000 companies
and major organizations worldwide. DataBeam is privately held.

Apple Computer, Inc. a recognized pioneer and innovator in the information
industry, creates powerful solutions based on easy-to-use personal
computers, servers, peripherals, software, online services, and personal
digital assistants. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple (NASDAQ:
AAPL) develops, manufactures, licenses and markets products, technologies
and services for the business, education, consumer, scientific &
engineering, and government markets in over 140 countries.

Customer Information Contact: If you are considering the purchase of an
Apple product and would like to have product information faxed to you,
please call 1-800-462-4396 in the U.S. or (415) 598-4392 in Canada. If you
do not have a fax machine or would like to locate an Apple authorized
reseller near you, please call 1-800-538-9696. Customers outside the U.S.
should contact their local Apple representatives for information.

Apple Computer Inc
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-996-1010
 
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