Asymetrix's Compel Storms the Market

Product Gains Praise From Worldwide Customers, Resellers and Hardware
Partners

BELLEVUE, Wash.--May 18, 1993--Compel, the interactive business
presentation package that Asymetrix Corporation introduced less than two
months ago, is receiving enthusiastic praise from customers impressed by
its robustness, ease of use and affordable price. Another sign of success
is Compel's bundling with several key providers of multimedia hardware and
peripherals, such as Intel, Consumer Technology and Cardinal, and
internationally, Korea's Solvit Chosum Media Corporation.

"We have seen tremendous response from our customers saying they've been
searching for a package designed specifically for onscreen presentation
delivery," said Bert Kolde, president of Asymetrix. "Their feedback is
that Compel's easy and integrated multimedia support, powerful
interactivity and unique presentation portability features make it the
clear tool of choice for onscreen presenters. Since our data shows that
the onscreen category is the fastest growing segment of the presentation
software market, we are very excited about Compel's continued sales
success. To date, Compel sales have exceeded our expectations."

Customers from the medical industry to the entertainment business have
adopted Compel, some abandoning established products such as Freelance or
Harvard Graphics. The reasons they quote for the switch are ease-of-use,
multimedia capabilities, abundance of templates, flexibility in delivery,
quality of the presentation, and finally, price. Compel retails for $295,
but it is available for $99 until July 10, 1993.

Resellers are also impressed with Compel. Nathan Morton, president and
chief executive officer of CompUSA, Inc., said, "CompUSA, America's
largest computer superstore retailer, is proud to distribute Compel. We
have seen a growing interest in multimedia from our customers who are
business users. As the first affordable multimedia presentation package,
Compel is a great answer to their questions. Sales have been strong in our
stores."

In addition, Compel won the Windows Watcher Innovation Award last month.
The award, given by the Redmond, Washington-based newsletter, recognizes
creativity and fresh approaches in computing. In describing Compel, editor
Jesse Berst wrote, "Multimedia just got easier and more accessible for
everyday business presenters."

Who Is Using Compel? 

The following is only a sampling of a wide variety of businesses that are
successfully using Compel:

CEMA Distribution. 

CEMA, a company that distributes the music of Garth Brooks, Janet Jackson
and others on the labels of Capitol Records, Virgin and EMI Records Group,
is demanding about video and music quality. Using Compel, CEMA's Grant
Spofford is developing what he calls the "sales rep of the future."
Directed at resellers, this electronic format magazine will showcase new
offerings including samples of the music and videos, special messages from
the artists and album graphics.

National Medical Enterprises. 

Tim Burns coordinates video-conferencing for this company, which owns and
manages hospitals nationally and internationally. He created a
presentation in Compel to explain the benefits of video-conferencing and
plans to play the presentation during video-conference sessions.

Cadd Works. 

Paul Dugas used to present graphics and animations of his company's oil
field equipment to customers using high-end animation software. But the
documents lacked a unifying, professional look and feel. Now he is using
Compel and says, "It makes my job a lot easier." He is impressed with how
easily he can incorporate stills, animations and sound into his
presentations.

Gakov Limited. 

"First, I'd like to compliment you on Compel," said Jack Ballinger. "It is
a great presentation program. I have Freelance 2.0 and Corel, but I don't
think I'll be using anything but Compel for presentations. If you are
thinking of renaming the product, go with WOW! That was the reaction it
got from me." Jack is using Compel to show potential 486 buyers what those
computers can do.

VideoLogic. 

Says Steve Raney: "I used Compel for the first time for a recent company
meeting. I am in charge of Developer Relations at VideoLogic, and we make
'MediaSpace' for full screen capture and playback of Video for Windows. To
illustrate my point videotaped product managers from companies I work
with. Instead of reading boring bullets and charts, the audience could
hear directly from our users why they think our boards are great. The
presentation was a huge success."

IBM. 

IBM's Ultimedia Tool Series gave Compel its stamp of approval as its newest
member. The Ultimedia Tool Series is a collection of state-of-the-art
multimedia development tools, optimized in complementary groupings to help
creators in the development process. Compel can be mixed and matched with
other tool members in a seamless, interoperable manner. IBM considers
Compel a key component in the Ultimedia Tool Series.

New PC Manufacturer Agreements Announced

Asymetrix signed several PC manufacturer deals in the few weeks following
the introduction of Compel, demonstrating that the new presentation
package is a natural asset for people acquiring new multimedia hardware
products.

"People who purchase the innovative hardware now available from Cardinal,
Intel and Consumer Technology will also be getting our innovative
software. The two pieces complement each other and together provide the
tools for multimedia users to take advantage of this technology," said
Kolde.

Compel and MediaBlitz! version 2.0 will be bundled with Cardinal's
Multimedia Accelerator Kit, which includes a 24-bit graphics accelerator
card and a paint program. The kit fills a void in the marketplace as the
first upgrade kit focusing on video acceleration and is priced
aggressively at $199. MediaBlitz!, another Asymetrix product, enables
users to quickly create powerful multimedia scores consisting of any
combination of video, audio, animation and graphics synchronized over
time.

Asymetrix recently signed an agreement to bundle Compel with an unannounced
product from Consumer Technology. The company markets PC-to-TV adapters.
Its latest product will open new venues for multimedia presentations.
Expanding the ways those presentations can be delivered should accelerate
the adoption of multimedia.

Compel, as well as MediaBlitz! version 2.0, are bundled with the Intel
Smart Video Recorder, the first retail add-in board to capture and
compress Indeo video in a single step. The bundle, retailing for $699,
provides customers a turnkey solution for capturing and creating dynamic
presentations that seamlessly integrate video images.

International Success

Since the opening of its European office in Germany, Asymetrix has already
released an international English version of Compel and is also planning
to release a German version in August.

The company is also continuing to strengthen its relationships with
international partners. In the UK, Compel will soon be marketed by Ingram
UK. In Korea, Solvit Chosum Media Corporation, long an Asymetrix reseller,
will be bundling Compel and Multimedia ToolBook with its multimedia
upgrade kits. Multimedia ToolBook is Asymetrix's award-winning development
tool used to develop many commercial and in-house applications.

Asymetrix Corporation is a privately held, employee-owned software company
based in Bellevue, Washington, committed to a mission of bringing
pioneering productivity to all levels of Windows-based users with
affordable, easy to use software.

Asymetrix
110-110th Ave NE, Suite 700, Bellevue, WA 98004
206-462-0501;  fax: 206-455-3071

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