| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW ESCIENT FIREBALL™ DVDM-300 MAKES IT
EASIER TO MANAGE DVD MOVIE AND DIGITAL MUSIC COLLECTIONS
-- Easy-to-Use TV Interface Provides Convenient Access to DVD Movies, Music
and More, Without Ever Touching a Silver Disc! --
INDIANAPOLIS, IN, January 6,
2005 – Escient, a world leader in advanced digital home entertainment
solutions, will change the way people think about home entertainment at CES 2005 with the
introduction of its breakthrough FireBall DVDM-300 Media Management system. Available in
the first quarter of this year with an SRP of $4,999, the FireBall DVDM-300 merges
Escient’s industry leading music management system with its one of a kind DVD movie
management system, into a single home media server. Escient will be demonstrating the
DVDM-300 product during CES at the Marantz booth, LVCC, South Hall #20901.
Bernie Sepaniak, president of Rio,
ReplayTV, Escient and ACT, noted: “Escient continues to play a leading role in the
emergence of next generation networked A/V products. With the introduction of the FireBall
DVDM-300 we are now offering the custom installation market most powerful and complete
integrated media management solution available.”
Enjoy Every Movie in Your
Collection at the Touch of a Button
With the DVDM-300, users can manage, control and access more than 1,200 DVDs stored and
protected in up to three external Sony or Kenwood DVD/CD changers. To manage such a vast
collection, the DVDM-300 utilizes Escient’s patented automatic transport and
identification technologies, as well as CD recognition technology from GracenoteTM, to
instantly find and play the desired disc stored in a connected changer. In addition, the
DVDM-300 accesses Escient’s world-renowned MovieDB™ DVD database, to provide
users with an integrated movie guide that automatically displays titles, cast information,
ratings, running time, and cover art for every movie in your collection.
The Ultimate Music
Management System
With its massive 300GB internal hard drive and ability to manage up to 1200 external CDs,
the new Escient FireBall DVDM-300 can store and catalog even the largest music
collections. It is now possible to store over 850 hours of true CD quality music using the
new FLAC encoder (Free Lossless Audio Codec), or over 5000 hours of MP3 music (depending
on compression rate). In addition, with built in file-sharing services, consumers can
easily transfer music files between the DVDM-300 and their PC or MAC, allowing music
library backups and music file importing. The file-sharing services also allow users to
stream and listen to audio files directly from their FireBall to a computer on the same
network.
Music I/O
Like all Escient Fireball music management products, the DVDM-300 features a built-in
CD-RW that lets users conveniently rip CDs directly to the internal hard drive. The CD-RW
drive also allows users to burn customized mix CDs based on user created Playlists. Thanks
to the new optimized FLAC encoder, the DVDM-300 provides true CD quality recording
(eliminating the loss of information inherent to conventional MP3 compression) while using
much less disk space when compared to the original CD. In addition, the improved DVDM-300
user interface improves the entire recording process, allowing automated recording from
the internal drive and connected external CD changers.
Easy Setup and Integration
The FireBall DVDM-300’s built-in 10/100 Ethernet connector allows easy connection to
a variety of in-home, wired or wireless networks. Once connected, users can stream files
across the home network as well as backup files from the FireBall. Furthermore, with the
integrated web server, a DVDM-300 can be controlled from any PC or MAC on the network
using the Escient EWP-2000 wireless touch panel or an HTML compatible browser (Internet
Explorer or Safari) from a PC or Mac.
The FireBall DVDM-300 allows users
to view, manage, and stream music to a FireBall MP-100 or the new FireBall MP-150 Digital
Music Player when connected on the same home network. The DVDM-300 also provides access to
a variety of high quality Internet Radio Stations provided by RadioIO, Radio Free Virgin
and others. Users can also program new Internet Radio Stations into the iRadio guide.
The FireBall DVDM-300 provides
automatic audio and video switching for each of the three external DVD/CD changers,
eliminating the need for expensive external video switchers and custom programming. Using
patent pending technologies, the DVDM-300 will automatically control external A/V
receivers from Marantz and Denon, switching them to the correct surround mode and input
depending the type of disc played. As with other FireBall products, Escient’s
powerful external control protocols are included to provide easy integration with third
party controls systems such as AMX, Crestron, Niles, Xantech, and others.
Easily installed in as little as 15
minutes, the FireBall DVDM-300 ships with “Quick Set-Up” instructions that show
several connection options. Free third-party external control modules for advanced custom
installations are available on the Escient website (www.escient.com).
The Fireball DVDM-300 will be available in the first quarter of 2005 and carries a
manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $4,999.
About
Escient
Escient is a division of D&M Holdings U.S., Inc., and is the pioneering leader in the
design, development, manufacture, marketing, sales, distribution and support of a
groundbreaking category of audio/video products that meld the power of the Internet
seamlessly with intuitive home-entertainment devices. Escient’s products and services
are designed to enhance the entertainment experience by providing previously unheard-of
ways to access music, movies and related content throughout the home. The company
possesses a deep portfolio of designs for new products including media servers, DVD
systems, remote players and networking and streaming devices, that are brought to market
under the Escient brand through a channel of over 800 locations throughout the United
States, Canada, Europe and Mexico, and in partnership with other leading global consumer
electronics brands.
About D&M
Holdings Inc.
D&M Holdings Inc. (TSE II: 6735) is based in Tokyo and owns the Denon, Marantz,
McIntosh Laboratory, Boston Acoustics, Snell, D&M Professional, ReplayTV®, Rio® and
Escient® brands. Denon, Marantz, McIntosh and D&M Professional are global industry
leaders in the specialist home theater, audio/video consumer electronics or professional
audio markets, with a strong and long-standing heritage of manufacturing and marketing
high-performance audio and video components. Boston Acoustics, with its signature Boston
Sound,™ is a leader in premium loudspeakers for home and audio markets. Snell is a
super premium speaker brand. The ReplayTV, Rio and Escient brands represent award-winning
technologies in digital home entertainment. Additional information is available at www.dm-holdings.com.
DISCLAIMER
Statements in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may include
forward looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of
the company. We wish to caution you that such statements are just predictions and that
actual events or results may differ materially. Forward looking statements involve a
number of risks and uncertainties surrounding competitive and industry conditions, market
acceptance for the company's products, risks of litigation, technological changes,
developing industry standards and other factors related to the company's businesses.
Escient and the Escient logo are registered trademarks and FireBall is a trademark of
Digital Networks North America, Inc.
FOR MORE
INFORMATION:
Media Contact:
DBA Public Relations
John Muscari
+1-212-388-1400
jmuscari@dba-pr.com
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