FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ESCIENT® RELEASES FIREBALL-PC MUSIC SHARING SOFTWARE FOR WINDOWS® and MAC OS X OPERATING SYSTEMS

Company Announces Free PC and Mac Software for FireBall™ Users, Enabling the Escient FireBall Media Managers to Browse and Play Music Stored on a Personal Computer via the Home Network

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, May 31, 2006 - Escient, the pioneer in digital media management, releases the highly anticipated FireBall-PC software that allows the company’s award winning FireBall Media Managers to browse and play music stored on PC or Mac computers and enables virtually unlimited storage expansion for the FireBall Media Manager line via the home network.

Free Music Server Software for Fireball Music Managers
Available immediately via a free download from Escient’s web site, the FireBall-PC software allows any FireBall Media Manager to access one or more shared music folders which physically reside on the PC’s internal drives, external drives, Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices, or any shared volume that the computer can access over the network.

The FireBall-PC software (running on the customer’s computer), allows the user to specify one or more music folders to share with any FireBall across the network. The computer then appears as an additional music server available to any FireBall Media Manager. Artist names, album titles, track names and cover art information from the MP3, FLAC, and WMA files stored in the shared folders are automatically extracted and seamlessly merged into the FireBall’s on-screen Music Guide using FireBall-PC’s ultra-fast indexing algorithm, allowing the FireBall to locate and play any artist, album, or song in mere seconds.

FireBall Music Sharing Protocol
Using Escient’s reliable and extremely efficient FireBall Music Sharing Protocol, music stored on FireBall’s internal hard drive and FireBall-PC shared folders is merged together as if they are were all stored locally on the FireBall. There is no need to remember where the music is actually stored - just browse and play your entire collection! This unique feature allows any song to be included into custom Playlists, Favorites, or user-defined genres for unlimited hours of music enjoyment, regardless of the actual storage location.

Music to More FireBalls
FireBall-PC is also a great way to add hard drive based digital music management and playback capabilities to the popular Escient FireBall DVDM-100 and SE-D1 DVD Management systems, and to the MP-150 and MP-200 Networked Digital Media Players - which don't include internal hard drive storage.

Simple Integration
FireBall-PC runs on the Windows XP and Apple Mac OS X operating systems. The free download installs in seconds and runs the in the background requiring minimal system resources. The FireBall-PC user interface is very simple and intuitive allowing the user to add as many music shares as needed. New music added to FireBall-PC shared folders is then automatically scanned so the user doesn’t have to do any manual importing when adding new music. FireBall-PC appears to every networked FireBall as an additional remote music server without having to make any additional connections or adjusting any current settings.

Chris Commons, Vice President of Product Planning and Development at Escient, noted: “The FireBall-PC application release is a major milestone in our Interface Everywhere initiative. By creating our own custom PC application that emulates the functionality and rock-solid reliability of our FireBall Music Servers, we can be confident that our superb user experience and reputation for world-class quality will be maintained when extended to the PC.”

FireBall Media Managers Requirements
A free automatic update for FireBall Media Managers, provides the ability for FireBall E series (updated to the E2 software), E2, DVDM, and SE series to connect to a FireBall-PC computer and expand it’s music storage capabilities. Version 2.1.3.42 for a FireBall E (upgraded to E2 Software) or FireBall software version 4.1.4.2 is required for FireBall DVDM, E2, MP-150, MP-200, and SE series Media Managers.

PC/Mac Requirements
Windows XP or Mac OS X 10.4 or later are required. The PC or Mac must be on the same network as the FireBall Media Manager. In order for music files to appear correctly in FireBall’s integrated Music Guide, the shared files must contain valid metadata stored in ID3, ASF, or Ogg style tags.

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 brand.

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:
Michael Raisanen
mraisanen@dba-pr.com
DBA Public Relations
+1-212-388-1400
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