Macromedia Acquires FutureWave Software
Randy Cox
People on this list might be interested in this announcement:
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Macromedia made the following announcement today:
For more information, contact: For Immediate Release
Macromedia Schwartz Communications
Mary Leong Carol McGarry, Mike Farber (617) 431-0770
(415) 252-2268 Shirley Macbeth (415) 512-0770
Macromedia Announces Flash-The Easiest Way to Create Small and Fast
Shockwave Multimedia
Macromedia Acquires FutureWave Software and the Award-Winning FutureSplash=
=94
Animator
San Francisco, CA--January 6, 1997--Macromedia (NASDAQ:MACR), the leading
provider of cross-platform software tools for Web publishing, multimedia,
and graphics, today announced Macromedia Flash=81, the easiest way to create
small, fast Shockwave multimedia. With Flash, Web designers can now add
excitement to every Web page with vector-based, interactive animations,
buttons, and graphics. Flash extends the Shockwave standard for multimedia
with small, fast and fun animations.
Flash joins the Macromedia product family through the acquisition of
FutureWave Software (San Diego, California). The companies announced today
an agreement whereby Macromedia has acquired FutureWave, the developer of
FutureSplash Animator now renamed Macromedia Flash and integrated with the
Shockwave family of multimedia players.
Macromedia Flash is affordable and easy to use. With Flash it is easy to
create and animate high-resolution, vector-based graphics or to import them
from leading graphic design tools such as Macromedia FreeHand=94. The Flash
animation environment includes a complete set of drawing tools, animations
controls, and file format support as well as easy to use anti-aliasing,
outline fonts, in-betweening, and "onion skinning."
The Shockwave Flash player is very small, approximately 100K, and downloads
rapidly, making the user's experience of Web multimedia completely
seamless. Shockwave Flash converts animations into an extremely compact
file format, then streams the animation
onto the Web page so that it plays as it is downloaded. For the Web
surfer, playback is very fast using a standard modem connection.
"Macromedia Flash addresses the growing needs of Web page designers who
want to easily create Shockwave animations and graphics that are small,
fast, and fun," said Bud Colligan, chairman of Macromedia. "Flash joins
Director in bringing the impact and creative freedom of compelling
multimedia content to a broader market and making the Web a more exciting
experience."
Shockwave has become the standard for Web multimedia. More than 17 million
browsers have been Shockwave-enabled through downloads from Macromedia's
Web page and distribution agreements with leading browser vendors.
Shockwave is bundled with Microsoft Windows95, Netscape Navigator Personal
Edition and Plus Pak, Apple Macintosh Internet-ready systems, and America
Online. Flash broadens Macromedia's product line to enable Shockwave
multimedia creation for all Web pages with a wide range of compelling
content, from Flash's small and fast animations to Director's rich and
immersive content. Prominent Web sites that are already using Flash include
MSN, The Simpsons and Spike Webb Comic Books.
"We are delighted to join Macromedia in providing the leading multimedia
tools for every Web designer's needs," said Jonathan Gay, vice president of
FutureWave Software. "Flash and Director complement each other perfectly:
one is small and fast, the other powerful and immersive. Shockwave content
continues to define Web multimedia."
Tom Firman, director of Technology at MSN said: "MSN has built one of the
Web's most exciting sites using Macromedia Flash. Every page is packed
with animated content and has an interactive interface. Shockwave Director
and Shockwave Flash are allowing us to create a powerful and unique
experience for every Web surfer."
According to Halsey Minor, chairman and CEO of CNET: "Flash is a technology
whose Internet time has come. It puts small, fast multimedia on the Web, so
the average user with a 28.8 modem gets the full impact immediately.
Macromedia's products are helping Web developers explore new realms of
creativity, ranging from the richest multimedia experiences to
attention-grabbing animations."
Pricing and Availability
Macromedia Flash supports Microsoft Windows 95, Windows NT, Apple Macintosh
and Power Macintosh systems and is available in North America for an
introductory street price of $249. To order, please call (800) 457-1774.
Interested parties outside North America should contact their local
Macromedia distributor for pricing and availability. The Shockwave Flash
Player supports Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer and is
available for free download from http://www.macromedia.com. For more
information on Flash please visit the Macromedia Web site.
Transaction
The acquisition is a tax-free, stock-for-stock merger and will be accounted
for as a pooling of interests. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Key engineering and marketing personnel, including Jonathan Gay, vice
president of Development, will remain with Macromedia and relocate from San
Diego to San Francisco.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results may
vary materially from those described in this forward-looking statement
based on a number of factors including timing of the introduction of new
products, rate of customer acceptance of Web multimedia tools, competition
and pricing for such tools.
About Macromedia
Macromedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACR) is the leading provider of cross-platform
software tools for Web publishing, multimedia and graphics. With
headquarters in San Francisco, only Macromedia delivers a complete,
affordable set of software tools for digital media creation and delivery
anywhere. Macromedia's award-winning products for Windows, Macintosh and
the Internet are available to business, education, and government customers
in over 50 countries. Additional information on Macromedia is available on
the Internet at www.macromedia.com.
###
Product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc.,
as indicated.
Other products or services may be trademarks or service marks of others.
RC
Tom Adams
Mr. Hamilton must be pleased. ;-)
At 11:40 AM 1/7/97 +1100, you wrote:
>Another technology for web playback and interactivity worth looking at is
mBed Interactor, just checked the site and got the plugin, it looks pretty good.
>
>http://www.mbed.com
>
>Nick
>ni...@bbb.com.au
>
>
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Tom Adams
Adams Interactive Media
t...@xmission.com
http://www.xmission.com/~ta/
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Gordon Williams
>Mr. Hamilton must be pleased. ;-)
>
>At 11:40 AM 1/7/97 +1100, you wrote:
>>Another technology for web playback and interactivity worth looking at is
>mBed Interactor, just checked the site and got the plugin, it looks pretty
>good.
In the context of the FutureWave purchase, would Paul be pleased because
they bought Futurewave and NOT mBed?
Gordon
Nick Latif
Without reading the rest . . .
What do I do with Pixar Renderman, MacroModel (sp) ? Re-bundle it, I guess
:-)
Half-seriously folks, what do we do with all the half/non-used software
that's sitting on the shelf? Suggestions Macromedia?
Ah, I get it. Continue upgrading and cast off the excess nuisances.
Sincerely,
Nick Latif
Judith McRae
Donate it to a school. Kids love stuff like that.
Judith
**************************************************
We have the technology.
We even know how most of it works.
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~jmcrae/home_page_.html
**************************************************
Paul Hamilton
>>>>
In the context of the FutureWave purchase, would Paul be pleased because
they bought Futurewave and NOT mBed?
<<<<
Rumours get started like this.
It's just as good an idea as Apple buying Next. (read what you like into that!).
But FutureWave is excellent technology that has found a good home. Good to
see the small guys getting some attention now and then. :-)
The second love of my life is still Authorware though. Shame Macromedia
can't see this.
Anyway, enough of the downer, I think it will put "Shockwave" into far more
peoples hands...
...Just not OUR favourite shockwave.
BTW, I can't really understand how to use FutureWave (I've had a copy for a
while), so maybe the interface gurus of Macromedia (I'm talking about the
Authorware team) can help that out a bit!
Paul.
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Paul Hamilton
Engineering and Design
mBED Software
e-mail: pa...@mbed.com
web: www.mbed.com