For more information, contact: For Immediate Release
Macromedia
Kirsten Armstrong
kirsten@macromedia.com
(415) 252-4088
AMERICA ONLINE INCLUDES MACROMEDIA FLASH AND SHOCKWAVE PLAYERS IN AOL 4.0
SOFTWARE
Macromedia Flash and Shockwave Players Made Available to 13 Million
Customers of Nation's Largest Online Service
San Francisco, Calif. --- September 29, 1998 --- Macromedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:
MACR) today announced that America Online (NYSE: AOL) is including
Macromedia Flash and Shockwave players as part of its AOL 4.0 CD-ROM. As
part of a significant new marketing and distribution agreement with America
Online, millions of AOL users can automatically experience high-quality
Flash and Shockwave content -- including games, animated user interfaces,
interactive demos, vector-based Web graphics, cartoons and more -- without
having to download and install a separate ActiveX control or plug-in.
Now available with AOL's 4.0 software, the new capabilities allow AOL
customers to automatically enjoy compelling Web content on sites such as
Shockrave (http://www.shockrave.com), Macromedia's popular Internet
entertainment destination.
"Macromedia technologies have been rapidly adopted by AOL and other
industry-leading companies as the Web standard for delivering rich,
compelling Web content since we first opened the Flash file format in
April," said David Mendels, vice president and co-general manager of
Macromedia's Web Publishing division. "This agreement builds on that
momentum. Consumers can experience the best of the Web without any download
headaches, and designers don't have to worry about end-user compatibility
with the content they create. We're very pleased to partner with AOL to
realize our vision of adding life to the Web."
"We are very excited about including the Flash and Shockwave players with
our release of AOL 4.0 on CD-ROMs," said David Gang, senior vice president
of strategic development at AOL. "With Macromedia's players installed, AOL
users will be equipped to experience the excitement of animation and
entertainment on the Web."
Today's news follows Macromedia's earlier announcement that the Flash and
Shockwave players are included with every copy of Windows 98. Macromedia
also announced that Netscape is including the Flash player with all current
versions of its Navigator browser. This news further establishes Macromedia
player technologies as Web standards for delivering rich, interactive
content on the Web.
ABOUT MACROMEDIA FLASH AND SHOCKWAVE PLAYERS Since its introduction in
December 1995, Macromedia Shockwave has brought multimedia to the Internet,
transforming the Web from a static, text-based medium into a dynamic,
interactive experience. Shockwave content is created with Macromedia
Director. Director, now in version 6.5, is an industry standard for
creating powerful multimedia content. For more information, visit
http://www.macromedia.com/software/director.
Macromedia Flash products bring compelling, interactive content to life on
the Web. Professional Web designers use the Flash authoring tool to create
and deliver compact, fast, and beautiful vector-based graphics and
animation for the Web. Macromedia Generator is new server-based software
that uses templates created in Flash to deliver Web graphics on-the-fly
from dynamic, real-time data. Illustrators and designers can also use the
award-winning FreeHand 8 to produce Flash graphics for the Web. The free
Flash player enables Web consumers to display Flash and Generator content
that streams, or plays, as it downloads from within a Web browser -- even
over slow Internet connections.
Macromedia recently published the popular Flash file format (.swf) as an
open Internet binary standard with widespread support from industry-leading
companies including Microsoft, IBM, RealNetworks, Netscape, Associated
Press, @Home and Broderbund. The move establishes Flash as the Web standard
for vector graphics and animation, provides a more attractive environment
to content publishers, allows Web designers to make animation a standard
element in their designs, and enables developers to deliver
Flash-compatible authoring and editing tools. For more information, visit
http://www.flash.com.
ABOUT AOL
America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's leader in
branded interactive services and content. America Online, Inc. operates two
Internet online services: America Online, with more than 13 million
members; and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members. America
Online, Inc. also operates AOL Studios, the world's leading creator of
original interactive content. Other branded Internet services operated by
America Online, Inc. include AOL.COM, the world's most accessed Web site
from home; Digital City, Inc., the #1 branded local content network and
community guide on AOL and the Internet; AOL NetFind, AOL's comprehensive
guide to the Internet; AOL Instant Messenger, an instant messaging tool
available on both AOL and the Internet; and ICQ, an instant communications
and chat technology on the Internet.
ABOUT MACROMEDIA
Macromedia's mission is to add life to the Web. By providing its
award-winning Web Publishing, Web Traffic, and Web Learning solutions to
Web designers, consumers, and the enterprise, Macromedia is delivering a
completely new generation of Internet tools and technologies designed to
transform the Web experience. Headquartered in San Francisco, Macromedia
(NASDAQ: MACR) has more than 550 employees worldwide and is available on
the Internet at http://www.macromedia.com. Macromedia also hosts one of the
most engaging entertainment sites on the Web at http://www.shockrave.com.
