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Jean-Louis Gassée Unveils the
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RELEASED OCTOBER 3, 1995 For more information contact Jean-Louis Gassée,
jlg@be.com | |
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JEAN-LOUIS GASSÈE UNVEILS THE BEBOX MENLO PARK, Calif. (October 3, 1995) -- Be, Inc., the company founded by Jean-Louis Gassée, former president of Apple Computer's product division, today launched its much-anticipated first product: The BeBox(TM). The BeBox is a high-performance, low-cost system designed to meet the demands of sophisticated computer users and developers who are frustrated by the limitations of current architectures. With its combination of powerful hardware, an innovative new portable operating system, and a host of advanced sound, graphics, video, and communications capabilities provided by Be and third-party partners, the BeBox is poised to become a significant alternative platform for next-generation applications. It is the first true real-time, object-oriented system that features multiple PowerPC processors, true preemptive multitasking, an integrated database, fast I/O, and a wide range of expansion options -- all at an extremely affordable price. The BeBox enables users to run multiple compute-intensive programs simultaneously, synchronize music and sound, view and edit videos, and access the Internet -- all at the same time. It includes a full set of software development tools and technical documentation, and features a built-in database that is accessible at all times, so users can continually store, retrieve, and update key information from multiple sources. No other product on the market can equal its performance in its price range. The BeBox is also an excellent system for classic applications, video games, and personal productivity tools. The combination of these features makes the BeBox particularly attractive to the fast-growing A/V market -- currently valued at more than $7.3 billion by Dataquest -- as well as to technology enthusiasts and hobbyists. "The BeBox brings the benefits of new processor and software technology to markets that are exploding," said Jean-Louis Gassée. "Older computing architectures cannot match its capabilities at this price point. They carry too much baggage and can't effectively incorporate innovations. The BeBox provides a fresh start at an extremely high technical level. It's a system that has already excited developers and captured the imagination of our customers." The BeBox takes advantage of industry standards, including support for PCI and ISA cards as well as IDE and SCSI devices, making it easy and economical for customers to tailor systems to their needs using components from the "PC clone organ bank," including monitors, keyboards, memory, hard disks, CD-ROM drives, and modems. "The BeBox exposes the exciting to the excitable," said Jean-Louis Gassée. "It's a fresh architecture that lets developers do what they couldn't do on other systems. It provides an opportunity to get innovative applications to market and to establish a leadership position on an emerging platform. We're a young company, so we're eager to facilitate developers' efforts. We provide outstanding development tools with CodeWarrior(TM) for Be, and we're licensing our technology to manufacturers, integrators, and software developers." Be has already established strong alliances with American and European companies that are developing A/V and telecommunications products as well as personal productivity applications. The BeBox is the first member of the Be product line, which is being expanded to include four-processor and portable configurations. Be products will also incorporate future versions of the PowerPC processor. The hardware and operating system technology is open for licensing, expanding the possibilities for further added value. The BeBox will begin shipping to selected customers and developers in mid-October, 1995. The suggested U.S. list price for a basic system is $1,600, which includes the CPU board, the operating system, an I/O card, CodeWarrior for Be development tools, a system case, cables, and technical and user documentation. The BeBox will be sold directly by Be as well as through selected resellers, value-added resellers, and systems integrators.
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Be, Inc. was founded by Jean-Louis Gassée in 1990 to overcome the limitations of existing computer architectures. With a team of industry-leading engineers and business executives in the United States and Europe, the company has positioned itself to become a key player in fast-growing application markets. Be, Inc. is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Corporate Offices: Be, Inc.
European Offices: Be, Inc. |
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