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For more information, contact: Be, Inc. Sylvie Pelaprat sylvie@be.com +1 (650) 462-4113 CHEN PR Shelly Eckenroth or Mary Leddy +1 (650) 357-8749 In Europe: Marie-Françoise Lelong-Weinberg mflelong@beeurope.com +33-1-55-91-7736 Be Incorporated Raises the Bar in Realtime Digital Media Release 4.5 Brings New Features and Improvements for Digital Audio and Video NEW YORK, New York, June 22, 1999 - Be Incorporated, developer of BeOS®, an operating system designed for digital media on desktop computers and Internet appliances, today announces BeOS release 4.5 at PC EXPO in New York. Release 4.5 brings developers and users new features and improvements that make BeOS ideal for digital media. Release 4.5 of BeOS also provides an improved installation process and user interface. Key new features include Media Kit additions, and support for an array of new devices BeOS 4.5 ships with a Web-browser, an e-mail client, media player, TV viewer, 3D audio mixer, utilities, translators, and an integrated development environment with a source-level debugger. In addition, there are about 800 applications currently available for BeOS including audio, video, graphics, office productivity, Internet and networking, development tools, utilities and games. Release 4.5 of BeOS also includes major enhancements to the Media Kit that manage and synchronize multiple streams of audio, video and other real-time data coming from various hardware inputs and outputs. Applications can read and write to files in standard data formats, including QuickTime, AVI, MPEG-1, JPEG, TIFF, BMP, Targa, PNG, PPM, WAV, AIFF, and AU. The operating system also supports plug-ins for other formats. BeOS 4.5 allows consistent and accurate playback and recording of digital media that is tracked down to 1/1,000,000 of a second. "This latest version of BeOS will raise the bar for desktop operating systems and Internet appliances," said Roy Graham, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Be Incorporated. "We have brought to market a modern operating system that meets the critical demands of broadband digital media applications without draining the users' wallet and patience. BeOS is lightweight, fast and easy to use." About BeOS BeOS is an operating system that delivers the speed, stability, and performance of a high-end multimedia workstation on ordinary, low-cost desktop PCs. Its pervasive multithreading design allows the system to respond to user input even when busy with other tasks. BeOS 4.5 also features a 64-bit file system that can manage disks and files millions of gigabytes in size. BeOS 4.5 can handle up to eight processors. With BeOS, each application runs in its own protected memory. If one application crashes, the system and other programs will continue to operate without interruption. Developed for both multimedia professionals and consumers alike, BeOS 4.5 easily coexists with Windows®, Mac OS®, Linux, and UNIX. In addition, BeOS 4.5 can read and copy data from files created in other operating systems. BeOS 4.5 runs on Intel-based personal computers with the following minimal system requirements: 32 MB of RAM, 150 MB of disk space and a CD-ROM. The product is currently available via BeDepot.com at the suggested retail price of $69.95   # # # About Be® Be Incorporated, founded in 1990 by Jean-Louis Gassée, is a software company focused on delivering an operating system designed for digital media applications and Internet appliances. With a team of industry-leading engineers and business executives in the United States and Europe, the company is dedicated to removing the limitations of existing computer architectures and delivering a new level of price/performance for digital media applications on both personal computers and Internet appliances. Additional information on Be and BeOS is available online at http://www.be.com/. Be is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Be and BeOS are registered trademarks of Be Incorporated. Other brand product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders. All rights reserved. Editor's Note: To obtain a review copy of BeOS Release 4.5, please email sylvie@be.com

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