Comunicano

THE RODA GROUP ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF SIGHTSPEED BY LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL

Leading Provider of Internet Video Communications Services Joins Global Leader in Personal Peripherals

BERKELEY, Calif. (Nov. 3, 2008)—The Roda Group, the principal venture capital backer and majority shareholder of privately held SightSpeed Inc., announced today that it was pleased to see the award-winning provider of high-quality Internet video communications services acquired by Logitech International for approximately $30 million in cash.

Eric Tveter, Chairman of SightSpeed and senior advisor to The Roda Group commented: “When you nurture a startup, as we have done with SightSpeed since 2003, it’s always extremely satisfying to see a respected global leader like Logitech take your ‘baby’ under its wing. We are passionate believers in the overall market opportunity, and we couldn’t be more pleased to see SightSpeed become part of Logitech going forward. This deal is an extremely positive event for SightSpeed’s customers, shareholders and employees.”

The Roda Group provides entrepreneurs with the environment, resources and guidance to launch and grow their innovative technology businesses. The firm’s other major successes include Ask Jeeves and PolyServe, early stage companies that were previously acquired by IAC and HP respectively. For more, see http://www.rodagroup.com/

SightSpeed was co-founded by Aron Rosenberg (SightSpeed CTO), Dr. Toby Berger (Emeritus Professor of Engineering at Cornell University and now Professor of Engineering at the University of Virginia), and Brad Treat (entrepreneur).

About SightSpeed, Inc.
SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of Internet video communications for both the consumer and business user, offering the broadest portfolio of industry-leading Internet video communications services. These include, SightSpeed Free, SightSpeed PLUS and SightSpeed Light (for social networks), the most widely praised consumer-focused video chat services, which turn a PC or Mac into an easy-to-use video phone to communicate with friends and family around the world. In addition, SightSpeed Business is the world’s first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing service for all businesses, including SMBs.

SightSpeed's services are SIP-based and standards-compliant. The company’s revolutionary human perception-based technology is patented and based on more than ten years of R&D originating at Cornell University. Among the many awards SightSpeed has received are Frost & Sullivan's “Company of the Year” award, PC Magazine's “Editors' Choice,” PC World's “100 Best Products,” and a 2008 “Codie” from the Software & Information Industry Association.

Founded in 2001 and based in Berkeley, Calif., SightSpeed is a privately held company funded by The Roda Group, best known for launching Ask Jeeves and PolyServe. For more information visit SightSpeed online.

SIGHTSPEED’S AWARD-WINNING VIDEO CHAT AND CONFERENCING NOW AVAILABLE ON NETBOOKS AND FOR LINUX

First and Only Multi-Party Video and Voice Chat and Conferencing Service to Be Available Across Windows, Mac and Linux Platforms

BERKELEY, Calif. – Sept. 16, 2008 – SightSpeed Inc., the leading provider of Internet video chat and conferencing, today announced that its award-winning video and voice communications services are now available on “netbook” PCs -- the new mini-notebook category. With its announcement, SightSpeed achieves yet another first by becoming the only multi-party video and voice communications service to be fully cross-platform across all three major operating systems – Windows, Mac and Linux.

SightSpeed’s new Linux version is available now as the “Dell Video Chat powered by SightSpeed” application that comes pre-installed on the Linux build of Dell’s newly-launched Inspiron Mini 9 device. (Dell Video Chat, Windows version, is also pre-installed on the Windows XP version of the Mini 9.)

“The fact that Linux makes smaller demands on screen real estate has given us at SightSpeed new flexibility to design extremely intuitive and compelling controls for video calling – and worldwide telephone calling -- across these new smaller form factors,” says CEO Peter Csathy. “With a primary thrust of this new smaller category of netbooks being on-the-go communications, SightSpeed is paving the way for easy, high quality, face-to-face communications from any broadband connection. It’s all about carrying your friends and colleagues with you, wherever you go around the world.”

The new Linux-based version of “Dell Video Chat powered by SightSpeed” comes with four-way multiparty calling out of the box, as well as unlimited video mail storage and up to three-minute recording per mail – features that typically come only with the SightSpeed PLUS plan, at $9.95 per month. It is also optimized for the netbook platform.

“We know the specifications of the camera, speakers and microphones that are going into these new netbooks, and so we’ve optimized the factory version to take full advantage of them,” says Csathy. “As a result, SightSpeed’s best-in-class video and voice services have never been easier to use – the user is up, running and can make video and voice calls in less than 30 seconds.”

About SightSpeed

SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of a groundbreaking portfolio of Internet video communications services, based on patented human perception-based technology coming out of ten years of R&D at Cornell University. Its services include SightSpeed Free, the “gold standard” in Internet-based video chat for consumers; SightSpeed PLUS, a $9.95-per-month service with more features, including four-way simultaneous video chat and longer video e-mails; SightSpeed Light, a MySpace and hi5 widget that captures and creates video messages as posts, and SightSpeed Business, a full-featured suite of collaboration and productivity tools with simultaneous nine-way video/voice/text conferencing – an industry breakthrough – starting at $19.95 per month. SightSpeed is the first and only multi-party video and voice chat and conferencing service that works across all three major operating systems: Windows, Mac and Linux.

SIP-based and standards-compliant, SightSpeed’s services have won numerous “best in class” awards, including Frost & Sullivan's “Company of the Year” award, PC Magazine's “Editors' Choice,” PC World's “100 Best Products,” and a 2008 “Codie” from the Software & Information Industry Association.

Founded in 2001 and based in Berkeley, Calif., SightSpeed is a privately held company funded by The Roda Group, best known for launching Ask Jeeves and PolyServe. For more information visit SightSpeed online at www.sightspeed.com.

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PRO VS. GI JOE COMES TO PHILLY

SightSpeed Video Conferencing Connects Pro Athletes with Troops Stationed Abroad

BERKELEY, Calif. – Sept. 12, 2008—SightSpeed Inc., the leading provider of Internet video chat and conferencing, will connect sites in Philadelphia and Kuwait, Tuesday, Sept. 16, when three Philadelphia Eagles players square off eye-to-eye against U.S. Army troops in a friendly Pro vs. GI Joe interactive online Madden NFL ‘09 battle.

Pro vs. GI Joe is a nonprofit organization that manages and sponsors real-time video game competitions between professional athletes in the United States and troops stationed abroad over the Internet using PlayStation, XBox and the WII. The organization – whose motto is “Doin’ A Little for Those Who Do A Lot” -- also arranges for the troops’ family members and loved ones to travel to the U.S. sites to be a part of the event.

SightSpeed will provide the live, real-time video link between a USO center in Kuwait and the Eagles’ NovaCare practice facility in South Philadelphia at 5 p.m. EDT and midnight in Kuwait.

The NFL pros – LB Stewart Bradley #55, TE Brent Celek #87 and DE Chris Clemons #91 – will be able to see and “trash talk” with their Army competitors in the Middle East through SightSpeed monitors, which will be positioned side-by-side with TV monitors displaying the video-game action.

The GI Joes -- PFC Justin Gindhart, 20, of Philadelphia; SPC Joel Dolliver, 22, of Londonderry, N.H.; SPC Steven Moore, 22, Mahaffey, Pa.; PFC Jeff Holt, 29, of Coleman, Mich.; and PFC Marcus Peden, 20, of St. Louis.-- are from the Army’s 10th Mountain Division currently stationed in Baghdad, Iraq. They will be traveling to the USO Center in Camp Virginia, Kuwait.

Following the Madden NFL ’09 matchup, families of the troops will be able to reconnect with their loved ones stationed far away via SightSpeed.

“This is our way of giving back to the people who are risking their lives for us every day,” said Greg Zinone, founder and president of Pro vs. GI Joe. “We’ve found a way through technology to give our troops some temporary relief from their duties and briefly reunite them with their families while abroad.”

SightSpeed is portable and connects people anywhere in the world. It’s an easy-to-download software application – free to consumers -- that provides full-color, full-motion Internet video connectivity to laptop or desktop computers, regardless whether users are running Windows, Mac or Linux platforms. And thanks to SightSpeed’s ability to record video chats, the players, their families and their teammates will have digital video records of their historic matchup.

“SightSpeed is the perfect connection for Pro vs. GI Joe,” said SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy. “Our quality is outstanding and we take distance out of the equation. The interactions we’ve seen so far between the pro athletes and the Army troops have been outstanding. The players on both sides can see themselves clearly and they have a lot of fun. And for us, it’s tremendously uplifting to give the families of our service members the opportunity to see and chat with their sons or daughters on duty so far from home.”
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About Pro vs. GI Joe
Pro vs. GI Joe is a nonprofit organization that boosts the morale of our brave military men and women by setting up real-time video game competitions between professional athletes and troops stationed overseas via the internet. Pro vs. GI Joe is an official partner of the USO and is the first organization to bring live gaming to troops in the Middle East. The organization was founded and run by Greg and Addie Zinone, based in Fairfax, Virginia. Addie is a Staff Sergeant in the US Army Reserve and has served two tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Her husband Greg came up with Pro vs. GI Joe because he believes if you don't serve, you have an obligation to support those who do. To find out more about Pro vs. GI Joe, please visit www.provsgijoe.org.

About SightSpeed, Inc.
SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of Internet video communications for both the consumer and business user, offering the broadest portfolio of industry-leading Internet video communications services. These include, SightSpeed Free, SightSpeed PLUS and SightSpeed Light (for social networks), the most widely praised consumer-focused video chat services, which turn a PC or Mac into an easy-to-use video phone to communicate with friends and family around the world. In addition, SightSpeed Business is the world’s first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing service for all businesses, including SMBs.

SightSpeed's services are SIP-based and standards-compliant. The company’s revolutionary human perception-based technology is patented and based on more than ten years of R&D originating at Cornell University. Among the many awards SightSpeed has received are Frost & Sullivan's “Company of the Year” award, PC Magazine's “Editors' Choice,” PC World's “100 Best Products,” and a 2008 “Codie” from the Software & Information Industry Association.

Founded in 2001 and based in Berkeley, Calif., SightSpeed is a privately held company funded by The Roda Group, best known for launching Ask Jeeves and PolyServe. For more information visit SightSpeed online at www.sightspeed.com.

SIGHTSPEED VIDEO-CHAT WIDGET FOR SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

“SightSpeed Light” Provides Simple, No-Download Access to Video Posts and Calling; Runs on OpenSocial Sites Like MySpace, hi5

BERKELEY, Calif.–Sept. 9, 2008—SightSpeed Inc., the leading provider of Internet video communications, is upping the social networking ante with the next logical step before transporter beam: a widget that makes video communications easy and fun. 

SightSpeed is the first company to offer threaded video posts and free video chat between members of MySpace and hi5 social networks. The SightSpeed Light widget works on any computer (PC or Mac) through any standards-based Web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari), with no downloads or installation required.

“Students use their social networking sites as a portal to people,” says SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy, “and with sites like YouTube, they’ve upgraded the medium of public and personal communication to video. With our SightSpeed Light widget installed on the social networks where all their friends already are, we’re enabling students to put the two together, moving real-time video interaction to the forefront of the social-networking experience.” 

Video posts are quickly populated to users’ network of friends as soon as a video is recorded. Other friends—after watching the post—can reply, and a threaded video conversation is born.

Users simply add SightSpeed Light with one click on either MySpace or hi5:

• MySpace 
• hi5

“No one understands or delivers Internet-based video communications better than SightSpeed. You can see that our widget—just like our other services—raises the bar in terms of ease of use and overall performance,” said Csathy.

SightSpeed Light joins the full range of video communication services from industry leader SightSpeed. Offering additional capabilities, the full-featured SightSpeed 6.0 delivers consumers best-in-class, 30-frames-per-second video calling and high-quality video mail with a virtual inbox. Also available are VoIP-based phone service with phone-in and phone-out capability, custom click-to-call-me buttons, video community access with privacy features, unlimited text messaging and up to four-party video conferencing.

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About SightSpeed

SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of a groundbreaking portfolio of Internet video communications services, based on patented human perception-based technology coming out of ten years of R&D at Cornell University. Its services include SightSpeed Free, the “gold standard” in Internet-based video chat for consumers;  SightSpeed PLUS,  a $9.95-per-month service with more features, including four-way simultaneous video chat and longer video e-mails; SightSpeed Light, a MySpace and hi5 widget that captures and creates video messages as posts, and SightSpeed Business, a full-featured suite of collaboration and productivity tools with simultaneous nine-way video/voice/text conferencing—an industry breakthrough—starting at $19.95 per month. 

SIP-based and standards-compliant, SightSpeed has also been selected by Dell to power Dell Video Chat, now being bundled on nearly all consumer laptops shipped by Dell worldwide.
The service has also won many awards, including Frost & Sullivan's “Company of the Year” award, PC Magazine's “Editors' Choice,” PC World's “100 Best Products,” and a 2008 “Codie” from the Software & Information Industry Association.

Founded in 2001 and based in Berkeley, Calif., SightSpeed is a privately held company funded by The Roda Group, best known for launching Ask Jeeves and PolyServe. For more information visit SightSpeed online.

Contact:

Sue Huss
Comunicano, Inc.
sue.huss@comunicano.com
+1 619-379-4396

SIGHTSPEED BUSINESS – SMBs’ TOOL FOR PROFIT, PRODUCTIVITY

High-Quality Video Conferencing Can Enhance Customer Service, Boost Employee Morale

BERKELEY, Calif.–Sept. 3, 2008—With schools back in session and the summer vacation season now officially over, small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) need to re-focus all their attention on profitability and productivity. With credit tight and the costs of doing business rising at every turn for small businesses, profit and productivity are hard.

SightSpeed Inc. can help SMBs be both more profitable and productive with affordable Internet-based face-to-face video communications that increase collaboration and cut travel expenses, stress, wasted time and carbon emissions. Following are six compelling ways entrepreneurs can use SightSpeed Business (and its revolutionary nine-way simultaneous video conferencing) to significantly increase their profitability, productivity and overall quality of life:

1. Bring far-flung team members face to face. Geographically dispersed team members can still effectively meet face to face and improve their understanding of shared targets, strengthen collaboration, morale and satisfaction, and raise their productivity. Video meetings can be both formal (scheduled) or informal (spontaneous)—the latter being effectively the 21st century water cooler.
2. Improve customer relationships. Personal interaction remains the most effective way to close sales. Studies have shown that effective communication with customers is a leading indicator of financial performance, resulting in higher market values and greater customer satisfaction. With sales territories expanding and quotas high, face-to-face contact via video conferencing can be among the most valuable—and cost-effective—tools for today’s sales professionals competing in a global marketplace.
3. Meet more efficiently, make decisions quicker. SightSpeed Business video conferencing enables SMBs to meet spontaneously with customers, suppliers or employees when necessary, not according to travel arrangements and schedules. Decisions can be timelier and more effective when the exchange of information and mutual understanding occurs face to face. Meetings are online and flexible, maximizing attendees' availability and minimizing their attachment to a single room in a specific location.
4. Raise employee enthusiasm and productivity. SightSpeed Business video conferencing enables more frequent real-time face-to-face contact with individuals or groups of employees. A manager’s video e-mail to all members of a sales team can keep direct communication and motivation on a constant basis.  A video e-mail from a manager to an employee with the message "Well done!" can strengthen the manager-employee relationship while building worker confidence and enthusiasm. And a video record of a meeting made available for replay to individuals or groups can raise employees’ sense of inclusiveness and shared accountability—especially those working remotely.
5. Hire and retain employees more proficiently. By removing distance barriers, SightSpeed Business video conferencing empowers hiring managers to screen more eligible candidates, thereby raising the quality of potential hires.  Interviewing candidates face to face by video conferencing has the dual benefit of saving the time and expense of candidates traveling great distances and being far more effective than phone interviews. Since SightSpeed Business is mobile, interviewing managers don’t have to be in a fixed location. Last, SightSpeed Business makes it possible for employees to work remotely, minimizing relocation cost and eliminating the potential loss of a key employee and the need to hire and train a new employee.
6. Eliminate fixed investments for communications equipment. Compared to the cost of outfitting even a single room-based video conferencing system (which frequently costs tens of thousands of dollars if not more), SightSpeed Business wins hands down. SightSpeed Business cost less than $20 per month per user, or less than $200 per year (with volume discounts). And, it’s a quick and easy download of a “software as a service” application. Most users need only a broadband connection to the Internet, since webcams now come built into virtually all laptops and many business desktops today. Its high-resolution, 30-frames-per-second, full-color, full-motion, cross-platform (Windows, Mac or Linux PCs) video has won numerous awards for quality, and SightSpeed is widely recognized as the “gold standard” for Internet video conferencing. In other words, it really works.

In summary, SMBs have ample incentives to think of SightSpeed Business when they focus on achieving their goals for profitability and productivity.

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About SightSpeed, Inc.

SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of Internet video communications for both the consumer and business user, offering  the broadest portfolio of industry-leading Internet video communications services. These include, SightSpeed Free, SightSpeed PLUS and SightSpeed Light (for social networks), the most widely praised consumer-focused video chat services, which turn a PC or Mac into an easy-to-use video phone to communicate with friends and family around the world. In addition, SightSpeed Business is the world’s first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing service for all businesses, including SMBs.

SightSpeed's services are SIP-based and standards-compliant. The company’s revolutionary human perception-based technology is patented and based on more than ten years of R&D originating at Cornell University. Among the many awards SightSpeed has received are Frost & Sullivan's “Company of the Year” award, PC Magazine's “Editors' Choice,” PC World's “100 Best Products,” and a 2008 “Codie” from the Software & Information Industry Association.

Founded in 2001 and based in Berkeley, Calif., SightSpeed is a privately held company funded by The Roda Group, best known for launching Ask Jeeves and PolyServe. For more information visit SightSpeed online.

Contact:
Sue Huss
Comunicano, Inc.
sue.huss@comunicano.com 
619-379-4396

SIGHTSPEED POWERS NEW ‘DELL VIDEO CHAT’ APPLICATION

BERKELEY, Calif.–June 26, 2008—SightSpeed Inc., the leading provider of Internet video communications, today announced it has teamed up with Dell to deliver “Dell Video Chat,” an easy-to-use communications application now being bundled with Dell’s new Studio laptops.

Video chat is gaining acceptance as a great way to stay in touch with friends and family across the country or the globe. SightSpeed has been widely recognized by the industry for delivering best-in class video chat capability that works across multiple platforms including Windows, Apple and Linux. The application also includes instant messaging and Internet voice phone capability for a full suite of communications options. 

Delivering a simple, easy to use communications experience that is intuitive was a top priority.  The application is pre-installed on the systems and is activated with one mouse click.  SightSpeed has also made it easy for users to share the application with their friends and family who can simply download the “invitee” client program by visiting http://www.sightspeed.com/dellvideochat. 

“Dell went out and got the best-of-breed video-communications service—SightSpeed—to be included in their newest laptops. This is as easy-to-use, wherever-you-go as it gets,” said SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy. “Their stamp of approval means that video conferencing is becoming a part of everyday communications and they picked the best company to provide it.”

Dell Video Chat powered by SightSpeed will include the following features:

• A completely redesigned and streamlined Dell user interface
• Free, unlimited video chat worldwide
• Free, unlimited voice chat worldwide
• Free, unlimited text chat worldwide
• 4-Way Group Chat (voice, video or text)
• Low-rate worldwide calling to ordinary phones – 2 cents per minute in the United States and  Canada
• 5 minutes of free phone calling is included with every Dell system
• The ability to purchase custom phone numbers and area codes
• Presence indicators
• Message Center: All video/voice calls Inbox
• High-quality Video Mail
• Video Mail recording of up to 3 minutes
• Storage of an unlimited number of Video Mail messages
• Notification of missed calls and receipt of Voice/Video mail and e-mail
• Reporting of Video/Voice call history

“Dell is excited about the opportunity to provide enhanced video chat services to our customers,” said Michelle Pearcy, director, Global Client Software Marketing. “The partnership with SightSpeed allows our customers to quickly and easily communicate with friends and family in a variety of ways by combining both text and video chat features into a simplified customer communication experience.”

Because SightSpeed is based completely on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and global standards for setting up and ending voice and video calls over the Internet, it has the distinction of working across the widest variety of computing platforms. As a result, users will easily be able to conduct video, voice and/or text chat with users of devices on any platform. 

SightSpeed offers the highest-quality, full-motion, 30-frames-per-second video with clear audio and no delay; it delivers a superior video and audio experience with low to no latency over variable bandwidth conditions. SightSpeed’s patented technology provides superior rate control for any bandwidth, handling of firewalls and video-codec optimization.

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About SightSpeed, Inc.
SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of Internet video communications for both the consumer and business user, offering  the broadest portfolio of industry-leading Internet video communications services. These include, SightSpeed Free, SightSpeed PLUS and SightSpeed Light (for social networks), the most widely praised consumer-focused video chat services, which turn a PC or Mac into an easy-to-use video phone to communicate with friends and family around the world. In addition, SightSpeed Business is the world’s first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing service for all businesses, including SMBs.

SightSpeed's services are SIP-based and standards-compliant. The company’s revolutionary human perception-based technology is patented and based on more than ten years of R&D originating at Cornell University. Among the many awards SightSpeed has received are Frost & Sullivan's “Company of the Year” award, PC Magazine's “Editors' Choice,” PC World's “100 Best Products,” and a 2008 “Codie” from the Software & Information Industry Association.

Founded in 2001 and based in Berkeley, Calif., SightSpeed is a privately held company funded by The Roda Group, best known for launching Ask Jeeves and PolyServe. For more information visit www.sightspeed.com.

Contact:

Sue Huss
Comunicano, Inc.
sue.huss@comunicano.com 
619-379-4396

SIGHTSPEED BUSINESS UNVEILS 9-WAY VIDEO CONFERENCING

Video Collaboration Breakthrough Highlights Next Edition of Powerful Video Communications and Productivity Suite

BERKELEY, Calif.–JUNE 23, 2008—SightSpeed Inc., the leading provider of Internet video communications, today announced a significant breakthrough in business video conferencing —simultaneous nine (9)-way video conferencing and text chat.  No other business video conferencing service gives small and medium businesses this kind of significantly extended utility within a high-quality, fully portable and cost-effective solution at $19.95 per month.

The upgrade in functionality to nine-way video conferencing highlights the next edition of SightSpeed Business, a full-featured, affordable suite of collaboration and productivity tools for use anywhere in the world — even portably — that was introduced with high acclaim in the last quarter of 2007. Additional updates to SightSpeed Business include new audio codecs, which mean enhanced wideband audio for conferences, array mics and improved performance for Windows Vista users.   

While other providers of business-grade, multi-party video conferencing require dedicated, high-capacity bandwidth — often T1 and above — or a co-located server to make their systems work, SightSpeed Business requires nothing more than consumer broadband. SightSpeed Business users, with or without built-in or plug-in Webcams and microphones on their laptops or desktops, can participate in nine-way conferences. 

“Simultaneous nine-way video conferencing is an exciting development for us and for the industry,” said Eric Quanstrom, SightSpeed vice president of Marketing. “It’s something our early users asked for and we listened. With this greater number of simultaneous participants we’re also further differentiating SightSpeed Business from other providers that are still trying to catch up to our quality, our ease of use and our features.

“SightSpeed Business is both high-quality and simply functional over the public Internet at whatever broadband speeds users have at their disposal, whether they’re working from homes or remote offices or traveling,” said Quanstrom. “For the company looking to stay face-to-face, with employees, clients or contractors — wherever they are — there really is no better solution.”

SightSpeed Business is priced at $19.95 per user per month, with savings incentives based on full-year and multi-party licenses. Like all SightSpeed services, the business capabilities are fully cross-platform, meaning SightSpeed Business users can communicate across Windows or Mac platforms via the global SightSpeed network.

“The price and ease of use of SightSpeed’s new nine-way capability will enable users – especially small businesses – to hold larger multi-location calls, at no increase in their costs or complexity,” said Elliot Gold, president of TeleSpan Publishing Corporation. “For instance, this breakthrough addresses the very real need of the road warrior market, made up of people who can’t afford to miss large group videoconferences.”

The new nine-way capabilities enrich the value of several standard features of SightSpeed Business, including:
• Video-on-Top – Any SightSpeed conference allows participants the ability to put the video screen on top of or adjacent to other files, thus multitasking and using screen real estate effectively.
• The Administrative Console, which provides the ability to add, change and manage users centrally.
• Recording video/audio of conferences — For file-keeping, subsequent sharing with non-participants or webinars, conference proceedings may be recorded with one click.  Conferences can be recorded in multiple formats for easy sharing—a far superior option to renting a costly conferencing bridge.
• File sharing — Users can share and discuss any document or file, seeing it and all participants at the same time.
• Multi-party text chat — During nine-way conference calls, all participants have a continuous chat channel for asking questions, embellishing points or multi-tasking.

Other features of SightSpeed Business include:
• Unlimited video calling and text chat
• Video e-mail — Users may record video messages up to five minutes long and send them to any e-mail inbox; works with all major e-mail software, plus unlimited storage of video e-mail.
• Custom Click-to-Call links — Users may embed click-to-call buttons on their Web pages or e-mail signatures to give other SightSpeed users the ability to start video, voice or chat sessions instantly.
• Unlimited PC-to-PC voice calling for free
• Voice calling to phone numbers worldwide at prices typically lower than standard long-distance.  For example, average rates within the United States are 2 cents per minute.
• New users get 500 free calling minutes in the U.S. or Canada.
• Detailed call history
• Multi-user licensing
• One-click invitations to clients or colleagues to join conference calls

For more information on SightSpeed Business, visit www.sightspeed.com.

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About SightSpeed, Inc.
SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of Internet video communications for both the consumer and business user, offering  the broadest portfolio of industry-leading Internet video communications services. These include, SightSpeed Free, SightSpeed PLUS and SightSpeed Light (for social networks), the most widely praised consumer-focused video chat services, which turn a PC or Mac into an easy-to-use video phone to communicate with friends and family around the world. In addition, SightSpeed Business is the world’s first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing service for all businesses, including SMBs.

SightSpeed's services are SIP-based and standards-compliant. The company’s revolutionary human perception-based technology is patented and based on more than ten years of R&D originating at Cornell University. Among the many awards SightSpeed has received are Frost & Sullivan's “Company of the Year” award, PC Magazine's “Editors' Choice,” PC World's “100 Best Products,” and a 2008 “Codie” from the Software & Information Industry Association.

Founded in 2001 and based in Berkeley, Calif., SightSpeed is a privately held company funded by The Roda Group, best known for launching Ask Jeeves and PolyServe. For more information visit SightSpeed online.

Contact:
Sue Huss
Comunicano, Inc.
sue.huss@comunicano.com 
619-379-4396

SIGHTSPEED LIGHT FEATURED ON SQUAWK BOX

On the heels of this week's successful launch of SightSpeed Light on MySpace (see presss release), SightSpeed's VP-Marketing Eric Quanstrom  gives Alec Saunders the inside story on Squawk Box: http://saunderslog.com/2008/04/24/squawk-box-april-24-guest-eric-quanstrom/.

NEW “SIGHTSPEED LIGHT” WIDGET NOW AVAILABLE ON MYSPACE

SightSpeed Offers First and Only V-Mail and V-Chat Widget on MySpace With Easy-to-Use, No-Download Video Conversation Application

BERKELEY, Calif.–April 22, 2008—SightSpeed Inc., the leading provider of Internet video communications, has announced that a new easy-to-use, no-download version of its video application, “SightSpeed Light,” is now available to MySpace users.

SightSpeed is now the first company to offer integrated video mail, public video posting and free video chat between members of MySpace. SightSpeed Light works on any computer (PC or Mac) through any standards-based Web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari), with no downloads or installation required.

SightSpeed Light makes video conversations with MySpace friends livelier, whether they’re real-time, face-to-face chats or threaded posts created by friends recording and posting video messages.

SightSpeed Light captures and creates video messages as posts, creating extended video conversations that are face-to-face, but not necessarily in real time. These threaded conversations start with someone creating and posting a SightSpeed video of him- or herself about any topic. From there, anyone in that person’s MySpace friends group can respond and add his or her thoughts. SightSpeed Light organizes the thread automatically, thus creating a video conversation, all without leaving MySpace.

“As a result, MySpace users now have communications functionality currently not available in any other form on MySpace,” said Eric Quanstrom, SightSpeed VP–marketing. “SightSpeed Light allows MySpacers—especially those Gen Y-ers who grew up texting—to use video just as easily as they use text.”

SightSpeed Light also lets those video conversations happen spontaneously. Because  MySpace users can see whom among their friends is also online, they can use SightSpeed Light to call them immediately, without download, installation, setup—or cost. These calls are free of charge to users. 

When a MySpacer adds SightSpeed Light, all their friends are notified. Once their friends have added SightSpeed Light (by clicking “Add this App” from their MySpace profile), they can immediately see when their friends are online to call, video mail or post.

SightSpeed Light works best with a Web camera to provide the full effect of video chatting, conversations and messaging, although audio-only chats and voice mails are possible.

MySpace members can access SightSpeed Light here: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=359330835.

About SightSpeed

SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of Internet video communications for both the consumer and business user. The company offers the broadest portfolio of industry-leading Internet video communications services, including SightSpeed Light, SightSpeed Free and SightSpeed PLUS, the most widely praised consumer-focused video chat services, which turn a PC or Mac into an easy-to-use video phone to communicate with friends and family around the world; and SightSpeed Business, the world’s first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing service for all businesses (including SMBs). SightSpeed's services are SIP-based and standards-compliant. The company’s revolutionary human perception-based technology is patented and based on more than ten years of research and development originating out of Cornell University.

Founded in 2001 and based in Berkeley, Calif., SightSpeed is a privately held company funded by The Roda Group, best known for launching Ask Jeeves and PolyServe. For more information about SightSpeed, visit www.sightspeed.com.

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Contact:

Sue Huss
Comunicano, Inc.
sue.huss@comunicano.com
619-379-4396

Backgrounder to press release "SightSpeed Light for MySpace"

Quotes about SightSpeed Light from SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy:

“SightSpeed Light is unlike anything yet available on MySpace. For the first time, MySpace users can have a spontaneous real-time video chat with their friends while remaining within MySpace. But for this demographic that grew up in the not-always-real-time world of texting, we believe SightSpeed Light’s threaded video conversation capability will be even more appealing—enabling friends to maintain an ongoing conversation about their favorite topic of the moment.”

“In my opinion, video mail and video chat will be the next big movement in communications over the Internet. Why do I say this? Because webcams are embedded in nearly every device now, and social networkers are looking for the next best way to reach out to one another. That’s what puts SightSpeed Light ahead of the curve.”

Background

SightSpeed announced in January 2008 that it was developing SightSpeed Light to run on a variety of online social networks, including those based on Google’s forthcoming OpenSocial platform. SightSpeed chose MySpace as the first of these networks for which to develop its SightSpeed Light widget.

SightSpeed Light is currently in beta version, as are all approved applications available through MySpace.

SightSpeed Light enables both synchronous communications (e.g., face-to-face, real-time chat) as well as asynchronous communications that are face-to-face, but not necessarily in real time (e.g., threaded conversations).

Application Development

SightSpeed developers created the application using Adobe Flash, one of the most widely adopted multimedia viewing and creation tools, making SightSpeed Light simple to integrate on a variety of platforms and enhancing its accessibility and usability.

SightSpeed has offered an ActiveX plug-in that works with Internet Explorer since version 1.0 dating back to 2003, making SightSpeed the first clientless video conferencing application.
Now, SightSpeed developers have taken that same core technology and approach in developing SightSpeed Light. In this case, they are using Flash to enable SightSpeed to work easily inside a social community like MySpace. That’s because MySpace’s  application programming interfaces (APIs) have been developed to work with Flash in such a way as to rapidly develop and deploy services like SightSpeed Light.

Safety and Security

No other plug-in for MySpace brings people together visually as easily and as safely as SightSpeed Light, enabling younger MySpace users to get face-to-face in a secure yet personal manner.

Video mail messages are kept securely within a thread on MySpace, on SightSpeed servers, and the owner (creator) of the thread can delete any message within, as they choose.

Future Developments

Although the application is currently limited to MySpace users, future developments will enable them to also connect with the rest of the SightSpeed community (e.g., those using SightSpeed Free, PLUS or Business).

In addition, SightSpeed has plans in the works for versions of SightSpeed Light for other social network sites.

Other SightSpeed Services

SightSpeed Light joins the full range of video communication services from industry leader SightSpeed. Offering additional capabilities, the full-featured SightSpeed PLUS and SightSpeed Free deliver best-in-class, 30-frames-per-second video calling and high-quality video mail with a virtual inbox. Also available are VoIP-based phone service with phone-in and phone-out capability, custom click-to-call-me buttons, video community access with privacy features, unlimited text messaging and up to four-party video conferencing.

For the business user, SightSpeed now offers SightSpeed Business—the company’s first business-focused videoconferencing service, providing a full suite of administrative and call-management options and collaboration tools that are essential for the business user.  SightSpeed Business is the first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing solution accessible to every business.

All SightSpeed’s award-winning services are fully SIP-based and standards-compliant, which is essential for interoperability, security, stability and overall user flexibility and utility.

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