Comunicano

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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SIGHTSPEED LIGHT

Screen shot shows SightSpeed Light's video-chat capabilities on MySpace.

SIGHTSPEED AND VTEL BRING AFFORDABLE VIDEOCONFERENCING TO THE CONFERENCE ROOM

Low-Cost, No-Hassle Videoconferencing is a Boon for Small & Medium Businesses

BERKELEY, Calif., and AUSTIN, Texas–Feb. 26, 2008—SightSpeed Inc., the leading provider of Internet video communications and operator of a fast-growing network of SIP videoconferencing endpoints, and VTEL, a pioneer in group videoconferencing systems, today announced a partnership to provide easy-to-use, low-cost videoconferencing for conference rooms and remote PCs and laptops.

The partnership, created as a way to make this solution readily available to customers, will also enable SightSpeed Business services to be featured in VTEL’s reseller channel.

The immediate result, however, is that it’s now possible for small and medium-sized businesses to have professional videoconferencing quality in their conference rooms and remote offices for a fraction of the cost, set-up time and hassle of traditional business videoconferencing systems. Users can immediately set up multipoint conferences involving as many as four sites and send documents to all sites during the conference, making it ideal for training sessions, sales meetings, production planning and design reviews.   

“In the past, bringing remote colleagues together virtually has required a huge investment in conference room equipment and infrastructure,” said VTEL President Richard Ford, “but VTEL’s all-in-one IPanel conferencing room system combined with SightSpeed’s best-in-class online videoconferencing services take the cost—and aggravation—out of videoconferencing. Now, even multipoint conferences are simple and affordable.”

“Through the combination of SightSpeed Business online video services and VTEL’s all-in-one videoconferencing system, small and mid-sized businesses can now afford a fully functional conferencing solution operating on the public Internet,” said SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy. “And these businesses also gain the benefit of full access to SightSpeed’s highly scalable and robust SIP architecture, providing them with greater interoperability and flexibility.”

The VTEL IPanel seamlessly blends videoconferencing, computing and HDTV viewing into one integrated system. The system features an Olevia 32-inch LCD high-definition TV, a full pan-tilt-zoom camera, full-duplex audio and an integrated PC. The IPanel is all a company needs in its conference room to conduct local meetings or to conference with remote sites. 

Among the benefits of the new service are:
• VTEL all-in-one conference room system for the complete price of $3,995;
• SightSpeed Business software, supporting multi-party videoconferencing, in-call file sharing, unlimited video calling, and video and voice call recording for a package price of $1,495 for five conference systems (room systems or individual PCs/laptops); and
• Simple-to-use plug-and-play functionality, including the ability to easily invite remote users.

Visit www.SightSpeed.com/vtel for more details and to order this productivity package designed for small and medium-sized businesses.

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About VTEL Products Corporation

Based in Austin, Texas, VTEL Products Corporation celebrated its 20th anniversary as a videoconferencing system manufacturer. The company introduced the industry’s first PC-based videoconferencing systems in the late 1980s. VTEL is leading the industry in “all-in-one” conference room systems combining HD television, PC operations, and professional videoconferencing delivered in the IPanel, a turn-key system for the conference room. For more information, visit www.vtel.com.

About SightSpeed, Inc.

SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of Internet video communications for both the business user and consumer. The company offers the broadest portfolio of industry-leading Internet video communications services, including SightSpeed Business, the world’s first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing service for all businesses (including SMBs); and 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. SightSpeed's services are SIP-based and standards-compliant and run on SightSpeed’s fast-growing, reliable network of SIP videoconferencing endpoints. 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.

Contacts:

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

For VTEL:
Todd Clayton
VTEL Products Corporation
todd_clayton@vtel.com
512-535-1988

SIGHTSPEED CEO INTERVIEWED BY ALEC SAUNDERS ON SQUAWK BOX

SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy stopped by the Squawk Box "studio" (actually, the iotum FREE Conference Call service on Facebook) to chat with Alec Saunders about the expanding market for video conferencing. Listen to the podcast here: http://saunderslog.com/2008/02/22/squawk-box-february-22-special-guest-peter-csathy/. 

KIM NIEDERMAN JOINS SIGHTSPEED ADVISORY BOARD

Anagran CEO and Former Head of Worldwide Sales at Polycom Tapped for Expertise in Strategy Development and Sales Leadership

BERKELEY, Calif.–Feb. 20, 2008—SightSpeed Inc., the leading provider of Internet video communications and operator of a fast-growing network of SIP videoconferencing endpoints, has announced the addition of Kim Niederman to its board of advisors.

Niederman is president and CEO of Anagran, Inc., the developer of high-capacity network equipment built to handle interactive and streaming applications such as video conferencing, VoIP and gaming.

Niederman brings to SightSpeed experience building high-performance sales teams and go-to-market strategies for Polycom, Inc., Cisco Systems, FORE Systems and Wang Laboratories. As senior vice president for worldwide sales at Polycom, he doubled sales in three years by creating new sales and channel strategies. 

“I’m very pleased that Kim Niederman has agreed to join the SightSpeed advisory board—he’ll be an  invaluable addition to our team,” said SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy. “Given his unique background, his insights will be especially constructive in helping to drive the strategy for our new SightSpeed Business video conferencing service.”

“Kim is a consummate sales strategist and executive with a track record of great success selling business communications services,” added Bill Stensrud, a technology investor and member of the SightSpeed advisory board. “I look forward to his perspective as SightSpeed’s board of directors and advisory board tackle the critical issues required to guide this expanding company.”

Previously Niederman also served as CEO of LongBoard, Inc., a leader in software-based Class 5 IP services platforms, and CEO of Magellan Network Systems, one of the first calling-card platforms. Prior to his work at LongBoard, he was vice president of sales for start-up RadioLAN, the first developer of 10 megabyte WLANs and vice president of sales at FORE Systems, where he doubled sales in one year and managed the integration of the Alantec acquisition with/into FORE.

As one of the early sales executives at Cisco Systems in the early 1990s, Niederman served in various executive capacities, including managing Cisco’s first business unit that was comprised of the acquired companies of Crescendo, Kalpana and Grand Junction. Earlier in his career, he held executive sales management positions at Wang Laboratories and served as CEO of Hallmark Industries, a manufacturing company.

Niederman has been a board member and technical advisor to several Silicon Valley startups, such as Cyrus Networks, which was acquired by Ciena Corp. He holds a BA in political science from the University of Denver and has completed executive programs at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Niederman joins Bill Stensrud, Andy Abramson, Gary Arlen, Pete Hanley and Ted Cohen on the SightSpeed advisory board.

About SightSpeed

SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of Internet video communications for both the business user and consumer. The company offers the broadest portfolio of industry-leading Internet video communications services, including SightSpeed Business, the world’s first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing service for all businesses (including SMBs); and 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. SightSpeed's services are SIP-based and standards-compliant and run on SightSpeed’s fast-growing, reliable network of SIP videoconferencing endpoints. 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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SIGHTSPEED PROUD TO BE A FINALIST IN TWO CATEGORIES FOR SIIA’S 23rd ANNUAL CODIE AWARDS

  SightSpeed Named a Finalist for “Best Communication Solution” and “Best Collaboration Solution”

BERKELEY, Calif.–Feb. 13, 2008—SightSpeed, the leading provider of Internet video communications and operator of a fast-growing network of SIP videoconferencing endpoints, is proud to be named to the Software & Information Industry Association’s (SIIA) list of finalists in two separate categories for the trade group’s 23rd Annual Codie Awards. The SIIA nomination is the latest of several tech industry accolades SightSpeed received in 2007 and now 2008.

SIIA, the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry, has chosen SightSpeed 6.0 among five finalists in the “Best Communication Solution” and the “Best Collaboration Solution” categories. The finalists resulted from the first round of SIIA judging late last year by representatives from the software and information industry trade press, mainstream technology writers, analysts, consultants and subject-matter experts. Category winners will be selected in upcoming voting by SIIA members.

“Competition is tough this year and that makes selection as a CODiE Finalist a real achievement,” said Ken Wash, SIIA president. “All the companies on this year’s list should feel justifiably proud of their recognition.”

Established in 1986, the Codie Awards celebrate outstanding achievement and vision in the software, digital information and education technology industries. More information about the SIIA Codie Awards finalists is available at http://www.siia.net/codies/2008/finalists.asp.

“We set the bar high when we launched SightSpeed 6.0 last year, making it better, more flexible and functional, yet easier to use than ever before,” said SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy. “With 6.0, we made the best quality video experience significantly better and instituted a highly scalable and robust SIP architecture, which has opened up exciting new possibilities of interoperability and flexibility for both our partners and users. We’re honored that the SIIA has recognized these efforts as we continue to build out our services and extend our SIP network.”

About SightSpeed

SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of Internet video communications for both the business user and consumer. The company offers the broadest portfolio of industry-leading Internet video communications services, including SightSpeed Business, the world’s first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing service for all businesses (including SMBs); and 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. SightSpeed's services are SIP-based and standards-compliant and run on SightSpeed’s fast growing reliable network of SIP videoconferencing endpoints. 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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