Backbone Radio Brings MPEG-4 to Live Internet Radio
Free demo download shows higher fidelity, faster speed

(Worcester, MA; September 4, 2002).........Backbone Networks Corporation announces that its Backbone Radio Basic software application now uses MPEG-4 as its primary streaming format. The new worldwide standard delivers dramatically higher audio quality coupled with significantly faster compression speed. It also eliminates the need for controversy regarding the new audio streaming standard. Free downloads of the MPEG-4 enabled Backbone Radio Basic are available at the Company's web site.

Backbone Radio (Version 1.1.6) builds upon Apple's QuickTime 6, which recently introduced MPEG-4 compatibility. Defined by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), MPEG-4 is the new worldwide standard for next-generation multimedia, including streaming for audio and video. With the free QuickTime Player or browser plug-in, listeners can play back any compliant MPEG-4 file, including Backbone Radio streams.

The most notable advantage for radio production and streaming is the incredible sound improvement over MP3 at comparable bandwidths. Using Backbone Radio's default bandwidth for streaming to 56 kbps modems, the audio quality is significantly higher than previously obtained with earlier codecs. At available rates up to 256 kbps, MPEG-4 allows Backbone Radio to be used in professional front end production, including radio "centralcasting" applications.

Another important feature of MPEG-4 is its tremendous compression speed, especially when using high end G4 Macintosh "client" computers. Since Apple includes the AAC codec in QuickTime 6, Mac OS X takes full advantage of the G4 (or dual G4) horsepower to compress clips in a small fraction of the time of previous codecs. Encoding and even deep compression is now faster than real time with low cost, dual G4 systems.

Fortunately, claims Backbone Vice President George Capalbo, our software permits a variety of material formats to be mixed, even on the same playlist. A playlist may be composed of MPEG-4 clips, MP3 files, QuickTime movies and even WAV files, and stream to listeners who use the free QuickTime 6 players.

What is Backbone Radio?
Backbone Radio is an integrated software suite that makes it easy to organize, schedule and broadcast all types of audio directly onto the Internet, using low cost computers. Backbone Radio is aimed at helping new and established radio stations economically manage their entry into Internet streaming, with intuitive, easy to use "jock-friendly" tools that emulate the professional broadcast environment. Station operators have complete control to dynamically combine a fluid mix of live and automated recorded material on the air.

Any type of station can be created with Backbone Radio. The product family comprises a full spectrum of radio streaming software, from the single-computer Basic up to the ProPlus version, which uses a combination of Mac OS X production with Linux (or Mac OS X) streaming software. The Company's server technology, in combination with Beowulf clustering technology, provides quick and automatic expandability for highly dynamic traffic environments.

Backbone recently announced that automatic DMCA compliant logging is now included in higher end versions of Backbone Radio. This important feature saves the need for commercial radio stations to hire an individual to keep track of and report listener and royalty information.

The Free Backbone Radio Demo
The thirty-day demo is a fully functional version of Backbone Radio Basic, the Company's entry level software suite. The demo is intended to help users familiarize themselves with all aspects of MPEG-4 radio webcasting, including program production, automation and streaming directly onto the Internet. The demo permits users to create their own radio programs, consisting of a dynamic mix of prerecorded clips and live audio, and serve up to 250 simultaneous listeners.