FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
E.DIGITAL CORPORATION AND DATAPLAY INC. ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT AND STRATEGIC
ALLIANCE
(SAN DIEGO, CA - September 19, 2001) - e.Digital Corporation (OTC:
EDIG), a global provider of comprehensive digital product development
and designs, and DataPlay, Inc., developer of the universal media format
for all things digital, today announced a broad strategic alliance and
agreement to develop and deliver portable products uniting DataPlay’s
digital media, micro- optical engine and ContentKeyTM technology with
e.Digital’s patented technology and design integration services.
The agreement specifies that e.Digital will provide engineering and
technology development, enabling worldwide application of DataPlay’s
digital media in a variety of portable products. DataPlay will also
refer OEM customers to e.Digital for product design, technology
integration and application development around DataPlay’s removable
digital media and micro- optical engine. In addition to NRE
(non-recurring engineering) fees for design and development efforts,
e.Digital will collect royalties from OEM customers on certain DataPlay-
enabled products.
"We have been working with DataPlay and OEM customers to develop a line
of products around DataPlay’s digital media, and we remain fully
committed to our development partnership," said Fred Falk, CEO of
e.Digital. "The combination of DataPlay’s digital media and e.Digital’s
patented technology and proprietary designs opened the door to create
portable products that are compact, stylish, and powerful."
"e.Digital has been instrumental in integrating our digital media into a
number of new consumer electronics products and contributing to our
efforts to gain market share in portable electronics," said Steve Volk,
chairman and CEO of DataPlay, Inc. "In combination with the strong
backing we have from major music labels and consumer electronics device
manufacturers, e.Digital is playing a significant role in helping us
penetrate new music markets."
DataPlay's strategy to penetrate the market quickly and effectively is
built upon numerous strategic partnerships for developing devices and
providing content for use with the DataPlay digital media. Universal
Music Group, EMI Recorded Music, BMG Entertainment and Rosetta Books are
currently planning to release pre-recorded music and e-book content on
DataPlay digital media for use in multiple consumer electronic devices.
Leading consumer electronic developers, such as Toshiba Corporation,
Samsung Electronics, Olympus, Creative Labs and SonicBlue, are
developing portable music players/recorders, digital cameras, PC
peripherals, PDAs, portable games and other devices that will support
the DataPlay format.
In January of this year, DataPlay won the Best of Show Award for Mobile
Devices and Best Overall Lifestyle Product at the Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas, an event that has built a reputation for being the
preeminent venue for the industry's most promising companies and
products. DataPlay was recognized for its value, usability,
inventiveness and design. DataPlay also received the CES Innovations
2001 award in the Blank Media category at the show in recognition of its
innovative consumer electronics product.
About DataPlay
DataPlay, Inc. was incorporated in November 1998 to develop a
Web-enabled digital content recording and distribution media for
portable Internet appliances and hand-held consumer electronic and
entertainment devices. Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, the Company
employs more than 230 people in the United States, Singapore and Japan.
Visit DataPlay on the Internet at www.dataplay.com.
