BROOKLYN, N.Y., Dec. 16, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- New Medium Enterprises Inc., a public company trading on the OTC Bulletin Board under the Symbol (OTCBB:NMEN) announced today that it has retained the national public relations firm Martin E. Janis & Company, Inc. to host the seminar - conference and public unveiling of its VMD Technology to be held in NY and to carry out a full-scale publicity and financial relations program for the company.
Based in Chicago, Martin E. Janis & Company, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is a full service investor/public relations agency, offering its services to public as well as private corporations, trade associations, educational and other institutions as well as government and political organizations and individuals.
"We are delighted to be selected by New Medium to represent the Company and to host the conference demonstration in N.Y. for the unveiling of the VMD Technology," said Martin E. Janis, Chairman of Martin E. Janis & Company, Inc. "One of the agency's first efforts will be the hosting of the conference demonstration to demonstrate New Medium's highly anticipated VMD (Versatile MultiLayer Disc) technology, a next generation HD Disc & Drive containing 20GB of storage capacity on current red laser technology platforms," said Janis.
The launch is scheduled to take place in a prime location in New York on February 3, 2005 and is expected to bring together a diversified group consisting of members of the news media and investment community, as well as key players in the media and optical storage industries to view for themselves the brilliant high-definition, razor sharp HD image quality that has been developed by New Medium -- and which signals another entry into the hot next-generation market for DVDs.
"The N.Y. launch, which will serve as the initial kick off demonstration of our VMD Technology to the public in the U.S., will be followed by a U.K. launch, and thereafter a series of road shows across the globe," said Ethel Schwartz, CEO of New Medium Enterprises, Inc. "We believe the U.S. market will be particularly interested in our technology at this time," said Schwartz, noting that future DVD storage capacity and clarity is currently a hot topic of discussion in the industry.
The scientists who have developed New Medium's technology will be on hand at the event to discuss the technological feat and demonstrate the technology for reporters and the financial community.
VMD was recently demonstrated to enthusiastic groups of industry leaders in several countries when it was hailed and embraced as a breakthrough and compelling solution for cost effective High-Definition pre-recorded discs and players.
The pre-recorded VMD has four layers on one side for an initial capacity of 20GB and is entirely based on the current Red Laser DVD industrial infrastructure. VMD is designed for viewing high definition (HD) content requiring high storage capacity and high bit rate (up to 60 Mb/s), such as full motion pictures, sports entertainment and other demanding video content and data. Pre-recorded HD VMD's are capable of playing next-generation, high definition movies and other video content, catering to the vast consumer base of owners of HDTV television and large screen sets.
In the fall of 2005, the company plans to start production of 20 GB VMD at the facilities of PrimeDisc Technologies (Wiesbadan, Germany), the original developer and manufacturer of Magneto-Optical disc technology, which set the basis for most present rewritable optical discs.
New Medium Enterprises anticipates that by spring 2005 it can achieve 25GB and 30GB of storage capacity with bit rates up to 60 Mbs, capable of playing even higher quality high-definition content for HD TV and digital cinema on a single pre-recorded VMD. In 2006, the company plans to start manufacturing cost-effective 30GB, 40GB and 50 GB VMD's on Red Laser for HDTV and digital cinema. With minimal changes of its technology, the company can manufacture recordable VMDs as well. Looking to the future, the company has also started developing Blue Laser VMD systems with up to 1 Terabyte capacity for high-end digital cinema and video-on-demand (VOD) applications.
About New Medium Enterprises, Inc.
New Medium Enterprises, Inc. is positioned in the Optical Disc Storage sector, a huge and growing segment of the data storage market, of which DVD formats have an effective monopoly presently. This sector of the storage market is currently undergoing a cycle of change precipitated by the emergency of high definition TV into the marketplace. New Medium's flagship proprietary technology known as "Versatile MultiLayer Disc" (VMD) is a next-generation High-Definition successor to the current DVD standard definition technology and is based almost entirely on the existing, cost-effective current Red Laser DVD components and manufacturing technology platforms.
About VMD Technology
A DVD can only carry data on a maximum of two layers since an increase in the number of layers in the disc increases the interlayer cross talks and the data cannot be read properly. Today a standard 120 mm single layer disc is limited to its current capacity of 4.7GB single layer or 8.5GB dual layer. A standard DVD only contains sufficient storage capacity to store a movie in Standard Definition format, but not High Definition format.
The existing CD-DVD infrastructure is based on off-the-rack Red Laser, Playback components which are highly cost effective. They are easily manufactured by hundreds of firms all over the world. The entire infrastructure involving manufacturing equipment including mastering and replicating processes have been created to accommodate Red Laser, with billions of investments by the industry and consumers to date.
Competing high definition formats currently proposed are attempting to change to a new technology based on Blue Laser. However, Blue Laser, while far more costly by itself to the entire value chain, will additionally necessitate the disc and players manufacturing industry -- one of the largest consumer goods branches of the global economy -- to refurbish their entire infrastructure.
VMD discs are scientifically very different from DVD, but are manufactured using exactly the same equipment as DVD discs at the same cost. VMD players (drives) are based on the existing Red Laser industrial infrastructure in almost all respects similar to the DVD player. In particular, a VMD player is inherently backward compatible with DVD's and CD's, which will enable viewing and listening of HD discs as well as current DVD's and CD's on a VMD player. The anticipated player price for end users will be $250 USD, a price that New Medium Enterprises believes will encourage mass acceptance of VMD technology.
VMD is a high quality format with unparalleled built-in copyright protection that offers the most cost effective solution for next generation optical media. The size of the market for VMD technology is substantial, since VMD can be adapted to any optical storage formats proposed, adding substantial capacity, and versatility of applications and ease of manufacturing to any of the formats that become VMD capable. The VMD technology is easily adaptable for Blue Lasers at a time when the costs of Blue Lasers and associated manufacturing processes will become competitive in consumer electronics markets.
The information contained in this press release, including any "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 contained herein, should be reviewed in conjunction with the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB, 8K reports and other publicly available information regarding the Company, copies of which are available from the Company upon request or can be found at www.sec.gov. Such publicly available information sets forth many risks and uncertainties related to the Company's business and such statements, including risks and uncertainties related to that are unpredictable and outside of the influence and/or control of the Company.
For more information about New Medium Enterprises, Inc. visit http://www.nmen.net.