AudioFeast Debuts the First Portable Internet Radio Service for MP3 Players at DEMOmobile 2004, Featuring More Than 400 Channels of News, Sports, Music and Entertainment Programming

9/8/04

LA JOLLA, Calif., DEMOmobile 2004 and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., /PRNewswire/ -- With a goal of enhancing the MP3 listening experience, AudioFeast, Inc. today announced the first portable Internet radio service at DEMOmobile 2004. The new service, AudioFeast (http://www.audiofeast.com), delivers more than 400 channels of news, sports and entertainment radio programming in an "all you can listen to" format for MP3 players, mobile devices and the PC. The company also announced plans to add portable music to its subscription service in October.

"Our goal is to reignite the passion consumers once felt for radio programming, and deliver that experience on a portable player in high fidelity," said Tom Carhart, AudioFeast's co-founder and chief executive officer. "Although the market for MP3 players and online music services has undergone explosive growth in recent years, the task of searching for compelling content and loading it on a portable player is still a difficult, time-consuming and expensive process for consumers. Unlike track-at-a-time downloads, AudioFeast delivers a vast library of radio programming that is constantly refreshed, affordable and ready to listen to whenever you are."

With more than 70 media partners, AudioFeast has licensed the largest selection of news, sports, drama, comedy, business and entertainment channels available, along with a variety of hobby and niche programming options. A sample includes: A&E, Bloomberg Radio, BBC Radio, Discovery Channel, History Channel, NPR, SportsNews Radio and The Wall Street Journal Radio Network. As the service expands in the coming weeks, more than 100 channels of music will be added, including pop, jazz, electronica, trance, R&B, rock, alternative, classical genres and more.

"The MP3 market has great potential for growth beyond music," said Chris Shipley, executive producer for DEMOmobile. "As MP3 players become a common feature of PDAs, SmartPhones, slim devices and even cars, demand will build for a variety of audio programming options. AudioFeast is well-positioned to take advantage of this trend."

Sophisticated Technology Under the Hood
AudioFeast's Web-based broadcast network is built on a sophisticated, secure, patent-pending media distribution system called the "Virtual Broadcast Network" (VBN). Based on next-generation, peer-to-peer technology, the VBN delivers radio programming to a variety of portable devices, and over several networks, with far greater efficiency, reliability and lower costs than traditional distribution methods.

The VBN technology sets AudioFeast's service apart from other online radio and music services, allowing the company to deliver the following benefits to consumers:

-- Choice. The VBN enables AudioFeast to manage and secure volumes of digital content in varying formats, and then serve up the latest, freshest and most relevant content unique to each consumer's need. In essence, it allows the company to offer the audio equivalent of cable television for MP3 players.
-- Convenience. Ease of use is built into every feature of the service. From automatic content transfer to portable devices to the way content is aggregated for easy browsing, AudioFeast eliminates consumer work. Whenever the PC is on, an application runs in the background to ensure that programming choices are automatically refreshed and available for instant consumption.
-- Control. Although consumers can adjust bandwidth usage, disc storage and a variety of technical functions, they may be most impressed by interactive features that dramatically improve simple radio. Listeners can easily pause and skip programs or songs, and enjoy them from the desktop or transfer to a select MP3 player for portable entertainment.
-- Low Cost. By combining the technical benefits of the VBN with radio-licensed content, AudioFeast can uniquely deliver portable radio programming at an affordable price.

Pricing & Availability
To sign up for a free trial of AudioFeast and begin listening to talk and music programming today from a PC, visit: http://www.audiofeast.com/. A one-year subscription for programming is $49.95. Pricing for AudioFeast's music service will be announced in October.

AudioFeast's talk programming is currently compatible with MP3 players from Creative Labs, Dell, iRiver, iRock, RCA and Rio, and the list continues to grow. Portable music programming will be compatible with the iRiver 700 and 800 series MP3 players at launch. AudioFeast will continue to develop relationships with the leading device manufacturers to ensure compatibility between its service and a growing assortment of portable devices.

About AudioFeast, Inc.
AudioFeast, Inc. is first to market with a portable Internet radio service for MP3 players, mobile devices and PCs. The service will feature more than 400 channels of "all you can listen to" news, sports, music and entertainment radio programming. Built on its patent pending Virtual Broadcast Network, AudioFeast can deliver radio programs to a variety of portable devices, and over networks, with far greater ease-of-use, reliability and cost efficiency than traditional distribution methods. Founded in 2002, the company is privately funded. For information call 650-940-9418 or visit http://www.audiofeast.com.

 

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