SnapStream Firefly PC Remote with Spotlight service delivers online content to home theater

It looks like SnapStream is continuing its expansion into the home theater PC space, with the announcement of its new Spotlight service for their Firefly HTPC remote control.

SnapStream Media’s Firefly PC Remote Brings Premium Content Into the Living Room With SnapStream Spotlight

SnapStream Media Partners With Leading Online Content Companies, CinemaNow, Live365 and NewsGator, to Deliver Online Music, Movies, Radio and News

HOUSTON, June 25 /PRNewswire/ – SnapStream Media, Inc. (http://www.snapstream.com/ ), a leader in products for the entertainment PC, announced today the addition of the SnapStream Spotlight service to their Firefly PC Remote product. The Firefly PC Remote with SnapStream Spotlight delivers the latest online movies, radio, news and music into the living room by leveraging the power of the PC and the Internet.

Firefly is a PC remote control that provides an all-in-one entertainment PC experience. The inclusion of SnapStream Spotlight with Firefly PC Remote means users can now instantly connect to a series of online premium content providers’ full-screen experiences and begin streaming music, videos, news and more. Firefly PC Remote users can enjoy the latest video releases through CinemaNow or Movielink without having to go to the video store. They can also listen to radio stations from around the world through Live365 or stream their favorite music hits from Napster’s extensive music database. For news and current events, NewsGator’s Media Center Edition provides Firefly PC Remote users with a place to read weblogs and RSS feeds.

“SnapStream Spotlight gives access to a huge collection of movies, music, and news from companies like CinemaNow, Live365, NewsGator, Movielink and Napster,” said Rakesh Agrawal, President and CEO of SnapStream Media, Inc. “In addition to being integrated with the Firefly PC Remote, Spotlight creates a fantastic integrated experience with our partner’s content services, which brings on-demand movies, music and news into the living room.”

“The Firefly remote zaps through walls providing consumer electronics appliance media convenience to any Windows XP PC,” said Richard Doherty, Research Director for The Envisioneering Group in Seaford, NY. “Spotlight beams consumers’ access to streamed music, video and news, whether across the room, or from MANY Rooms away.”

What SnapStream Spotlight partners are saying:

“The CinemaNow Media Center Edition site is designed to provide users a way to access the large selection movies and features they would find on the CinemaNow.com website with the convenience of a remote control,” said Bruce Eisen, executive vice president of CinemaNow. “We are excited to be a featured partner of SnapStream Spotlight and that users of the innovative Firefly PC Remote will now have easy access to our on-demand library.”

“We’re excited about the release of SnapStream Spotlight and happy to be a launch partner with SnapStream,” said Greg Reinacker, CEO of NewsGator Technologies. “This expands the audience for NewsGator Media Center edition, allowing more users to view the content they want on their TV sets.”

“We are thrilled to be working with SnapStream Media to deliver the rapidly expanding digital living room devices with quality music and talk broadcasts programmed by our enthusiastic, dedicated and diverse global community,” said Rags Gupta, chief operating officer for Live365.

Content Services included in SnapStream Spotlight:

CinemaNow: CinemaNow’s Media Center experience allows consumers to browse more than 1,500 feature films, including film trailers and purchase movies for on-demand viewing.

Live365: Live365 is the largest Internet radio network on the planet with more than 17,000 radio stations.

NewsGator: NewsGator Media Center Edition will display your selected content from syndicated RSS and Atom content feeds, including audio and video- enhanced feeds. The interface is designed for across-the-room use with the remote control.

Napster: Napster’s Media Center application allows consumers to enjoy their favorite digital music wherever they want through an easy-to-use menu designed to be used with a remote control. The service offers music fans access to more than 700,000 tracks of the world’s greatest music.

Movielink: Movielink’s experience brings hundreds of movies, movie trailers and plot descriptions to users of SnapStream Spotlight.

Availability:

Firefly PC Remote can be purchased through SnapStream Media’s website, Fry’s Electronics, select CompUSA stores, Amazon.com, Thinkgeek, Best Buy Canada and Future Shop. The suggested retail price is US$49.99. Current Firefly PC Remote owners can download SnapStream Spotlight for free at http://www.snapstream.com/download/firefly/ .

About Firefly PC Remote

Firefly PC Remote gives users remote control access to audio and visual media stored on their PCs. It is sleek, lightweight and designed to fit comfortably in the user’s hand. It is an RF remote and can transmit signals through walls and up to 30 feet away. Firefly PC Remote comes with its own media center software, SnapStream Media’s Beyond Media™ Basic, but is also compatible with others such as Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition. Beyond Media Basic is a PC entertainment gateway with included music, video and photo players.

About SnapStream Media, Inc.

SnapStream Media, Inc., a leading developer of digital entertainment products, was founded in 1999 by Richard Kuo and Rakesh Agrawal. Houston- based and privately held, SnapStream Media’s vision is to build high-quality consumer entertainment experiences that leverage PC technology. The company’s personal video recording (PVR) software, Beyond TV™, was called “dazzlingly cool” by the Los Angeles Times, referred to as “an idea whose time has come” by the Associated Press and declared “better than TiVo” by Maximum PC. Interested parties can find more information about SnapStream Media and its products at http://www.snapstream.com/ .

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Source: SnapStream Media, Inc.

CONTACT: analyst reference, Richard Doherty, Research Director of The
Envisioneering Group, +1-516-783-6244, or fax, +1-516-679-8167, or
rdoherty@envisioneering.net ; or press, Christina Lee, Public Relations
Coordinator of SnapStream Media, Inc., +1-713-644-6240, ext. 28, or fax,
+1-713-644-6215, or christina@snapstream.com