Digital Art Exchange and AT&T announce agreement to co-market fastest telecommunication...

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--October 4, 1995--Digital Art Exchange and AT&T signed an agreement today to co-market DAX, three different point-to-point, high-speed ISDN data transmission solutions for the advertising, design, prepress and printing industries.

"We believe this is the first complete,

turn-key solution marketed to the industry," explained Patrick White, President and CEO, Digital Art Exchange. "It is affordable, easy-to-use, easy-to-integrate, offers three mutually-compatible speed options, and doesn't require technical knowledge of telecommunications."

Industry Support from NAPL

The National Association of Printers and Lithographers (NAPL) commented on the importance and value of DAX as the industry standard for high-speed data transmission. "We see a compelling need for a standard, both to ensure compatibility and to keep our 3,000 member companies' overall telecommunications costs down," said NAPL president I. Gregg Van Wert. "DAX, with the network and support of the world's largest and most successful telecommunications company, strikes a winning combination in creating and delivering a standard that will greatly benefit the NAPL membership and the industry more broadly."

Three Speeds for Three Different Needs

Digital Art Exchange will offer three fully-compatible, ISDN telecommunication price-performance solutions:

- DAX(tm)/2-This affordable (average access charge is less than $40 per month) two-channel BRI solution transmits data at 128 kilobits per second (kbps).

- DAX(tm)/18-Using 18 channels of an T1/PRI line, DAX/18 transmits at 1,152 kbps over AT&T's Switched Digital Service network. - DAX(tm)/42-The fastest option available, DAX/42 transmits at 2,688 kbps.

Using the DAX hardware and software package with its built-in loss-less compression, these services can deliver a 10Mb scan file, for example, in approximately 430, 48, and 22 seconds, respectively. This is approximately 15 to 225 times faster than a standard 14,400 baud modem.

Noted White, "DAX offers the only Macintosh(R)-based ISDN hardware which uses the STAC compression standard, making these solutions nearly twice as fast as competitive offerings, over comparable bandwidths."

Each DAX solution features Macintosh- or DOS-based hardware cards, interface software, as well as pre-configuration and on-site/telephone support, all operating over the worldwide AT&T network. DAX, with its fully-scaleable bandwidth options, also allows users to implement key technologies such as remote proofing, distribute-and-print, and computer-to-plate.

"DAX has the bandwidth to handle color files as well as black and white," White notes. "We can deliver high-res scans, PostScript(tm) files or TIFF/IT(tm) pages directly to a remote RIP in less time than it would take to simply print the file out. With DAX, telecommunications is no longer the bottleneck."

Usage Pricing

Usage prices start as low as 3c per megabyte and are influenced by distance and the time of day. According to field studies, DAX has the lowest overall cost of ownership and offers transmission speeds that are currently unmatched.

"The virtual networking platform that works with DAX is currently available in over 95% of the United States as well as in over 30 countries," notes Dick Slezak, AT&T's Managing Director for Global Switched Digital Services. "We are excited about working in cooperation with Digital Art Exchange to help to deliver this innovative application on the global ISDN network."

As part of the package, a DAX customer can take advantage of group pricing that substantially reduces the cost of ownership for this service. In a survey of 100 printers and separators, these discounts brought the start-up charges (necessary for the DAX/18 and DAX/42 configurations) down to an average of about $750 per site. DAX also offers a monthly service option, and an affordable equipment package

"We've spent a great deal of time evaluating DAX and AT&T," explained Bill Mullins, president of Capitol Engraving in Nashville, TN and chairman of NAPL. "DAX has a substantially lower cost of ownership than the other solutions we evaluated for our customers' needs. And it is the only complete, turn-key, worldwide solution offered to the market."

Availability

All three DAX solutions are currently available from Digital Art Exchange.

Note to Editors

An accompanying information booklet is available upon request (800-329-6266). This 18-page supplement answers the most commonly asked questions about ISDN technology and this new offering.

-- DIGITAL ART EXCHANGE --

Digital Art Exchange, Inc.--headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts--provides high-speed ISDN data transmission solutions engineered to meet the unique prepress, printing, video, and multimedia needs of the evolving graphic communications industry. The company is committed to serving its customers via innovation which is cost-sensitive, workflow-driven, and specifically tailored to each user's productivity and profitability.

Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. All other brand names, trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All specifications are subject to change.

Digital Art Exchange 215 First Street Cambridge, MA 02142 800-329-6266 FAX: 617-621-0032

CONTACT: Digital Art Exchange

Patrick White, 800-329-6266

or

Group M Communications

Craig Kevghas, 508-251-7709