NEW SOFTWARE MAKES PC CARD INSTALLATION PAINLESS

New Media Once Again Delivers Upon the Promise of Portable Computing With
Even Easier to Use and Install PC Card Solutions

IRVINE, Calif., April 12, 1995 -- New Media, a leading developer and
manufacturer of portable computing solutions, today introduced
"Auto-Install" configuration software, a unique software package designed
by New Media to make the company's full-line of PC Cards the easiest in
the industry to install.

New Media set the standard for ease-of-use in PC Card software when it
introduced the industry's first true PCMCIA plug-and-play client drivers,
giving users the ability to freely exchange, remove and/or insert PC Cards
into their mobile PCs without the need to re-configure or re-boot their
systems. The company is also credited as the first to bundle a copy of
SystemSoft Card and Socket Services software with every PC Card sold to
ensure the user could properly plug-and-play. Taking the ease-of-use
concept one step further, New Media now adds Auto-Install software as a
standard accompaniment to its full-line of PC Cards.

"New Media's charter is to provide the market with the easiest to use and
most reliable portable computing solutions. The company's commitment to
plug-and-play, quality-designed and manufactured products, and now
Auto-Install has enabled us to deliver on the promise of portable
computing," explained Carl Perkins, New Media president. "With this
introduction we've once again set the pace, making PC Cards, -once
heralded as a nightmare to install and use -- as simple to get up and
running as a shrink-wrapped software package."

New Media's Auto-Install software buffers users from the complexities of a
technology that is still emerging. While most PC Card developers focus
their efforts on simply meeting the hardware-performance requirements, New
Media is already lightyears ahead, championing the movement toward
easy-to-use and install PCMCIA products.

According to Perkins, sixty percent of laptops are purchased by first-time
computer buyers. These users are generally individuals who are conducting
business in the field without the support of corporate staff to assist
with any technical difficulties. "The typical portable computer user has a
laptop and a PCMCIA card and expects the two to automatically work
perfectly together. However, that's not always the case. And, there are no
computer experts to assist them and no special features on the machine to
protect them should something go wrong or not work quite right," he
explained. Despite the complexities of computer resources and system
files, our Auto-Install must get them up and running, without any
knowledge of system requirements."

Auto-Install Process Transparent to End-User

With New Media's Auto-Install software package, installing PC Cards is a
simple and automatic process. Transparent to the user, the new software
performs the following tasks:

1. Analyzes the portable system for valid Card and Socket Services.
2. Installs Card and Socket Services, if required, under one
   consistent interface.
3. Analyzes the portable computing system as to its type and
   manufacturer.
4. Checks for available resources; COM ports, IRQs, I/O and memory
   addresses.
5. Provides interactive choices if resources are limited or only odd
   combinations are available. Choices include Express Install or
   Selective Install options, and on-line context-sensitive help at
   every stage of the install process.
6. Searches the configuration files; autoexec.bat, config.sys,
   win.ini, system.ini, for conflicting device drivers.
7. Modifies the system configuration (using information from steps 2,
   3, 4, & 6 above), placing statements in the right locations, adding
   the appropriate switches and saving the modified files and
   maintaining backup.
8. Installs application software under one consistent interface.
9. The user then re-boots only once at the end of the install

New Media's Auto-Install software offers an "Express Install" feature,
where the user can push a button and load diskettes as the system requests
them. Once all of the diskettes have been loaded, the user simply re-boots
the system. The company's Auto-Install software package also includes a
"Selective Install" feature for those who want to control the installation
process. When using the Selective Install, context-sensitive help menus
are available at any step for easy point-and-click installation. Even
bundled application software, which New Media ships with its products, is
installed under this one compliant interface.

Software Customized For Extensive Product Line

New Media's PC Card line includes modems, LAN adapters, a high-performance
SCSI adapter, a 16-bit stereo sound card, and combination cards such as
sound and SCSI. For each product, specialized resources and requirements
exist. There are over 20 versions of PCMCIA controller chips on the
various brands of portable computer systems available today. There are
more than 20 variations of Card and Socket Services available for these
systems.

"Couple this with other manufacturer's drivers, the intricacies of some
100MHz DX4 machines and each system's custom power management circuitry
and architecture, and the potential for problems becomes immense. New
Media has created specialized Auto-Installs, meeting the unique
requirements and resources for each of our products," said Perkins. "In
this way, each of our users is assured of an easy installation process no
matter which PC Card they have purchased.

Decreased Support Calls and Non-Existent Product Returns

According to Perkins, many PCMCIA vendors receive technical support calls
on over 50 percent of their products. "With the combination of our
Auto-Install software and our true plug-and-play client drivers we have
significantly decreased technical support call rates," said Perkins. "Our
most complex product, the Multimedia Combo, combines our Bus Toaster
high-performance SCSI adapter with our .WAVjammer 16-bit stereo sound card
into one multi-function card. We shipped the Multimedia Combo with our
Auto-Install software and received one-third the number of calls per units
shipped as we did for the .WAVjammer or Bus Toaster individually before
Auto-Install was added to these products."

Perkins added, "In fact, other sound card vendors have a return rate as
high as 30 percent on hardware because the user cannot successfully
install the board," he said. "Our .WAVjammer. now shipping with
Auto-Install, has not had one return because the customer cannot complete
the install process."

Company Information

New Media Corporation, a $60 million manufacturer headquartered in Irvine,
Calif., is the leading designer and developer of PC Cards for laptop,
subnotebook and palmtop computers. New Media has quickly built a
reputation for delivering innovative, high-quality portable computing
solutions for OEMs, resellers and end-users. The three-year-old company is
noted for its PCMCIA firsts. New Media shipped the first FCC Class B, Type
I Ethernet LAN card, the first PC compatible modem card for palmtop
computers, the first PC to SCSI adapter, the first PC 16-bit stereo sound
card, the first multi-function multimedia sound and SCSI card, and created
the industry's first true PC plug-and-play device drivers.

New Media Corp
Irvine Spectrum
One Technology, Building A
Irvine, CA 92718
714-453-0100,  800-453-0550,  fax 714-453-0114

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