Acorn Computers to Exploit Technology of Online Media
Acorn Computers Ltd, the principal operating company of the Acorn Computer Group, today announced plans to partner with its newly launched sister organisation Online Media to exploit the emerging interactive multimedia marketplace. Online Media has been set up to develop the use of Acorn's technology to allow the Acorn Computer Group to expand into this new and emerging market. Acorn will bring its unique understanding of education and its established market leadership to the partnership.
"Acorn has always been recognised as a technology innovator," comments Sam Wauchope, Managing Director of the Acorn Computer Group. "We have demonstrated this with the launch of the first 32-bit RISC computer in 1987 and again with the Risc PC earlier this year. We now believe that the time is right and the market is ready for the multimedia technologies Online Media will deliver."
Acorn Computers Ltd will enable Online Media to capitalise on its expertise and technology to deliver effective solutions to the set-top box and related service markets. The partnership will be further strengthened by Acorn's unique understanding of the education market, ensuring that Acorn fully exploits these emerging technologies to make products available to both educational establishments and to home education markets.
Peter Talbot, General Manager UK Education at Acorn Computers, comments:
"Acorn has today announced its plans to realise the enormous potential of interactive multimedia and we believe Acorn is in the strongest position to ensure that education gets the best from this innovative technology.Acorn has undertaken the challenge to work with Online Media to develop a complementary environment and systems which will allow schools to use their current multimedia solutions with future products. In the future, education will benefit from new products and technologies from both Acorn and Online Media."
Acorn Computers Ltd will continue its own development plans whilst working closely with Online Media to integrate both companies' technologies to exploit opportunities in their respective markets. Online Media will provide Acorn with significant product enhancements and the run time environment and interfacing cards to allow Acorn computer systems to be connected to interactive services.
The partnership will also provide Acorn Computers with a range of capabilities including multimedia authoring tools, MPEG video support, a range of alternative network service protocols and set-top boxes. It will also provide increased opportunities for Acorn's existing developers and potential new Acorn partners.
Wauchope continues: "Acorn's philosophy of identifying and working with partners to exploit technologies has enabled us to remain successful in our major markets. We have shown this through creative exploitation of technology with another Acorn sister company Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. This philosophy has been fundamental to the success of ARM, which is rapidly becoming the global RISC standard for consumer applications, and will continue to ensure the success of Online Media."
Founded in 1978, with 1993 revenues of £54.3m, Acorn Computers is the premier supplier of IT solutions to UK education and has been the leading provider of 32-bit RISC based personal computers since 1987. Acorn works closely with a strong community of industry partners, users and software developers to provide innovative technology solutions for the education, consumer, publishing and international markets.
The Acorn Computer Group is a holding company for Acorn Computers Limited, Acorn Australia, Acorn New Zealand, Acorn GmbH and Online Media. Acorn Computer Group owns 43% of ARM Ltd. Online Media, a division of the Acorn Computer Group, was launched in 1994 with the mission to design world class, interactive multimedia products.