miniMusic - Press Release

miniMusic MixPad preview

MINIMUSIC SOFTWARE PLAYS SONGS ANYWHERE
Play standard MIDI files on any Palm compatible handheld computer.

ANAHEIM, Calif., January 17th, 2002 - At this year's Winter NAMM trade show miniMusic is showing a prototype of their new MixPad application for the Palm Platform in public for the first time as well as an update of their BeatPad software. MixPad will let Palm owners download any standard MIDI song file onto a handheld computer and play it; a professional version (MixPad Pro) will also offer editing and recording!

MIDI files are an industry standard format for music that predates MP3. Hundreds of internet websites offer free or paid downloads of songs. Although MIDI files cannot include vocals, the instrumental songs are much more flexible and MUCH smaller than MP3s which makes it an ideal format for handheld computers. MixPad will let you remix songs in real time. Instruments can be made louder or softer, panned left or right, or muted completely; impossible with MP3s.

"This has been the major missing piece in our journey to bring desktop music tools to handheld computers," says Chad Mealey, president and chief software engineer at miniMusic. "Musicians ask all the time if they can put their whole MIDI library on a Palm or use the Palm to play backing tracks in live performances. With the release of MixPad the answer will finally be YES."

The update of miniMusic's BeatPad software brings full compatibility for the MIDI sound technology used in the new Sony Clie handhelds and the Beat Plus springboard module which works with all Handspring Visor handhelds.

Pricing, Availability, and Distribution
Pricing has not yet been determined for the MixPad application, but the "Play only" version is expected to be under $20.00 US. The first public release of MixPad will be in the last quarter of 2002. BeatPad is available now for $29.95 US from the miniMusic website or is included in the miniMusic Mobile Software Pack which retails for $59.95 in music stores nation wide, distributed by ThinKware in North America.

About miniMusic
Based in San Francisco, miniMusic provides portable music tools for composition, education, performance, and entertainment so that musical ideas can be explored anywhere and anytime, giving individuals the freedom of musical expression on their own terms. Shipping applications include NotePad, BeatPad, and BugBand and a Palm-to-MIDI interface.

For more information please visit the miniMusic website at http://www.minimusic.com

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miniMusic, miniMusic NotePad, miniMusic MixPad, BugBand and BeatPad are trademarks of miniMusic. Palm OS, Graffiti and HotSync are registered trademarks, and Palm and Palm Powered are trademarks of Palm, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other brands and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.