PALM DESERT, Calif., March 2, 2009 -- The technology industry's elite DEMO conference kicked off this morning with a state-of-the-industry address given by Chris Shipley, DEMO's co-executive producer. Chris was joined by newly appointed co-executive producer, Matt Marshall, VentureBeat's founder and CEO. DEMO 09 was broadcast live via BitGravity's BG Live(TM), attracting a global audience of more than 55,000 views. For the first time ever, DEMO featured Facebook(R)'s Live Feed technology, which allowed conference participants and those viewing the live stream online to share and view Facebook status updates about the event in real time - a true utilization of social and multimedia tools to spread the message of DEMO's innovative companies. Follow the show on http://www.demo.com/live.

"We are extremely proud of the demonstrating companies we've brought together to debut at DEMO 09," said Chris Shipley. "While the bleak state of the economy has no doubt complicated business aspects for new up-and-comers with breakthrough technology ideas, the excellent group of products we're seeing here is proof that smart innovations and revolutionary developments will still find a way to rise to the top in the marketplace."

Now in its 19th year, the semi-annual DEMO conferences are launch pad events for the newest and best products in emerging technology. This year's DEMO product debuts include everything from an intelligent, Web-based mortgage buying subscription service to a next-generation dating tool to a portable device that works as both a netbook and a touchscreen tablet.

Over the next two days, the DEMO 09 stage will host the launch of 39 new technologies, each hand selected and deemed to play a significant role in the advancements of its target market. Today's introductions included technologies designed for: Driving increased productivity and efficiency with new communications tools; improving financial control and insight for consumers and businesses in the face of the economy; combating carbon pollution; delivering ground-breaking applications for mobile users; and increasing advancements in consumer hardware.

Highlights from today's technology introductions include:

Products to Improve Productivity and Efficiency:

Ontier, Inc.'s Pixetell - on-demand software that provides the power of in-person interactions with the convenience of email.

Transformyx, Inc.'s RallyPoint - a communication and employee accountability application that allows businesses to securely stay connected with employees during a crisis.

Vokle, Inc. - a live, Web-based consumer-facing video chat environment for individuals and companies to better promote content through instant word-of-mouth discussions.

Technicopia, LLC's gwabbit - a simple plug-in for Microsoft Outlook users that takes the hassle out of capturing new contact information from emails to the Address Book.

Cc: Betty, Inc. - a personal email assistant that sorts through emails and parses conversations, files, images, and more, to save time for those collaborating with multiple teams.

Citrix Online's GoView - a simple, highly effective screen-capturing platform that allows users to easily create and share screen content with others.

Zuora, Inc.'s Z-Commerce for Facebook - a flagship product that provides a simple and effective way for Facebook developers to monetize their applications without using an advertising-based business model.

Document Depository Corporation - a hosted service for efficient legal document storage, tagging, sharing, and retrieval.

Technologies to Help Loosen the Tight Economic Reins:

Home-Account, Inc. - an intelligent mortgage buying subscription service giving homeowners the tools to help monitor and leverage their home's value more effectively.

Zipadi Technologies, LLC - the first do-it-yourself, SaaS publishing platform for SMB's, allowing merchants to build an interactive e-commerce Web site using less time and money.

7 Billion People, Inc.'s WebLegend - a new software solution enabling e-retailers to adapt web pages in real-time to give individual shoppers a personalized experience, increasing conversion rates by up to 50 percent.

Liquid Media, LLC's Loyal2Me - a "democratized" advertising and marketing ecosystem that puts the control in the hands of the consumer.

Tools that Bring Mobile Device Capabilities to a New Level:

Coveroo, Inc. - a new customized replacement cover for mobile devices, allowing individuals to create personalized versions with laser-engraved artwork.

Promptu Systems Corp.'s ShoutOUT - the first voice-to-text SMS application for the iPhone, letting users dictate a message in natural language and easily check it before sending out.

HAM-IT, Inc. - a "mobile centric" one-stop-shop for consumers to globally connect and match with local consumer service providers of interest, acting as an effective mobile concierge on a global and local scale.

Asurion Mobile Applications, Inc.'s AddressBook - a next-generation mobile address book that creates a high-speed, people-centric index based on the individual's relationships and communications.

bluBuzz, LLC - a commerce-based networking solution that allows subscribers to send various forms of content from nearby resources and businesses via Bluetooth.

Skout, Inc.'s Skout Out - a next-generation dating tool that helps singles to find and interact with others in their immediate vicinity.

Innovative Consumer Hardware for the Future:

Always Innovating, Inc.'s Touch Book - a portable device that works as both a netbook and a touchscreen tablet.

Avaak, Inc.'s Vue Personal Video Network - a network of small, battery-powered wireless cameras that stream video live directly to the Web from anywhere in the home or business.

Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Inc.'s mirosol Displays - a new display based on reflective technology that offers consumers an extended battery life and superior outdoor visibility.

Software that Saves Lives:

Silverstone Solutions, Inc.'s Matchmaker - a clinical application using complex matching algorithms that gives transplant organizations the tools to find the best donor matches and improve kidney transplant outcomes.

A Better Carbon Footprint:

This year, DEMO is taking further steps to reduce the use of printed material and to be more environmentally conscious overall. Due in large part to demonstrating company eFormic, DEMO is offsetting 1,000 tons of CO2 emissions, enough to cover the production of the event, the travel of the demonstrating class and more.

eFormic, Ltd.'s CO2code - new software that gives individuals a standardized, effective way to measure and offset their carbon footprints, while also providing companies with a system to combat carbon pollution of their products by using CO2certificates.

DEMO Explores the Economic Impact on Venture Capital

On Monday afternoon, DEMO walked through the face of venture capital in the current economy, exploring how expectations are shifting with startups and investors alike, and possibilities for how the recession may change the overall venture capital business model. Moderated by Matt Marshall, the panel featured:

Christine Herron, Principal, First Round Capital 
David Hornick, General Partner, August Capital 
Bryce T. Roberts, Managing Director, O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures 
Eric Tilenius, Founder & Managing Partner, Tilenius Investments 

A Deeper Look at Social Entrepreneurship

Advanta's ideablob site is known for receiving thousands of new business ideas each month, many coming from people that prioritize moral, environmental and social change above the need for financial profiting. This session, hosted by DEMO alumni Ami Kassar, Chief Innovation Officer, Advanta and President, ideablob Corp., brought three young entrepreneurs together who are making a significant social impact on the world, including Suneet Bhatt, Co-founder, Dream Village; Efe Osagie, Founder, Lead Now Fellows, and Xander Page, Director, Sales & Marketing, BeRewarding.com.

What's New at DEMO 09

For the first time at DEMO, tomorrow's agenda will include a DEMObeat session, moderated by Matt Marshall. It will feature three different discussions that will dive deeper into expected emerging trends and innovations anticipated over the next few months that may alter how people approach business.

DEMO Jams!

The DEMO program continues this evening at the Costas Nightclub with a reunion of musicians making up the DEMO All-Star Band. The DEMO 09 conference continues throughout the day tomorrow with more product introductions and more in-depth discussion around the biggest trends in technology.

DEMO 09 Sponsors

Platinum sponsors of DEMO 09 are Canson, Inc., The Institute for Information Industry, Microsoft Corporation, Porter Novelli and Qualcomm. Angelsoft, Comerica Bank - Technology & Life Sciences Division, Connect Public Relations, Inc., Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, NEC Corporation of America, New York Stock Exchange, Nokia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Silicon Valley Bank. Symantec, The Bogart Group, UBS, VCNetwork and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati are gold sponsors. Strategic Partners include Guidewire Group and VentureBeat. Media partners include VCJ, Pulse2.com, Mashable, PR Newswire, ReadWriteWeb, and Ubergizmo. Marketing partners include Astia, Atlanta Venture Forum, Band of Angels, Boogar Lists, Conference Guru, Eye-To-Eye Communications, Golden Capital Network, IDG Ventures, Industry Standard, Keiretsu Forum - Northern CA, Keiretsu Forum - Southern CA, National Science Foundation, Rocky Mountain Venture Capital Association, SD Forum, San Diego Venture Group, Tech Coast Angels, VentureChoice, VentureDeal, and Wireless Industry Partnership.

About the DEMO Conferences

Produced by Network World Events and Executive Forums, the DEMO conferences in the United States and China introduce a wide spectrum of emerging technology products and services to the market for the very first time. Each innovation is hand selected from across the spectrum of the technology marketplace. The DEMO conferences have earned their reputation for consistently identifying tomorrow's cutting-edge technologies, and have served as launch pad events for companies such as Palm, Java, TiVo, E*TRADE Salesforce.com, VMware, Six Apart, OddPost, IronPort, GrandCentral and Glam Media helping them to secure venture funding, establish critical business relationships, and influence early adopters. Each DEMO conference features only the most innovative new companies, products and technologies. For more information on the DEMO conferences, visit http://www.demo.com.

About Network World

Network World, Inc., the Leader in Network Knowledge, empowers network IT executives through education, information and community. Network World, an IDG company, is the leading provider of news, analysis, reviews, events and education on information technology. Network World publishes the leading newsweekly, Network World, hosts the most active online communities (www.networkworld.com, www.javaworld.com, www.linuxworld.com, and www.demo.com), and produces educational seminars and events worldwide. Network World's portfolio of strategic marketing programs provides marketing and agency professionals with the tools to generate high - quality leads, optimize marketing campaigns, and create new revenue opportunities. Additionally, Network World is the event organizer of DEMO and DEMOfall, the leading events for new technology innovation. For more information on Network World, visit http://www.networkworld.com.

About International Data Group (IDG)

International Data Group (IDG) is the world's leading technology media, events, and research company. IDG's online network includes more than 450 Web sites spanning business technology, consumer technology, digital entertainment and video games worldwide. IDG publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers in 85 countries including CIO, CSO, Computerworld, GamePro, InfoWorld, Macworld, Network World, and PC World. IDG's lead-generation service, IDG Connect, matches technology companies with an audience of engaged, high-quality IT professionals, influencers, and decision makers.

IDG is a leading producer of more than 750 technology-related events including Macworld Conference & Expo, LinuxWorld Conference & Expo, Entertainment for All Expo (E for All), DEMO, and IDC Directions. IDC, a subsidiary of IDG, is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events. Over 900 IDC analysts in more than 90 countries provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends. Additional information about IDG, a privately held company, is available at http://www.idg.com/.

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