Online Videophiles Get DivX's Picture

DivXNetworks Inc. is riding high on the release of its latest MPEG-4-based
(Moving Picture Expert Group) video software.

The San Diego-based company's 'DivX 5.0'
streaming-video-compression software has racked up 1.5 million downloads in less
than two days of release on its www.divxnetworks.com Web site.

The software is free -- the company makes its money licensing the encoding
software and management systems to content developers.

'Based on the quantum improvements in speed, visual quality and overall
performance contained in DivX 5.0, we had high expectations for the release and
prepared our technical operations accordingly,' said Tay Nguyen, director of
technology delivery at DivXNetworks, in a release.

'But the five-fold increase in site traffic and downloads in the past few
days have surpassed even our own expectations to the point where we're
sustaining more than 150 megabits per second of outbound network traffic,'
Nguyen added.

The company claimed that the download rate surpasses that of competitors
including Apple Computer Inc.'s 'QuickTime 5' and Microsoft Corp.'s 'Windows
Media 7' releases.

DivX5.0 is geared to produce DVD-quality video over
broadband connections at file sizes 41 percent smaller than previous DivX
versions, according to the company.