Roland's UA-100 to Gain BeOS Drivers

Be to Bundle Support for Roland's USB-based Audio Canvas UA-100 in its Media Operating System for Musicians

The UA-100

September 26, 1999 -- Be Incorporated, developer of BeOS® the digital media operating system, and Edirol Corporation North America today announced support for the Roland ED UA-100 AudioCanvas audio and MIDI interface in BeOS. The announcement follows Edirol's strong sales of Roland's USB Desk Top Media Products and the emergence of BeOS as the serious musician's choice in operating system. The UA-100 will bring USB audio support to BeOS customers for the first time.

With easy plug-and-play compatibility through USB, the UA-100 offers musicians and producers the ability to record and play high quality digital audio, use on board audio effects processing in real time and completely in the digital domain, and connect MIDI keyboards, sound modules, and other instruments to their computer.

BeOS is designed from the ground up to meet the unique needs of musicians using professional multimedia tools where speed and stability are critical. BeOS 4.5, released in June, 1999, brings a new level of performance to ordinary desktop PCs with its advanced multithreaded architecture.

"BeOS audio users demand leading edge performance and the highest quality in their professional audio equipment, and Roland's UA-100 delivers," said Mr. Jim Rippie, audio evangelist at Be, Inc. "Roland leads the way in superior USB Desk Top Media Products. At Be, our strategy is to offer leading developers new opportunities to push the technological envelope in desktop music. We are incredibly pleased to welcome Roland as our partner, and bring USB audio and MIDI support to BeOS users everywhere with the UA-100."

"The Roland ED UA-100 broke new ground in the audio industry, which makes it a great match for BeOS - it's a new operating system that breaks performance barriers, offering Edirol customers a new standard of performance for media production," says Mr. Laurie Gillespie, president of Edirol Corporation North America, on behalf of Roland. "Edirol continues to seek new ways of delivering innovative products to musicians everywhere. We look forward to the new opportunities presented by support for Roland ED products in BeOS."

The UA-100 AudioCanvas features high quality sound via 20-bit digital audio converters, in a module external to the computer, thereby offering a dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratio superior to most internal sound cards. Its built-in, real-time multi-effects processor offers numerous guitar and vocal effects, as well as a variety of preset effect combinations, plus more than 70 additional effects that cover a wide range of uses for audio production. The UA-100's MIDI interface (2-In/2-Out) can be used simultaneously with audio and recorded sound files.

BeOS allows users to simultaneously operate multiple audio, video, image processing and Internet-based software applications while maintaining system stability, media quality and processor performance. BeOS provides professional users and enthusiasts with a high performance environment to quickly and easily develop applications and content and is designed to facilitate the integration of new technologies.

Driver support for audio and MIDI interface functions of the Roland ED Audio Canvas UA-100 will be provided in BeOS within the next few months. A BeOS application for control of extended UA-100 audio processing functions will follow.

Visit Be's web site at www.be.com.