KARLSBAD, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 11, 2001--During the CEBIT exhibition, Ahead Software and Philips Components previewed the first results of a joint collaborative effort on an "Intelligent" write system for Philips' CDRW drives.

Recognizing the end users' increasing need for faster, error-proof CD recording without compromising speed, Ahead Software GmbH and Philips Components BV have been co-operating for some considerable time on enhancing the CD writing integrity of Philips CDRW systems through an enhanced software-buffering environment.

As a result of this collaboration, Ultra-Buffer(TM) is set to become an inherit part of the writing process.

Ultra-Buffer provides end users with optimum performance control. Utilizing a standard PC and a Philips drive with the maximum buffer underrun protection added, users experienced:

1. Powerful Reading Capabilities

• Improved Caching Mechanism
• High-speed Digital Audio Extraction
• Immediate-read(TM)for Ultra Fast Accessing of Data CDs

2. Powerful Writing Capabilities

• Extended Software Buffering
• Multi-Threaded Write Engine with a Highly Advanced Threading Mechanism
• Intelligent Write Synchronization

"The combined engineering expertise of Ahead Software and Philips has resulted in Ultra-Buffer, a new feature within the Philips `intelligent' drive functionality," commented Brett Bernhardt, a marketing manager of Philips Components. "Ultra-Buffer is set to move the whole CD recording process to another level of `anxiety free' recording."

"Philips has an unprecedented heritage in the CD/CDR industry, and in recognizing the needs of today's CDRW user, they have once again shown they are a true leader," said Jim Corbett, executive director of Ahead Software. "Through our collaboration, we are meeting users' needs for high-speed, error-free recording."

About Philips Components

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 37.9 billion in 2000. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, color picture tubes for televisions and monitors, and one-chip TV products.

Its 219,400 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, and medical systems. Philips is quoted on the NYSE (symbol: PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. News from Philips is located at www.news.philips.com

About Ahead

Founded in 1995, Ahead Software, GmbH is one of the industry's leading privately held developers of software applications for CD-R/RW, DVD, and Internet Audio. Its flagship products include Nero - Burning ROM, NeroMIX (Born2Burn), Nero Cover Designer, Nero Toolkit, Nero Wave Editor, NeroMAX, InCD, and Feurio!.

Ahead's specialized line of optical recording software enables individuals to personalize and store music onto recordable CDs that can be played back on any CD player, CD-R or CD-RW drive, as well as new DVD players.

In addition to a strong global retail and distribution presence Ahead maintains strong OEM relationships with major computer system and hardware manufacturers, as well as other strategic partners. Ahead Software is headquartered in Karlsbad.

Nero® is a registered trademark and InCD, NeroMIX and NeroMAX are trademarks of Ahead Software GmbH. Any other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.