eXaNetworks Opens Up Windows Desktop Wallpaper
To Photo and Image Sharing, Photofinishing

'B-Viewer' Pub/Sub Utility Also Sends Image Content to Remote Screen Savers

PORTLAND, Ore., May 24, 2010 – eXaNetworks Inc., a developer of distributed image-sharing technology, has released for public beta review “B-Viewer,” a Windows desktop image-sharing program. A stand-alone set of integrated, client-style desktop utilities, B-Viewer serves as an interface to eXaNetworks' patent-pending eXaPublisher distributed client/server, image-sharing network. B-Viewer and eXaPublisher combine to let creators of photos “publish” their content directly to the remote Windows desktops of “subscribers” on the Internet. Beyond photographic images, any JPEG file format content, including related metadata or commercial content, can be shared over this permission-based, publish/subscribe network model.

eXaPublisher and B-Viewer enable content creators to invite Windows users to subscribe over the Internet to albums of images that appear on the screen savers and wallpaper of viewer/subscribers, These same subscribers, in turn, may offer their images to others, creating ad hoc photo sharing networks.

“B-Viewer is the keys to the kingdom of sharing photos and image content, ” said online imaging industry pioneer and company president Patrick Serex, founder of eXaNetworks. “For 20 years, desktop wallpaper was a cute applet that served no practical function. And screen savers became functionally obsolete with LCD screens.”

Value-added content can be sent to the desktop wallpaper and screen savers of subscribers, thus allowing for a unique user/content provider partnership. When users favorably respond to invitations from photo/image publishers, requested digital content first appears on the basic desktop background screen, automatically updated, bypassing both the Web and e-mail. eXaPublisher users can also view images in B-Viewer, in a Web browser or via the album management utility, and they may print out selected images via an online photofinisher.

“We are demonstrating to content creators and sharing recipients they can stake a claim to this desktop real estate that before had no real consumer or business value,” Serex added. “At the same time, this national beta test helps us prove just how stable and scalable the technology is while supporting thousands of real world users.”

B-Viewer users: 1) can accept invitations from publishers; 2) select images and albums to place in static or rotating presentations; 3) make changes to wallpaper and screen saver settings, making them easier to access with direct control. Further, there is a built-in interface for ordering prints from online photofinishers. Users create albums and send invitations via eXaPublisher, a free desktop application that comes bundled with B-Viewer.

Here is how it works: A creator sends an invitation to view an album either by e-mail or through the eXaNetworks' built-in messenger function. Once accepted by the remote user, the optimized thumbnail images are sent to the viewer/subscriber, which is often enough for most online photo-sharing purposes. To print out an image at high resolution, a simple request is sent to the server. A version of the file, precisely the correct file size for the requested print resolution, is then transferred from the creator's host computer to a photo processing lab, or a local networked printer and other devices.

eXaNetworks' eXaPublisher works as a desktop application addressing Windows display functions by populating image content into the built-in screen saver and wallpaper utility. Users can accept permission-based visual content that is remotely updated – in near real time – from any publisher. These images may include personalized or branded content and other commercial messages such as coupons and greeting cards. Potential industrial uses range from mission-critical, image-intensive sharing and archival applications to real-time marketing promotions. Such uses can be addressed by the integration of other data types and custom interface and application support. Built upon an open architecture using Microsoft technology, a robust API is available for third-party development and system licensing.

For Web hosts and other photo-sharing providers, the licensable eXaNetworks system requires only 1/30^th of traditional image storage and bandwidth requirements. This means most Web 2.0 social networks and other branded photo-sharing providers could both expand capacity and availability while cutting-back on IT and network expenses. Competitive photo sharing and social network schemes force users to upload entire files for each image. eXaPublisher uploads only small, fractional images to a central host server. These thumbnail-style images are optimized by eXaNetworks' tools for viewing at normal desktop resolutions while retaining the original, higher-resolution image in the creator's local computer (instead of being hosted on the downstream server). Functioning like a peer-to-peer network, eXaPublisher more closely resembles a secure distributed, cooperative processing architecture over IP.

To download a freemium beta version of “B-Viewer” and create instant photo sharing albums with eXaPublisher, without charge or obligation, visit the company's beta download Website at http://www.b-viewer.com. For more information about eXaNetworks Inc., visit http://www.exanetworks.com. Organizations interested in partnerships or licensing opportunities should contact Tricia Salinero at (650) 342-4113. Media or analysts should contact W. Knox Richardson at knox@wkrpr.com or (541) 915-6594 in Oregon.

eXaNetworks Inc., is a Portland-based private corporation. Established in 2003 by president and CEO Patrick Serex, widely acknowledged as the “inventor of e-photofinishing,”and the founder and former CEO of FotoWire that merged with SilverLab and was subsequently acquired by HP. eXaNetworks has developed a patent-pending and cost-effective solution for online photo and image sharing currently available for licensing or partnership. As a result of the traffic and memory reductions, eXaNetworks allow sharing services to either reduce storage and transfer costs by up a factor of 30, or expand current network capacity by the same value.

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