CAMPBELL, Calif., June 10, 1999 (PRIMEZONE) -- PhotoLoft.com (OTC BB: LOFT), the leading Web community for photo sharing and e-commerce, and Netopia, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTPA), a market leader in helping small businesses establish their Internet infrastructure, today announced a co-branding agreement that is expected to increase functionality and traffic to both popular Web sites, plus provide benefits to each site's users.
Under terms of the agreement, Netopia Virtual Office (NVO) users will get a direct link to PhotoLoft.com for uploading images, and a free PhotoLoft.com Premium account membership ($29.95 value).
PhotoLoft.com members accessing the Netopia site via a PhotoLoft.com link will get a free 30-day NVO trial account. Both companies will market the other's sites through links, e-mails to customers, and other means.
"This agreement is a win-win for both Netopia and PhotoLoft.com," noted Jack Marshall. "PhotoLoft.com will continue to expand its member community as it benefits Netopia users by adding another element to their e-commerce capabilities. We also offer Netopia users the added benefit of state-of-the-art printing capabilities on the Web, plus a great community in which they have unprecedented control of their digital images for many years to come."
PhotoLoft.com is the only Web site that offers an image "community;" photo-finish quality printing; and the ability to zoom-in on and pan images, feature that makes the site extremely sticky. In addition, PhotoLoft.com is compatible with all Web auction sites and offers bidders a way to check their potential purchases with high-quality images.
PhotoLoft.com has had several recent milestones. It went public March 1. Last month, its Web site became the first digital imaging community to offer advanced viewing and photo-finish quality printing of images on the Web. It has partnered recently with Hewlett-Packard, Epson, Photodex, Casio, and AboveNet. On May 13, PC World On-line did an in-depth review of the PhotoLoft.com site and gave it the highest rating.
What makes the PhotoLoft.com Web site special is that users are not limited by their Web browser's ability to print Internet images at just 72 dots per inch (dpi) -- which is much too low for print-quality. PhotoLoft.com's proprietary software allows users to print at the highest resolution of the printer, producing crisp, clear photograph-quality prints in sizes ranging from 3x5 to 8x10. In addition, users can grab and print individual images on a page rather than printing the entire page from the browser.
About PhotoLoft.com
PhotoLoft.com, based in Campbell, is the fastest growing photo-sharing community on the Internet, allowing users to view, share, and print photo-finish quality images and create photo-personalized gifts with the click of a mouse button. Users can also browse over 90 categories of images based on specific topics.
Founded in 1994 by Jack Marshall and Chris McConn as AltaVista Technology, Inc. the company was renamed PhotoLoft.com in September 1998 when the photo-sharing community was launched.
About Netopia, Inc.
Netopia, Inc. is a market leader in providing Internet infrastructure to small growing businesses, including next generation web site services and high speed DSL Internet connectivity solutions. Netopia's innovative products and unique customer support provide users with "What the Internet Experience Should Be."
The company has been successful in helping millions of Internet and Intranet users increase their productivity. With the Netopia Virtual Office platform, the company has established web site services with Netscape Netcenter, Intuit, McAfee and Concentric Network. With its Netopia Internet Router family, Netopia has established strategic partnerships with hundreds of ISPs including France Telecom, Telecom Italia, Bell Atlantic, PSINet, Verio, UUNet, and Concentric Network.
Headquartered in Alameda, Calif., Netopia's common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol NTPA. Further information can be obtained via phone 510-814-5100, fax 510-814-5021 or Internet at www.netopia.com.