Powerful Automation and Scripting Flexibility Arrives for the Internet; Allegiant Technologies Previews its Internet Scripting Tool at Apple Conference.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 1995--Allegiant Technologies Inc. will preview the company's new Internet connectivity program, code-named "BlackHole," during the Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference in San Jose, May 9-11, 1995.

BlackHole promises to revolutionize the way Macintosh users use the Internet by allowing the rapid creation of completely customized interfaces that automate and simplify Internet tasks. The product is expected to ship in the third quarter, 1995 at a price of $249.

By giving the Internet a scriptable interface, BlackHole will allow tens of thousands of people who are familiar with scripting languages on the Macintosh to build custom client and server interfaces. They will be able to create these interfaces in any authoring environment that supports both inter-application communication and the standard external command (XCMD) interface, most notably Allegiant SuperCard 2.0 and Apple's HyperCard.

According to Stuart Henigson, vice president of marketing for Allegiant, "We've essentially made the Internet scriptable, which in turn enables users to automate manual tasks that previously required skilled personnel. Training costs can be greatly reduced, companies can now have greater in-house control over the quality and maintenance of their Internet activities, collaborative work can be made easier and creative Internet front-ends will flourish."

BlackHole provides a familiar high-level interface to the standard Internet protocols that include standard E-mail (SMTP/POP3), file transfer (FTP), newsgroup (NNTP), HTTP/CGI and Gopher. The program ships as a system extension that utilizes Apple's Thread Manager for smooth background operations. An external code module, optimized for standalone performance and delivery within SuperCard-based applications, will also be included in the package. BlackHole's Task Manager manages the completion of lengthy operations either while the user works or deferred until a pre-designated time.

BlackHole will allow corporate MIS directors, researchers, educators, Internet service providers and "net-surfers" to create a wide variety of specialized applications. Examples of these custom applications include simplified, automated Web page creation and maintenance; utilities for corporate in-house or field personnel; workgroup E-mail distribution; off-line newsgroup reading; easy mailing list management; automatic web link verification utilities; collaborative tools, and much more.

BlackHole is expected to ship early in the third quarter, 1995 at a price of $249. A demo version of the system extension will be available from Allegiant's home page when the product ships. Exact pricing for commercial licenses to distribute the extension or the code module will be made available at a later date. Further information is available from the Allegiant home page at http://www.allegiant.com/(tilde)supercrd/ or by calling 619/587-0500.

Allegiant Technologies, publishers of the powerful authoring tool SuperCard, is a leading vendor of multimedia and custom application authoring and delivery tools for Macintosh and Windows-based personal computers.

CONTACT: Allegiant Technologies Inc.

Stuart Henigson, 619/587-0500 ext. 101

Kevin La Rue, ext. 106

or

Franson, Hagerty and Associates

Xenia Moore, 619/274-5959