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It took two years to develop the sophisticated algorithms needed to make the technology work, and in spring 1996, Mr. Efrat took an unfinished proto- type to Milia, the prestigious multimedia publishing show in Cannes. The response was over- whelming. 'When I came back I could hardly speak. For four days I talked endlessly, giving presentation after presentation." The show brought Ephyx to the attention of California's Macromedia firm, which con- trols 60 percent of the world's multimedia offering tool vendor market and supplies 300,000 de- velopers worldwide. The two companies formed a strategic software alliance, and in August Ephyx went on show with Macromedia at Siggraph in New Orleans. The company went on to es- tablish ties with Intel, Apple and Microsoft. Every day Ephyx re- ceives some 3,000 hits to its In- ternet site, many of which are routed through Microsoft's site. Though cautious, Mr. Efrat says that Microsoft may soon invest in Ephyx. In 1996, another strategic al- liance was formed with leading Canadian multimedia company Progressive Networks. The companies are now work- ing on a system that will inte- grate V-Active with Progressive Network's own technology to en- able the creation and playback of video clips hyperlinked to Web pages. Called V-Active for Re- alVideo, it is due out this month. Beta testing began in No- vember. One hundred compa- nies_ took part, including Proxicom — the -largest Web site builders in the U.S.; Anderson Consulting, Chevron; the Smith- sonian Institutions; NASA and one of the world's largest toy makers. NASA was so impressed by the technology that it now plans to use the software on its Web site and for a new CD ROM. The Smithsonian Institutions and the toy maker also plan to use it for new projects. Testing lasted only four months. "It was too short," ad- mitted Mr. Efrat. "But we did a lot of beta sites and the market was ripe. Digital video is grow- ing quickly and we saw so much enthusiasm for our product that we decided to let it go. The prod- uct is good and it's stable. It's only that you always want your kid to stay in kindergarten a lit- tle longer." V-Active 1.0, priced at $695, left the kindergarten in April. Sales are via the Internet and sellers in the United States. Lat- er this year, a Macintosh version will be released. Other products are waiting in the wings. These range from a domestic system which will en- able amateurs to create their own hyper-videos — say a fam- ily trip to Paris with comments, snap-shots and details about Aunty Ethel attached — to a high-end product which will cost about $10,000. Mr. Efrat believes the poten- tial market is enormous. U.S. re- search company UBS Securities recently estimated that Internet video would grow by 200 percent annually over the next few years. The multimedia author- ing market is estimated at $1 Ephyx seeks cooperation with market leaders. billion alone. Mr. Efrat antici- pates that Ephyx will sell some 20,000 software packages a year. Competitors are out there — Arts Video in France and Digi- tal Renaissance in Canada. "They are way behind us," said Mr. Efrat. Untried and untested on the market, hypervideo could go the way of other gimmicky products such as the videophone which, despite much heraldry, failed dismally. Aware of the pitfalls, Mr. Efrat said Ephyx is constantly seeking cooperation with mar- ket leaders. "We will make our- selves visible through partners." The United States is Ephyx's main market, and the company has firmly embraced the Amer- ican way. Aside from an office in San Francisco, marketing, pub- licity and business techniques all have a slick American polish. Mr. Efrat even speaks with an American twang picked up, he says, from long childhood hours spent watching "Starsky And Hutch." "One of the things we are strict about is learning from oth- er people," he said. "We see how U.S. companies act and do as they do. We want to start in the right way." What about the future? Mr. Efrat hedges. "We plan to target Japan and Europe. There's many things in the air, applica- tions for TV, DVD etc., but it's too premature to say. It's im- portant to focus. Without focus we could get distracted. 'We have so many ideas. We just have to suppress them all," he said reluctantly. Then he added with a smile: "For now anyway." O (c) Jerusalem Post 1997