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April 13 2006

As part of a reseller agreement with Motorola, Inc., Sony Electronics today announced that its IPELA SNC-RX550N/W-MT and SNC-RX550N/B-MT cameras are compatible with Motorola's MOTOMESH technology, which supports up to four radio networks in a single access point, and Motorola's Mesh Enabled Architecture (MEA), a wireless network that maximizes performance and bandwidth efficiency.

These cameras differ from Sony's standard SNC-RX550N models since they are designed specifically for Motorola network compatibility.

Being sold by Motorola as its Mesh Camera Wireless Video Networking System, according to the company, the compatibility of its mesh technology with Sony's camera transforms it into a router in the network. The solution is ideal for municipalities looking to improve situational awareness and incident response via cost-effective wireless video monitoring, said Motorola officials. The mesh-enabled cameras can be configured to operate over licensed 4.9 GHz public safety or unlicensed 2.4 GHz frequencies.

"By having the SNC-RX550N/W-MT and B-MT cameras use Motorola's mesh- enabled Wireless Modem Cards (WMC), the cost to deploy these networks is reduced dramatically," said Ken LaMarca, general manager of Sony's security group. "The cameras' advanced features, coupled with Motorola's mobile mesh networking technology, bring surveillance to police forces where they need it most -- in the field."

Sony's IP-based technology, combined with Motorola's mesh networking technology, work synergistically to enable the SNC-RX550N/W-MT and B-MT cameras to provide real-time video feeds to both fixed and mobile security personnel -- even while traveling at highway speeds.

The cameras feature a 360-degree "endless" pan and can tilt from 0 to 90 degrees. The full-range pointing capabilities can be masked to create privacy zones with spherical (three-dimensional) tracing, and its high quality lens has a 26X optical zoom. Also, Sony's Real Shot Manager software allows personnel to remotely control pan, tilt and zoom options.

According to Motorola, its Multi-Hopping technology turns every mesh- enabled camera into a router/repeater. The more users there are, the stronger the network becomes. The company added that it also allows for ad hoc peer- to-peer networks to form among users and cameras, anytime, anywhere.

"By pairing Motorola's mesh technology with Sony cameras, we now have a cost-effective way of adding live video surveillance to our current mesh network, while extending wireless coverage," said Mitch Weinzetl, chief of police in Buffalo, Minn. "Since every new camera adds an additional router to the network, our officers now have a higher level of wireless connectivity."

Other Sony IPELA camera applications span government, education and retail markets.

Through MOTOMESH and MEA wireless PC modem cards, the SNC-RX550N/W-MT and B-MT cameras will draw less power than those cameras requiring external modems and access points, helping municipalities to reduce deployment costs by upwards of 50 percent.

"The agreement with Sony to develop Motorola mesh network-enabled IP cameras further supports Motorola's municipal wireless initiatives," said Richard Licursi, vice president of Motorola's Mesh Networks Product group. "By leveraging wireless video support and mesh routing functionality in a single system, participating communities can continue to easily grow networks that meet the needs of all constituents -- public safety, public works and public access."

Municipalities that are currently implementing Motorola's mesh camera video networking system beta programs include Buffalo, Minn. and Chatham County, Ga.

Sony's IPELA SNC-RX550N/W-MT and B-MT cameras, compatible with Motorola's mesh networking technology, will be available in May through select resellers.