Sonic Solutions today announced a technology partnership with InterActual Technologies, Inc., makers of the PCFriendly(TM) software, that can be found on countless DVD-ROM enabled DVDs. Under the agreement, Sonic will directly integrate InterActual’s Web-connected DVD client technology into Sonic’s DVD authoring applications, enabling users of Sonic DVD Creator, DVD Fusion and DVDit! to create web-connected titles that play on virtually all Internet-enabled DVD players. This is the first totally compatible web-based DVD solution of its kind including support for eDVD playback on Windows 95, 98, 2000 and Macintosh platforms as well as web-connected set-top DVD players.

“Sonic has been a driving force in expanding the power of DVD with new technologies like eDVD and Streaming DVD(TM),” said Todd Collart, President and CEO of InterActual Technologies. “By combining our web-connected DVD technology with Sonic’s authoring expertise, we are enabling corporate AV departments, Fortune 1000 companies and independent video producers to create engaging and exciting web-integrated DVD content.”

InterActual’s web-connected DVD technology has been used on hundreds of DVD titles released by major Hollywood Studios including “The Matrix” from Warner Home Video, “Ronin” from MGM Home Video, Universal Home Video’s “The Mummy,” “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” from New Line Home Video and Columbia Tristar’s “Ghostbusters.” InterActual’s technology enables DVD title developers to combine the best of DVD with the versatility of the Internet. The millions of users who have already installed InterActual’s PCFriendly application on their PCs can today expand their DVD experience with web-based games, cross-marketing promotions, e-commerce opportunities, chat rooms and more. The partnership between InterActual and Sonic will further apply this to the corporate, industrial and consumer uses of DVD and the web.

Sonic eDVD combines high-quality DVD-Video content with up-to-the-second HTML, Macromedia Flash and Java content that can be served over the Web. During DVD authoring, users add URLs directly to menu buttons or on top of motion video. When the DVD is formatted, InterActual’s player application is automatically generated, and installers for all major PC and set-top platforms are written to the DVD-ROM portion of the DVD disc.