FrontBase and Softmagic Announce Strategic Relationship

Softmagic to include FrontBase's enterprise database server in turnkey graphics production system.

Foothill Ranch, CA (May 16, 2001) - FrontBase, Inc., the developers of FrontBase™, the first scalable relational database for Mac OS X, and Softmagic, Inc., a South Korea-based developer of graphic production solutions, today announced that Softmagic’s Project-M system will use FrontBase’s relational database server to manage assets and production tracking. Softmagic Inc.’s Project-M system was chosen as one of the "Hot Picks" at this year’s Seybold show.

"The Mac OS did not have an industrial strength SQL database before Mac OS X," said Min Soo Kim, CEO of Softmagic. "This meant that publishers, who were using Macs, had to deal with multiple platforms for database servers. This complicated the system integration and drove costs up. With FrontBase running on Mac OS X, we will change that model by making it easy for anyone to manage the publishing system without the need for a database administrator position."

Softmagic Inc.’s Project-M system, which debuted at this year’s Seybold Boston show, is a complete magazine print production system designed for creating, designing, managing and tracking all aspects of print production. Project-M uses FrontBase as the system’s core relational database, which is set up to handle the complex variety of media asset management and tracking tasks involved in magazine print production.

"FrontBase is a perfect complement to products like Project-M because FrontBase can scale from small magazines to large publishing house operations," said Geert Clemmensen, President and CEO of FrontBase, Inc. "We built our FrontBase database server for mission critical business applications, so there would be no down time. Now FrontBase provides Project-M with the database power needed to tackle the most challenging magazine publishing businesses."

About FrontBase

FrontBase Inc., is a database software developer and services provider based in the United States, with offices in Denmark, Seattle and California. Their FrontBase database software is the only database software for Mac OS X that is fully SQL 92 compliant. For more information about FrontBase, please call (949) 455-2913 or visit their website at www.FrontBase.com

About SoftMagic

Softmagic, Inc. was founded in 1987, and is based in Seoul, Korea. For more information visit www.softmagic.com or call (408) 392-0222. For more information about Project-M, visit their website at http://www.softmagic.com/overview.htm

For more information contact:

Erik Holsinger
FrontBase, Inc.
(949) 455-2913

Jim Armstrong
Softmagic, Inc.
(408) 392-0222