For Immediate Release

Emeryville, CA - May 16, 2006 - TechniCon, a leading provider of online catalog and configuration solutions for complex products, has released version 5.0 of ContentStudio, its catalog management solution for delivering product data on the Web.

A manufacturer's product information is a powerful company asset. However, faced with rapid product turnover and modification, manufacturers are often pressed to keep their product data up-to-date and accurate.

ContentStudio streamlines this effort, allowing business users such as product marketers and engineers to manage the content and appearance of their online catalogs and configuration systems.

Version 5 provides new data structures that allow users to manage complex product data in a more discrete and complete manner to fully accommodate a product's properties and behaviors.

Attribute fields in ContentStudio are used to store both feature criteria (e.g. color, size or speed) and marketing content such as cross-selling information or promotional dates.

In version 5, the product attributes structure has been extended from products to product options. An arbitrary number of attributes can be associated with any product or product option.

Matrices of values can now be associated with an attribute, allowing values to be stored that are dependent on a product's specific configuration state. This can be useful for design applications, e.g. based on these selected product options, use this value to calculate a product's size. Matrices can also be used for setting pricing based on a product's configuration.

Attributes can now be used for setting approvals. For example, check-off of an attribute can be required before a product is published to the online catalog. Attributes can also be used to determine if a product should be shown in one catalog and not another, e.g. show this product in Japan, but not in the US.

Other new features include:

• Two-dimensional lookup tables can be set up in ContentStudio to provide data that can be defined as a function of one or two parameters, e.g. storing the results of design calculations such as moment or load capacities.
• A new, integrated log viewer allows users to filter, sort and sum Web site activity records. These records can be used to generate sales leads and help identify customer needs. The log viewer provides a simple way to examine this data in online tables or in a spreadsheet format.

"With version 5.0, the extent and types of product data that product marketers and non-technical users can manage is amazing," said Anthony Mirante, President of TechniCon. "ContentStudio provides a true central repository for a manufacturer's product information."

Founded in 1987, TechniCon is a leading provider of e-commerce solutions for complex products. Combining over a decade of experience developing product specification and sales automation software with leading-edge Internet and visualization technology, TechniCon has developed interactive sales and configuration systems for a wide range of manufacturers, including DaimlerChrysler, Motorola, and Steelcase.

TechniCon (www.technicon.com) is headquartered in Emeryville, CA with additional offices in St. Louis, MO.

TechniCon is a service mark of TechniCon Corporation.