Applied Technology, a venture capital fund operating from Lexington, Massachusetts reports that it has put up funding for three companies working on audio-visual technologies – but gives no information of how much it invested, or how much each of the three raised in total. The three are Digital F/X Inc, Fluent Machines Inc and Information Storage Devices Inc. Digital F/X’s products are designed to merge advanced video and digital computer technologies into systems that integrate previously-separate video production functions and are aimed at the broadcast market and the emerging business and commercial market, for which it has a desktop video production system based on the Apple Computer Inc Macintosh. Fluent Machines is developing technologies and products to integrate full-motion digital video and audio into networked computers and its products include AT-compatible boards and software facilitating video-integrated applications requiring timely updates over networks such as computer-based training, video libraries and kiosks, video mail, and desktop videoconferencing applications. Fluent will jointly develop and market software for Intel Corp’s Digital Video Interactive multimedia products, and also has alliances with Cirrus Logic Inc, Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA, Lotus Development Corp, Nynex Corp, and ASCII Corp. Information Storage Devices has developed a patented technology claimed to be a breakthrough, designed to increase the storage capacity of non-volatile memory integrated circuits 100-fold. The company is initially applying it to production of an integrated speech storage chip that serves as a complete semiconductor subsystem for recording, storing and replaying speech. The chip will be used in telephone answering machines, smart facsimile machines, security systems, pagers, and a range of other product lines. Applied Technology’s investments were made through its newest fund, the $28m Technologies for Information & Publishing Limited Partnership.
