News Articles 2004

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Creative Cow
December 1, 2004—"You want the best software-encoding suite? Look no further than Sorenson's Squeeze. It's a five COW winner!"
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Video Systems
December 1, 2004—"At the end of every year, Video Systems editors and contributors pick the products that have done the most to advance video technology and put that technology in the hands of video professionals."
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Macworld UK
November 8, 2004—"The latest Squeeze offers some distinct improvements, arguably making it the best encoding package available for OS X at present."

Millimeter
November 1, 2004—"Efficient, easy-to-use codecs are becoming increasingly useful as DVDs and the Web become an integral part of many productions. 'That's one reason to consider Sorenson Media's well-regarded Squeeze line of video compression apps.' "
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Flashmagazine
November 1, 2004—"Well in conclusion, go and buy it now if you see yourself doing video work in the future, and lets face it this is the way the web is moving anyhow, so jump on the wagon sooner than later. If you already have a older version, you should consider upgrading if somebody sends you MPEG files to be encoded. This feature alone is worth the upgrade."
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The Salt Lake Tribune
November 20, 2004—"For soccer player Nicole Banks-Gough, the prospect of representing the United States in January's Deaflympics in Melbourne, Australia, improved this week."

"Banks-Gough learned she will receive a $500 donation from Sorenson Media, a Taylorsville-based company whose business largely involves providing telecommunications equipment for the deaf. Sorenson Media will give similar subsidies to 14 other deaf athletes, including four more from Utah, and donate $6,000 to the USA Deaf Sports Federation and $1,000 to USA Deaf Basketball."

The Salt Lake Tribune
November 17, 2004—"Such is the most likely of the scenarios that years of police, private and forensic science investigative work have produced in the six years since. Still, the largest part of the Mystery at Webb Hill has remained: Who was the boy, and are there relatives today who still ponder his fate?"

"Salt Lake City's Sorenson Genomics, using its own genetics expertise and a unique DNA genealogical database, hopes to solve that riddle. Samples drilled from the boy's rib and molar are being tested against the 47,000 records of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation Database, as well as the DNA of two Utah families with near-century-old missing persons in their lineages."

CGNetworks
November 15, 2004—"Verdict: Arguably the best compression suite you can get now, if working with the compatible formats and codecs."

Applelinks
November 8, 2004—"If you want to put your video on the web or make it just a bit smaller so it fits comfortably on a CD, where do you turn? To a third party program, of course, and you'd be wise to turn to the Sorenson Squeeze 4 Compression Suite. Why? There are many reasons, not the least of which is simplicity. Open your video (input formats are detailed below), select your output format (also detailed below), select a preset and "squeeze" it. Done."

The Seattle Times
November 6, 2004—"Gallaudet University, the 140-year-old school for the deaf in northeast Washington, D.C., announced Thursday that it has received a $5 million donation from a Utah inventor and his family the second-largest private donation in the school's history."

"The school said the contribution will help build a language and communications center on the 99-acre campus for several university disciplines devoted to the study of deaf people's language, culture and history."

"The donation came from James LeVoy Sorenson a billionaire inventor of the disposable surgical mask, the first blood-recycling system and the disposable venous catheter and his son, James Lee Sorenson, who developed a videophone for the deaf."

The Salt Lake Tribune
November 6, 2004—"Utah's Sorenson Media and the Sorenson Legacy Foundation have donated $5 million toward construction of a new teaching and research center at Gallaudet University."

The Washington Post
November 5, 2004—"Gallaudet University, the 140-year-old school for the deaf in Northeast Washington, announced yesterday that it has received a $5 million donation from a Utah inventor and his family -- the second-largest private donation in the school's history."

"The donation came from James LeVoy Sorenson -- a billionaire inventor of the disposable surgical mask, the first blood recycling system and the disposable venous catheter — and his son, James Lee Sorenson, who developed a videophone for the deaf."

Deseret Morning News
November 5, 2004—"A donation by two Utah philanthropists is being hailed as sweet music to the nation's largest university for the deaf and hearing impaired."

"James Lee Sorenson and his father, James LeVoy Sorenson, announced Thursday they have donated $5 million to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., which will use it to construct a new language and communication center. It is the second largest donation in the school's history."
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The Dallas Morning News
October 28, 2004—"In the past, Mrs. Villarreal, who is deaf, routinely relied on interpreters or resorted to writing notes. Or she's used a teletypewriter - a device that allows deaf and hearing people to type back and forth using phone lines."

"This year, Mrs. Villarreal has another option. It's called the Sorenson Video Relay Service, and it allows the teacher to call and talk to anyone using sign language."

CBS WTOC 11 (Savannah, Georgia)
October 19, 2004—"Thanks to a high-speed internet connection and the Sorenson VP-100 system, a sort of video phone hooked up to a TV, he can keep in touch with distant friends and family much more easily now."
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Network Computing
October 14, 2004—"For anyone creating multiple formats or sizes of the same video, this is the product to use."
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Wasatch Digital IQ
October 12, 2004—In May 2004, local funding opportunities for Utah growth companies took a major step forward, when Sorenson Capital announced it would begin deploying its new $250 million private equity fund. This equity, combined with leverage in making investments, could total as much as $1 billion in investments made by the Sorenson Capital team."
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Utah Business
October 2004—100 Most Influential People: James LeVoy Sorenson and James Lee Sorenson.
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Utah Business
October 2004—The High-Tech 20: Sorenson Genomics

"Sorenson Genomics can help all of us learn more about who we are through its relationship, forensic, identification and sequencing DNA tests. It also assists with specimen collection throughout the country, and seeks to better understand the genetic code behind health topics. Anthropologists to genealogists can find the testing they need, with turn-around as few as one to two days."

Arizona Macintosh Users Group
October 2004—"Sorenson Squeeze 4 is a great program for reducing the size of your video presentations while working with many diverse types of video formats."

"Sorenson Squeeze gets 4 AMUGs out of 5."
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Tech-edge E-Zine
September 28, 2004—"No doubt about it, there is no other application like, or even close to Sorenson Squeeze 4. It has more, it does more and it does it all incredibly easily."

"Tech-Edge E-zine presents Sorenson Media with our Editors' Choice 2004 and Tech Lab 5 Thumbs Up awards for Squeeze 4 Compression Suites."
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Deseret Morning News
September 13, 2004—"As Scott Woodward, Lars Mouritsen, James Sorenson and Ugo Perego discuss genetics, they don't look anything alike. It's clear they're not related and don't even have the same ethnic backgrounds."

"Or is it? Sorenson believes they're more related than they think - that at some points in the past, parts of their DNA resided in the same regions of the world, perhaps even the same town, though no one's sure where that was or when."
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Creative Mac
September 9, 2004—"Watermarking your media is a quick and easy way of protecting your media, and now that you know how to do it in Sorenson Squeeze 4, you can sleep easier at night knowing your content has another level of protection."
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Digital Producer
September 9, 2004—"For fast encoding with high quality results, I give Sorenson Squeeze 4 a Strong Buy Recommendation."
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The Salt Lake Tribune
September 7, 2004—"Riding in the Veracruz governor's helicopter and armed with a half-gallon of mouthwash, Utah genetic researcher Ugo Perego in late August prepared to meet members of an isolated, indigenous Mexican tribe."

"Perego, who is part of Salt Lake City's nonprofit Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, was collecting 200 DNA samples while he still had permission. The final term for Gov. Miguel Aleman Velazco, who agreed to the project, was about to expire."

People
September 6, 2004—"It would be an exaggeration to call [James Lee] Sorenson the Alexander Graham Bell of the deaf community-but not much of one. … In the past year Sorenson has donated 5,000 videophones free of charge. … His generosity has inspired gratitude among deaf users. 'Video relay makes us about as close to hearing people as we can be,' says I. King Jordan, the first deaf president of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. 'It's hard not to sound superlative and overly enthusiastic about Sorenson's work'."
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2-POP
September 3, 2004—"For those Mac users who have been creating high quality Quicktime Movies for the internet, the leading software for the last three years has been Discreet's Cleaner 6 with the Sorenson Video 3 Pro codec installed. It seems like we have been waiting ages for something better to come along. With the release of Sorenson Squeeze 4 Compression Suite, the wait may now be over."

Macworld
September 1, 2004—"Sorenson Squeeze 4.0, from Sorenson Media ( www.sorenson .com): Video compression line adds high-definition encoding for MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, QuickTime, and Real Media (Sorenson Squeeze 4 Compression Suite, $449; upgrade, $159: Squeeze 4 for Macromedia Flash MX, $119; upgrade, $49: Squeeze 4 for MPEG-4, $199; upgrade, $89)."

Digital Media Net
August 23, 2004—"Squeeze 4 Compression Suite is a must have application for anyone who needs to encode video to virtually any of the video formats out there. It is probably the easiest and most powerful application in its class and offers some of the widest variety of pre-built settings for easy Squeeze jobs, while retaining the capability to customize settings. Image quality is excellent."
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Sacramento Bee (part 1 of 2)
August 21, 2004—"He's the $4 billion man you never heard of - a former Yuba City resident who ranks 122nd on Forbes' list of the world's richest people."

"Today, tens of thousands of Utahans live on Sorenson property. The Sorenson Group and its subsidiaries control about 520,000 acres."

"Despite his real estate successes, medicine has always captured Sorenson's imagination."

Sacramento Bee (part 2 of 2)
August 21, 2004—As a child, Jim Sorenson had a hardscrabble life in Depression-era Yuba City, suffered from dyslexia before anyone knew what it was and fought to overcome crushing self-doubt."

"Today, he's recognized as a founding father of Utah's burgeoning medical device industry and has conquests in real estate, stocks, manufacturing and the Internet. Forbes places his net worth at about $4 billion."

The Arizona Republic
August 12, 2004—"Sorenson says his firm's technology sets its service apart from the telecom providers. The firm developed the VP-100 videophone device, which sits on a user's television much like a cable-television box. The VP-100 essentially turns the television into a videophone."

The New York Times
July 31, 2004—"The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, the nonprofit group here that compiling a global genetic database to assist Utahns and others in finding their roots, is housed in a nondescript building a few miles from the sleek new research centers at the University of Utah. The scientists creating the database were hired by a billionaire medical equipment entrepreneur, James LeVoy Sorenson. The chief scientist at the foundation, Scott R. Woodward, said the goal was to have a DNA sample of 100,000 people within the next few years, focused primarily on Western Europe - the place from which most Utahns are descended. About 40,000 samples are already available, he said."

"When the database is completed, Dr. Woodward said, a person should be able to walk into the office, provide a DNA sample, and get a report back saying what place - perhaps down to the town or county, if not a region - his or her genes are most likely from."

"'Genealogy was the starting place,' Dr. Woodward said. 'Genetics has now made the tools to go back and verify the genealogy.'"

The Salt Lake Tribune
July 16, 2004—"For Jon Hodson, the deaf director of National VRS Outreach for Sorenson, the value of his company's technology is in its ability to level the business playing field for the hearing-impaired, and broaden their career horizons."

The Wall Street Journal
July 14, 2004—"Working a job that requires constant communication by phone has been a challenge. Last fall, Mr. Hlibok, 41 years old, learned of a service that would allow him to communicate by phone in sign language. Sorenson Media Inc., the company that runs the service, called video relay, said it would provide and install a TV monitor and videophone free."

"The benefits of video-relay service are hard to exaggerate. Besides cutting travel, it has improved the comfort level of Mr. Hlibok's hearing clients and allowed him to talk more frequently with all clients."

PC Magazine
July 6, 2004—"Sorenson's Squeeze 4 Compression Suite compresses digital video from popular video-editing tools for archiving and sharing on CD, DVD or over the Internet."
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Digital Media Magazine
July 2004—"Because of its remarkable statistics and widespread, useful services, Sorenson Media is selected as a Digital Media Magazine Innovator. The company's compression technologies are used in many digital-media software and hardware programs. Its video communication products and services connect deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals with the hearing world, and they link distant businesspeople."

EMedia
June 29, 2004—"With a brand-new interface, batch processing, and more output formats than ever, the Squeeze 4 Compression Suite will be a force to be reckoned with in the ever-competitive encoder market."
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San Francisco Chronicle
May 13, 2004—"As one of five managing directors of the newly formed investment firm Sorenson Capital, Young has surrounded himself with heavyweights."

"Instead of 300-pound offensive linemen, though, Young's new partners include prominent names from the world of finance and investment banking."
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Denver Post
May 7, 2004—"Dennis McCrary, partner at Adams Street Partners in Chicago, said the players behind Sorenson Capital motivated his firm's investment."

The Salt Lake Tribune
May 4, 2004—"Sorenson Capital intends to invest in small and midsized companies in the western United States, a group it believes has been underserved by venture firms. The company primarily will invest in businesses that have positive cash flow, but it may make growth equity investments as well."

Dow Jones News Service
May 2, 2004—"Seeking to capitalize on a region seemingly overlooked by private equity firms, Sorenson Capital said it will invest its recently raised first fund of $250 million in America's Mountain West states."

The Salt Lake Tribune
May 4, 2004—"A $400,000 donation by Rosecrest Inc. will allow the city of Herriman to complete its long-planned 1,000-seat, outdoor performing-arts pavilion in time for the 2004 Fort Herriman Days celebration in late June."

Deseret Morning News
May 2, 2004—"Big money, big names and big returns. Those are the big ideas behind Sorenson Capital's new $250 million private equity fund, one of the largest of its kind in the state and perhaps in the Intermountain region."
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Arizona Republic
May 1, 2004—"Behind Sorenson Capital are some big names from the sports and business world."

"Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young is one of the fund's five managing directors, as is Fraser Bullock, chief operating officer of the 2002 Winter Olympics, held in Salt Lake City."

Deseret Morning News
April 19, 2004—"Instead of knocking Wilhelm out with narcotics like morphine that are the mainstay of pain control during a conflict, Buckenmaier did a peripheral nerve block using a medicine-infusion pump made in West Jordan by Sorenson Medical."
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The Salt Lake Tribune
March 28, 2004—"Today the Sorenson family owns or controls via leases from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management more than 520,000 acres of land in Utah worth an estimated $1.5 billion."

The Salt Lake Tribune
March 18, 2004—"The National Forensic Science Technology Center has awarded Sorenson Genomics ISO-IEC 17025 certification, making it one of only four national laboratories accredited for genetic testing by both the NFSTC and the American Association of Blood Banks."

St. Paul Pioneer Press
March 7, 2004—"Mark Abercrombie of Minneapolis, who is partly deaf, said the Sorenson service has added emotion and spontaneity to conversations with hearing friends and family members compared to old, cold text."

CBS 2 TV
March 2, 2004—"DNA analysis at GenTree, a paternity testing service run by Utah inventor by James Sorenson would provide definite proof."
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Forbes
March 1, 2004—"James LeVoy Sorenson has spent most of his 82 years thinking about the next pretty-big thing--then pouncing. Though little known outside Utah, he has made conquests in medical equipment, real estate, genomics and the Internet, and in the process has become a very rich man."
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ABC 4 TV
March 1, 2004—"The key to your family history is in the genes. Now there's a new tool to help you search your blood lines through the power of DNA."

"The new technology is thanks to the vision, and four years of intensive labor, at the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation."
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The Salt Lake Tribune
February 29, 2004—"However, Sorenson's ultimate goal is to see his foundation serve as a tool for uniting humankind, to make the dream of peace on Earth a reality."

Deseret Morning News and Associated Press
February 29, 2004—"In a move they believe will forever alter the way family history research is done, local geneticists are opening a free DNA-based genealogy database to the public this week."
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KSL 5 TV
February 27, 2004—"The world of science has entered the sear for family history, a first of its kind in the world, developed here in Utah. Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation will announce Monday the most comprehensive way for many to find their genealogy through DNA."
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The Salt Lake Tribune
February 3, 2004—"The world's only university for the deaf and hard of hearing heralded a Salt Lake City company's breakthrough in communication technology Monday, unveiling the nation's first videophone booths, which allow phone calls to be made via sign language interpreters."

News Channel 8 (District of Columbia)
February 2, 2004—"New technology is now making communication between the deaf community and the speaking world easier. The nation's first videophone booths were unveiled today at Gallaudet University."
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ABC 7 (District of Columbia)
February 2, 2004—"New of some exciting new technology tonight. Those who are deaf or hard of hearing can communicate while on the go with new videophone booths. The booths were unveiled today at Gallaudet University."
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Utah Spirit and Davis County Clipper
January 26, 2004—"Doctors and nurses bustle about the emergency room giving little thought to the medical devices that they use to sustain life. Of course, the patient's condition is the top priority. But as a doctor tosses away his surgical mask and a nurse adjusts a catheter, it is clear that those tasks are made simpler because of one man's genius. That man is Utah billionaire James LeVoy Sorenson."
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Associated Press, CBS.com, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
February 2004—"Called Sorensen Video Relay Service, this new system is far simpler and more efficient than the traditional text-based pagers or TTY, says Denis, employment specialist for the Center for Independent Living of Broward."

"It makes the phone as useful a tool for the deaf as for the hearing."
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CBS 6 (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
January 16, 2004—"And an amazing new device [Sorenson VP-100] helps people who are hearing impaired."

"Most people don't think twice about picking up the phone and calling someone. But, for people who are deaf it's a task that takes a bit of time until now."
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Connect
January 1, 2004—"When Sorenson Media CEO James L. Sorenson, Jr. came across a new video compression technology 10 years ago, he had no idea that it could someday help so many people as well as be a moneymaker."
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