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GVC LICENSES PHONE.COM UP.BROWSER MICROBROWSER FOR MOBILE PHONES IN
ASIA AND EUROPE
Taiwanese Manufacturer to Debut WAP-Compatible GSM Phones in Europe
and Asia Including Taiwan and China
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (February 23, 2000) ¾ Phone.com, Inc.
(Nasdaq:PHCM), a leading provider of mobile Internet software and
services, today announced that GVC Co. of Taiwan has licensed the
Phone.com UP.Browser(TM) for use in new GVC Internet-enabled mobile
telephones for Asian and European Markets. Under the terms of the
agreement, GVC will incorporate the WAP-compatible UP.Browser(TM)
microbrowser into its line of GSM handsets.
By adding Internet-enabled mobile phones to its product portfolio, GVC
anticipates its GSM phones will be more marketable to both consumers
and other handset manufacturers. In Taiwan, GVC sells and markets its
handsets under it's the GVC brand name, while in other Asian and
European markets GVC is positioned as a leading original equipment
manufacturer (OEM).
"By licensing the Phone.com UP.Browser, GVC is able to quickly enter
the wireless Internet market," said Paul Wang, Vice President of GVC
Wireless Communications. "We believe that by incorporating Phone.com's
WAP-compatible microbrowser into our GSM phones, our phone product
line will be more competitive and appealing to our customers.
Phone.com has proven that is the worldwide leader in microbrowser
technology, across all mobile standards. Given their commitment to the
WAP standard, they were the logical choice for GVC."
"By licensing the Phone.com microbrowser, GVC joins a growing list of
companies, including most of the other leading mobile phone
manufacturers around the world, that integrate our UP.Browser
microbrowser into their mobile phones," said Ben Linder, vice
president of marketing of Phone.com. "With its manufacturing
facilities in China and a growing brand awareness in Taiwan, GVC is
another prominent manufacturer to join forces with Phone.com to
provide cutting edge wireless Internet-ready mobile phones. Taiwan and
other Asian countries are key markets for both our companies to
demonstrate our commitment to delivering wireless users with premium
WAP-compatible products."
GVC joins a list of more than 25 wireless phone manufacturers in North
America, Europe, and Asia with a license to employ the Phone.com
UP.Browser. The UP.Browser is currently being ported to over 70
distinct phone models for all major digital standards, including CDMA,
GSM, PDC, PHS, iDEN and TDMA. The WAP-compatible UP.Browser will
enable GVC's GSM mobile users to wirelessly access and interact with
the Internet and Intranet through wireless carriers who have licensed
the Phone.com, UP.Link(TM) Server Suite.
Phone.com's UP.Browser software is a WAP-compatible micro-browser that
is designed and optimized for mass-market wireless telephones. Using
UP.Browser, wireless subscribers can access Web-based information and
services that are hosted on network operators' or third-party Web
servers. Due to its open and highly portable architecture, UP.Browser
can be embedded into different types of wireless telephones and
utilize each mobile phone's specific display and input
characteristics, such as graphical displays and programmable keys.
UP.Browser, combined with each phone's existing user interface
software, gives network operators a way to reach subscribers and add
innovative services, with seamless integration of voice and data
services.
Phone.com provides handset manufacturers with core and interface
modules, which they adapt to existing phone models, greatly reducing
their R&D investment. Handset manufacturers can optimize the
integration of UP.Browser into their wireless handsets with the
technical assistance, documentation and tools of Phone.com's OEM
support organization.
About GVC
GVC Corporation is an electronics manufacturer headquartered in
Taipei, Taiwan. Established in 1979, the company went public in 1991
and achieved revenues of $1.5 billion in 1998. As the leading
manufacturer of Analog Modem in the world, GVC also produces broadband
internet access devices like ADSL, Cable Modem, DVB-C Information
Appliance (IA) products, wireless phones and PC, motherboards. GVC
continues to invest actively in digital wireless phone technology such
as GSM, CDMA, and Third-Generation (3G) technologies. The company
expects to establish a prominent position in the global wireless
communications market following the announcement of the IMT-2000
standard. Additional information on GVC is available at www.gvc.com.
About Phone.com
Phone.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:PHCM) is a leading provider of software and
services that enable the delivery of Internet-based information
services to mass-market wireless telephones. Using its software,
wireless subscribers have access to Internet- and corporate
intranet-based services, including Email, news, stocks, weather,
travel and sports. In addition, subscribers have access via their
wireless telephones to network operators' intranet-based telephony
services, which may include over-the-air activation, call management,
billing history information, pricing plan subscription and voice
message management. Phone.com is headquartered in Silicon Valley,
California and has regional offices in Belfast, Copenhagen, London and
Tokyo. Visit http://www.phone.com for more information.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters
discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements
involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements.
Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to,
Phone.com's limited operating history, potential fluctuations in
Phone.com's operating results, uncertainties related to Phone.com's
long sales cycle and reliance on a small number of customers,
Phone.com's dependence on the acceptance of its products by network
operators and wireless subscribers, Phone.com's ability to adequately
address the rapidly-evolving market for delivery of Internet-based
services through wireless telephones, the need to achieve widespread
integration of Phone.com's browser in wireless telephones, competition
from companies with substantially greater financial, technical,
marketing and distribution resources and the ability of Phone.com to
manage a complex set of engineering, marketing and distribution
relationships. Further information regarding these and other risks are
included in Phone.com's Form 10-Q for quarter ended December 31, 1999,
in its prospectus dated November 16, 1999 and in its other filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
# # #
Phone.com, the Phone.com name and logo, MyPhone and the family of
terms carrying the "UP." prefix are trademarks of Phone.com, Inc. All
Rights Reserved. All other company, brand and product names may be
marks that are the sole property of their respective owners.
For further information:
Contact Phone.com Worldwide Public Relations
GVC
John Wang
+886 2 22221167
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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