Agritek Bio Ingredients Corporation -
Agritek joint ventures with thinWeb for wireless data access market
Agritek Bio Ingredients Corporation
AGK
Shares issued 23,729,514
1999-09-10 close $0.48
Monday Sep 13 1999
Mr. Jamie Macintosh reports
Agritek Bio Ingredients Corp. has signed an agreement to form a joint venture
with thinWeb.com Corp., a leading-edge Java developer of Web-deployable thin
client software, to exploit thinWeb.com's unique database access technology for
the wireless devices market. Agritek expects to sign a definitive joint venture
agreement by the end of September, 1999.
The next generation of growth in the telecommunications, computing and Internet
markets will be wireless data. Wireless devices are already the fastest-growing
segment of the computer market, and are quickly becoming essential information
tools for mobile professionals whose ranks are expected to exceed 20 million by
the year 2000 in the United States alone. IDC, an independent research house,
predicts that by 2001, there will be 89 million non-PC Internet devices in use and
by 2003, 19 million hand-held computers. DataQuest predicts that by 2000, there
will be 250 million cellular telephones worldwide, increasingly performing data
tasks as well as voice communication.
thinWeb.com has developed and is currently marketing the smallest footprint thin
client database access software in the world. This product, thinAccess, sits with
any database on the server and delivers a "remote control" thin client to the
browser of the prospective user of that database. The thin client has a footprint of
as little as 10K yet provides real-time command of the database as if it were on
the client's computer, not unlike the way a remote control unit controls a TV set.
The result is faster access to data with the added benefit of Java's Web-oriented,
cross platform universal connectivity.
thinAccess anticipates and solves many of the most important issues facing
wireless data communication. Owing to the small size of wireless devices, their
applications require an ultra thin client with all the processing performed on a
robust middle tier server, which is how thinAccess now works for the wired
market.
The key business applications for wireless devices -- applications providing
access to corporate WANs, LANs, workgroup servers and corporate data -- will
rely heavily on new database access technologies. Personal applications including
E-mail and Internet browsing will also require enhanced database access.
"To make wireless devices truly useful, the technical challenge is to force more
data down a smaller funnel at a faster pace into devices with very limited memory
and computing power. thinWeb.com's thin client technology is the obvious
answer. The joint venture's objective is to develop and market the standard for
wireless database access, which we believe is an outstanding business
opportunity," said Agritek's president, Jamie Macintosh.
The joint venture will hold a license for the wireless application of thinWeb.com's
thinAccess technology and will pay thinWeb.com a 5-per-cent royalty on future
revenues. Agritek has agreed to pay thinWeb.com $1-million (Canadian) and
500,000 equity units valued at 50 cents each for its 50-per-cent share of the joint
venture. The Agritek equity units will consist of one share and one two-year
warrant exercisable at 50 cents. The issuance of these units is subject to approval.
thinWeb.com will granted Agritek a two-year warrant to purchase 100,000 of its
common shares at the lower of $5.00 (U.S.) per share and the price of its next
equity financing. thinWeb.com has filed for an initial public offering with the SEC.
Development work for the wireless market is expected to begin immediately, in
parallel with a search for partnerships and alliances with major wireless device
manufacturers and software application developers. |
