Pumas Intel position..on BT
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Puma Technology's Intellisync to be Included in Intel's Future Bluetooth Software
Intellisync Synchronization Software Gains Bluetooth Capability
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 18, 1999--Puma Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:PUMA - news), today announced that its industry leading Intellisync® synchronization software will be integrated by Intel® as part of Intel's Bluetooth software and module, which will be available next year. These products will provide mobile devices with an anytime, anywhere global connectivity solution. This comes on the heels of Puma's recent announcement of Intellisync.com(TM); a free Internet-based synchronization service allowing consumers worldwide to keep PCs, mobile devices and Internet content in sync via the web.
''We believe that the Bluetooth specification will become pervasive in the coming years and that this approach will be a key growth enabler for connected devices and Internet appliances,'' said Puma Technology President and CEO Brad Rowe. ''We are pleased that our Intellisync products will now incorporate this important new technology.''
Bluetooth technology will enable users to connect their mobile computers, digital cellular phones, handheld devices, and other mobile devices together via wireless short-range radio links directly to the Internet. Eliminating the need for proprietary cables to connect devices, Bluetooth technology will increase the ease and breadth of wireless connectivity. Users of Bluetooth enabled devices equipped with Intellisync will automatically synchronize their notebook computers via the digital cellular phones in their pockets or synchronize their primary PC with their handheld computer without taking it out of their briefcase.
''Intel is excited about working with companies like Puma to bring the Bluetooth technology to market,'' said Simon Ellis, marketing communications manager, Mobile and Handheld Products Group at Intel Corporation. ''By adding Puma's synchronization technology to our Bluetooth software, we're able to provide a key component to enable wireless synchronization of information between devices such as handhelds, notebooks, and desktops.''
About Puma Technology
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Telecom & Computer Vendors Team Up on New Wireless Technology
Last week, Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Toshiba (OTC: TOSBF), Telefonaktiebolaget
LM Ericsson (NASDAQ: ADR ERICY) and Nokia (NYSE: ADR NOK/A) announced they would
work together to create Bluetooth, a new wireless technology.
Bluetooth technology will enable short-distance (40 feet) wireless communications between various
devices from mobile phones and computers to digital cameras. The technology will use a 2.45GHz
license-free radio frequency of electromagnetic spectrum, and allow data transmission speeds of up
to 721 Kbits per second between communications devices.
Bluetooth offers many exciting possibilities. Among the range of applications are using mobile
phones to read e-mail messages from mobile computers; accessing the Internet via a wireless link;
and establishing wireless connection between a desktop PC and various peripheral devices,
including a keyboard, mouse, printer, and scanner.
Bluetooth technology faces powerful competition, however. Currently, infrared connectivity is
widely used for communications between various computing and telecommunications devices.
According to International Data Corporation (IDC), a consulting company, the number of
infrared-enabled notebook computers will grow to 20 million units worldwide by the year 2000,
from 1.7 million in 1995. Still, Bluetooth technology has a number of important advantages. One of
them is that two Bluetooth-enabled devices do not require a direct line of sight to establish
connection. And physical objects, such as office walls, don't impair a Bluetooth wireless link.
Market potential for Bluetooth technology is significant. According to Dataquest, shipments of
handheld computers will rise to 5.3 million units worldwide by the year 2000, from 1.3 million in
1995. In the meantime, the personal digital assistant market will explode to 7.6 million units by 2001,
from 858,000 in 1996, according to IDC estimates.
Intel, IBM, Toshiba, Ericcson and Nokia aren't the only companies that will profit from the
mass-market adoption of Bluefoot. Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), 3Com (NASDAQ: COMS),
Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), and a number of other computer and telecom
equipment providers also stand to reap substantial benefits. Puma Technologies (NASDAQ:
PUMA), a mobile data exchange software vendor, is perhaps in the best position among all
Bluetooth participants. With Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) refusing to join the alliance because of
patent rights and royalty-related disputes, someone must provide the operating system to support
interoperability between various Bluetooth-enabled devices. PUMA, with its expertise in mobile
data exchange, seems to be the likely choice.
In addition to Bluetooth vendors, wireless telecom service providers are also in an enviable position.
Companies, such as Nextel Communications (NASDAQ: NXTL), Western Wireless (NASDAQ:
WWCA), and Airtouch Communications (NYSE: ATI), will substantially benefit as wireless
transmission is increasingly used.
Demonstrations of Bluetooth-enabled systems have already been undertaken. Full-scale
commercial roll out of products incorporating the new technology is planned for the second half of |
