Did anyone notice this...???? The IPO for Netpliance
seems to be around March 13.....Proposed symbol was NPLI...see Hoovers....and also SI's IPO info.....Go.com seems to have a minor portion of the company (about 10%)
KLP
siliconinvestor.com
GO.com to Be Exclusive Provider of News, Entertainment, Sports and
Family Content for Netpliance's i-opener
Agreement Brings Instant Access to Content From Disney, ABC, ESPN and Others Into Homes
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif., and AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Feb. 1, 2000-- GO.com (NYSE: GO) and
Netpliance Inc. today announced that they have executed an agreement calling for GO.com's branded content sites, including
Disney.com, ABCNEWS.com and ESPN.com, to be the exclusive content providers for several areas within i-opener(TM),
Netpliance's consumer Internet appliance solution.
The deal enhances the Internet experience for i-opener customers by providing instant access to top-branded content from the
GO.com network of "vertical" sites.
In addition, GO.com made an investment in Netpliance's Series D preferred stock. Terms of the investment have not been
disclosed.
GO.com content will be delivered through i-opener's instant channels on the homepage and include information from GO.com's
branded services such as Disney.com, ABCNEWS.com, ESPN.com, Family.com, Mr. Showbiz and Wall of Sound. To make
accessing information as easy as possible, the i-opener keyboard has dedicated "hot keys" to get e-mail and the latest
information on news, weather and more.
In addition, GO.com's e-commerce initiatives, including DisneyStore.com and ESPNStore.com, will be featured in the i-opener
shopping area, and i-opener will use GO.com's search engine.
Said GO.com Chairman Steve Bornstein in making the announcement: "GO.com's branded sites offer premier news,
information and entertainment content to millions on the Internet, and Netpliance's i-opener offers a convenient, innovative way
to explore that content. By working with Netpliance, we are able to reach new Internet users and continue our strategy to offer
our Web sites to as broad an audience as possible."
"This exciting arrangement with GO.com will allow us to provide i-opener users with lively, timely information that the whole
family can use and enjoy. GO.com offers us a broad range of entertainment and information categories from household names
that our users know and trust," said Kent Savage, president and CEO of Netpliance.
"This relationship is part of our strategy to continuously make using the Internet a richer and more meaningful experience for
users of the i-opener service."
Creating an entirely new experience for getting online, Netpliance configures the i-opener Internet appliance for the customer
when it's ordered, so the appliance arrives pre-configured with the right local access number, local weather and e-mail address.
All the customer needs to do is plug it in and turn it on, and the i-opener experience begins instantly.
GO.com is the result of the recent merger between Infoseek Corp. and The Walt Disney Company's online unit, Buena Vista
Internet Group (BVIG). GO.com oversees many of the Web's most popular sites and services, including the GO Network
portal, ABC.com, ABCNEWS.com, Disney.com, DisneyStore.com, ESPN.com, NFL.com, NBA.com, NASCAR Online,
Family.com and Mr. Showbiz.
Austin-based Netpliance is the all-in-one provider of an Internet appliance, nationwide Internet service and consumer Internet
content. The patent-pending i-opener(TM) Internet appliance and service combines instant-on Internet access and
interest-specific Internet content.
Through the i-opener solution, consumers gain instant access to e-mail, customized Internet content and Web browsing without
the hassle of set up, configuration or service provider contracts. The i-opener Internet appliance is regularly priced at $299 with
a monthly service fee of $21.95. More information about Netpliance can be found on the Internet at www.netpliance.com.
Contact:
GO.com
Michelle Bergman, 818/623-3944 (media relations)
michelle.bergman@corp.go.com
or
Netpliance
Munira Fareed, 512/493-8318 (media relations)
munira@netpliance.net
or
Alexander Ogilvy PR Worldwide
Mary Nell Westbrook, 214/303-0098, ext. 103
mnwestbrook@alexanderogilvy.com |
