SBL & MOT PR re: joint venture. I heard about this elsewhere but didn't see it linked below, so I pulled it from SBL's home (www.symbol.com).
Regards,
Harry
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MOTOROLA, SYMBOL TECHNOLOGIES, CONNECT THINGS AND AIRCLIC FORM NEW COMPANY TO DRIVE THE GROWTH OF E-COMMERCE THROUGH ONE-SCAN ACCESS TO THE INTERNET
Symbol Bar Code Scanning Technology in Wireless Phones, Cable TV Set-Top Terminals and Internet-Enabled Devices Manufactured by Motorola and Others Will Offer People an Easier Way to Receive Information and Services, Buy Products and Pay Bills. Soon, surfing the World Wide Web and ordering items on the Internet will be just a scan away.
HOLTSVILLE, N.Y and SCHAUMBURG, Ill. --June 15, 2000--
Motorola, Inc., Symbol Technologies, Inc, Connect Things, Inc., an affiliate of LM Ericsson AB, and AirClic, Inc. announced today that they have entered into memoranda of understanding and intend to invest up to an aggregate of 500 million to form a new company that will drive e-commerce growth through one-scan access to the Internet.
By creating a unique registry of Web codes, which are bar codes containing instructions for executing exact tasks, the new company will enable Motorola and other companies' wireless phones, cable TV set-top terminals, and other Internet-enabled appliances to access the Internet via Symbol bar code scanning technology.
Web codes will be embedded on products, in publications including brochures and company advertisements, and on television. By scanning a Web code with a bar code-enabled Internet device, people will be connected directly to Web sites to order products, find information, and manage everyday tasks and transactions. As people scan Web codes with these new Internet devices; information will be sent instantly to the new company's Web code registry, which interprets the nature of the inquiry and delivers corresponding information to users. The information will include product-ordering links, promotional offers, downloads for music, product usage and service data, as well as cross references to other applicable Internet sites. Users will get transparent, universal access to products and services. The system will also support ``Internet-enhanced'' standard UPC and EAN bar codes already positioned on millions of products worldwide.
"This revolutionary breakthrough will let people instantly and easily access Internet sites using a variety of devices without manually entering Web addresses," said Christopher B. Galvin, Motorola's chairman and chief executive officer. "This new venture brings us one step closer to our vision of a Web without wires and builds upon all of our earlier efforts to enable people to communicate anytime, anywhere. It encompasses all the strengths of the Motorola portfolio, including our cable TV set-top terminals and wireless phones, as well as our IP (Internet Protocol) infrastructure and embedded electronics.'' Motorola will also bring key intellectual property to the new company's Web code registry.
By supporting an open platform architecture, the companies expect there will be interest in the service from many Internet-device manufacturers which, in turn, will drive mass volume of consumer devices in the marketplace and widespread application of Web codes to products, literature and advertising.
"The bar code and bar code readers -- Symbol global strengths -- together provide the ideal interface to the computer, the Internet and the consumer," said Tomo Razmilovic, president and CEO-elect, Symbol Technologies. This transcending convergence of wireless and scanning technologies [end link] will allow us to seamlessly link the physical world of `people on the moveï and at work to the virtual world of the Internet, and creates infinite possibilities for mainstream consumer applications.'' Added Razmilovic, "Weïre delighted to team with frontrunners such as Motorola and Ericsson's affiliate, Connect Things, to roll out this bar code scanning technology to the consumer world." Symbol will also contribute key intellectual property to the new company.
In addition to Motorola and Symbol, Connect Things will contribute its advanced database for high-volume, direct bar code links to Web addresses, which are already actively used in Europe for connecting bar codes to specific pages within a particular Web site. AirClic will bring its open platform operating model to the new company.
"This truly will be the fastest, simplest, most direct and portable way to use the Internet" said David Klatt Jr., AirClic's president. "The new company will draw upon the leading products and technologies, top-level partners and personnel, and the funding and patents needed to establish critical mass quickly."
"The combination of Motorola, Symbol, Connect Things and AirClic will allow the new venture to move very rapidly toward providing devices and a proven Web registry system to the public," said G. Russell Mortenson, Connect Thingsï chief executive officer. "We expect the new venture to dramatically enhance B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) commerce over the Internet as well as greatly facilitate general information services."
Under the memoranda of understanding, the new company will receive equity, technical or intellectual property investments from Motorola; Symbol; Ericsson, through its affiliate Connect Things; and AirClic and certain of its shareholders, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Edgewater Private Equity Funds, Blue Capital Management LLC, Forrest Binkley & Brown, Dennis C. Carey, vice chairman of Spencer Stuart & Associates, and Jeffrey A. Marcus, a cable industry leader.
The venture is subject to the parties entering into definitive agreements as well as obtaining necessary regulatory approvals.
Motorola, Inc.
[snip about Motorola]
www.motorola.com
Connect Things, Inc.
Connect Things, Inc., a 1999 spinout from LM Ericsson, has developed and initially deployed in Europe an innovative database linkage service which provides direct links between bar codes and Internet resources on a global scale. With origins at an Ericsson research laboratory, the company's system is a highly scalable, highly available, distributed database that supports the registry of hundreds of millions of Web codes. This highly flexible technology architecture allows the linkage of Web codes to web pages to be tailored to the needs and interests of the Internet user. For example, a user may be directed to a web page in their native language, or to a page that is formatted optimally for their mobile device. The architecture supports Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to allow value-added services to be developed by third party service providers. For more information, visit the Connect Things web site at www.connectthings.com.
AirClic Inc.
AirClic Inc. makes all print media instantly interactive. Its wireless network includes a Web code registry, switching directory and transfer function. By making buying, shopping and learning easier for consumers, the AirClic(TM) network and its ClicThru(TM) technology drive incremental demand for products and services. It facilitates more efficient marketing by tracking advertising's impact on consumers.
Users can buy, shop, learn -- anywhere, anytime. They can open a newspaper, magazine, yellow pages or catalog, and respond in real time using an Internet-enabled device, such as a cellular phone, personal digital assistant, cable TV set-top box, or a two-way pager. Or, they can collect their scans and learn more through PC e-mail. The company began developing this technology two years ago and has built a
management team that shares a vision for quick, easy and targeted access to the Internet via all possible devices and types of media. For more information, visit www.airclic.com.
Symbol Technologies
[snip about what SBL does and whom to contact]
www.symbol.com
END harryj |
