June is almost here.
Tuesday May 29, 9:31 am Eastern Time
Press Release
Ricoh Offers Socket Cards to Wirelessly Enable Advanced Digital Camera
Digital Phone Cards Connect Ricoh RDC-i700 to Mobile Phones for Web Publishing and Email
NEWARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 29, 2001--Socket Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:SCKT - news; PSE:SOK) and Ricoh Corporation today announced that Ricoh is now offering Socket's Digital Phone Card as a convenient plug-in solution for adding wireless capability to Ricoh's recently introduced RDC-i700, the world's first Internet-ready digital camera. Socket's card fits in the RDC-i700's CompactFlash expansion slot and connects via cable to a range of popular mobile phones. The RDC-i700's built-in software allows the revolutionary new camera, which was named Invention of the Year 2000 by Time Magazine, to use a mobile phone as a wireless modem for applications such as remote image transfer, email, instant web publishing, and web browsing.
``Ricoh's RDC-i700 is a great example of how standards-based expandability combined with innovative design can add a world of value to intelligent electronic devices,'' said Vanessa Lindsay, product marketing manager for Socket's Digital Phone Cards. ``We're excited that Ricoh has chosen to offer our Digital Phone Card to add wireless connectivity to a device we believe will radically redefine the digital camera.''
``We are delighted to offer Socket's Battery Friendly plug-in cards to bring wireless Internet access to the RDC-i700,'' said Jeff Lengyel, manager of Ricoh's Digital Camera Division. ``We look forward to continue working with Socket in order to bring our customers the full benefits of wireless connectivity.''
Instant Wireless Web Publishing
A unique capability of the RDC-i700 when wirelessly enabled is that owners can take a picture while on the road, convert the image automatically to web format, publish the shot instantly to a specific web page via an FTP transfer utility, and browse the page to make sure it looks good -- all in a few simple steps. The camera owner can then send an email message to up to 50 pre-stored addresses to announce that the new image has been posted. Markets that can benefit from this web publishing capability include consumers who want to broadcast images from special occasions such as weddings, sporting events, or vacations, as well as professionals in the insurance, real estate, retail sales or construction industries.
About the RDC-i700
The RDC-i700 is a 3.34 megapixel CCD digital camera with 3X optical zoom, 1 cm. (0.4 inch) macro capture, motion-picture mode, and sound recording capability. The camera's 3.5-inch color display features a 200,000-pixel touch screen for monitoring and editing images and interacting with the device's easy-to-use software. Built-in software supports email, templates for web publishing, FTP uploading for remote image transfer, web browsing, and fax transmission. The RDC-i700 includes two expansion slots, one for CompactFlash cards and one for PC Cards, which are compatible with Socket's Digital Phone Cards, Low Power Ethernet Cards, and Ruggedized Serial Cards. For more information about the RDC-i700, visit www.ricohzone.com or call 800/725-7767.
About the Digital Phone Card
Socket's Digital Phone Card, rated a perfect five stars by PC Magazine, is a CompactFlash plug-in card with an attached cable that connects to a data-enabled mobile phone. The Battery Friendly® design of the Digital Phone Card saves power by utilizing the data modem built into the latest generation of mobile phones. By eliminating a hardware modem, the Digital Phone Card cuts more than 90% of the energy required by a conventional modem card, allowing the host device to operate longer on battery power. Ricoh is offering versions of the Digital Phone Card for select CDMA, GSM and iDEN mobile phones from Motorola, Nextel, Nokia, Samsung, Siemens, and Sprint. For more information about the Digital Phone Card, visit www.socketcom.com.
About Ricoh
Ricoh Corporation, headquartered in West Caldwell, N.J., is a subsidiary of Ricoh Company Ltd., the 67-year-old leading supplier of office automation equipment with sales in excess of $10 billion. Ricoh Corporation was recently selected as one of the World's Most Admired Companies for the second year in a row by Fortune magazine.
About Socket
Socket Communications, Inc. develops and sells connection products for handheld computers and other devices. Socket's products include the Battery Friendly® family of plug-in cards for enhancing mobile computers by adding wireless Internet connectivity, local area networking, bar code scanning, and data communication. Socket's products incorporate the company's energy-efficient chip technology, making them ideal for battery-operated mobile computers. Socket is an Associate Member of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) and is developing products that will add Bluetooth wireless technology to handheld computers, notebooks and other electronic appliances. For information about Socket's complete range of products, visit socketcom.com. |
