TO ALL: ********* NEWS **********
Thursday September 19 7:32 AM EDT
Iomega internal Zip drive to be fully bootable as drive A:
ROY, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 1996-- Iomega Corp Thursday announced that its internal Zip drives for original equipment manufacturers (OEM)
are expected to be fully bootable as drive A: on certain new personal computers incorporating the new technology.
The addition of bootability will increase the internal Zip drive's functionality and flexibility and enhance the ability of the internal Zip drive to become the new
removable storage standard replacing the 1.44MB floppy.
Computer BIOS (Basic Input Output System) industry leaders American Megatrends, Inc., and Phoenix Technologies, have been working with Iomega to create
and provide necessary BIOS support that will allow computers to be started (or booted) from Zip drives.
As a result of today's technology announcement Iomega expects personal computer system vendors will be able to provide computers with bootable internal Zip
drives by early 1997.
"There are currently more than 2 million Zip drive owners around the world, and many of the world's top personal computer manufacturers now build Zip drives
into their computers as either standard or optional features," said Timothy L. Hill, vice president of worldwide marketing for Iomega. "Clearly, no other storage
solution combines the capacity, price, performance, and ease of use of the Zip drive. The additional ability to make it bootable will better position Zip as the
logical choice to replace the floppy drive."
"In an industry first, AMIBIOS allows the Iomega Zip drive to be a true 100 megabyte bootable drive A:. American Megatrends is proud to support the newest
bootable standard in removable storage provided by Iomega's IDE Zip drives," said AMI marketing manager Joe Leader. "This support will open the possibility
of booting different operating systems by simply inserting a different Zip disk."
"Iomega has developed a real technology breakthrough and AMIBIOS has accordingly been modified to take full advantage of the Zip drive," said AMI Director
of BIOS Engineering Carl Snedaker. "Under other mass-storage diskette technologies, the BIOS and operating system has to partition drive A: as a 1.44MB
bootable area of the diskette while the remainder of the drive must be mapped as another drive letter. Our new BIOS technology has broken the mold allowing
the full 100-megabytes of a Zip disk to be assigned as drive A:."
"Phoenix is currently working with Iomega to provide BIOS level system support that will allow full bootability for internal IDE Zip drives and future products,"
said George Adams, vice president of marketing for Phoenix Technologies. "The ability to boot Zip drives will open a new era of enhanced productivity and data
security for the business and home PC markets. In light of our strong partnership with Iomega, Phoenix is committed to offering our customers BIOS extensions to
better support Iomega products. We have found both Iomega Zip and Jaz drives to be invaluable tools in enhancing our own internal productivity."
Iomega's 100MB Zip drive and disks provide 70 times the capacity of traditional floppy disks, giving consumers unlimited capacity, increased flexibility, and a
built-in back-up system. Current computer manufacturers providing the Zip drive as either a standard or optional feature in their PCs include NEC,
Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Packard-Bell, Canon, Unisys, Micron, and Power Computing.
Iomega Corporation provides personal computer storage solutions that help people manage their computer stuff -- anywhere. These solutions include: Zip drives
and disks; Jaz one-gigabyte drives and disks; Ditto tape backup drives and tape cartridges; and the Bernoulli line of removable drives and disks. Used in homes,
business, government and education, and by creative professionals, Iomega storage solutions are available through computer retail stores, resellers and major
distributors. The company can be reached at 800-MY-STUFF (800-697-8833). http.//www.iomega.com
NOTE TO EDITORS: Iomega and Bernoulli are registered trademarks of, and Zip, Ditto, Jaz and the Iomega logo are trademarks of, Iomega Corporation. All
other brand and product names are property of their respective companies.
Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important
factors that could cause actual events or the company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements including market
acceptance of, and demand for, the company's drive and removable disk products, manufacturing issues including the supply of components, product pricing,
competition, intellectual property rights and litigation, general economic conditions, and other risks identified in Iomega's Securities and Exchange Commission
filings.
CONTACT: Iomega Corporation
A. Cory Maloy, 801/778-3712
maloy@iomega.com
or
Copithorne & Bellows
Lauren Karp, 415/975-2259
lauren.karp@cbpr.com
or
American Megatrends, Inc.
Joe P. Leader, 770/246-8600
joeleader@american.megatrends.com
or
Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
Jim Adamson, 408/452-6867
jim_adamson@ptltd.com
or
For Iomega Investor Relations information:
Iomega Investor Relations Department, 801/778-3585
Howard Kalt, Kalt & Rosen Associates, 415/397-2686 |
