Kurt, this is an old release, but reading it from the Ensemble web site, it seemed worth posting again.
Regards,
Mark
General Magic Signs Exclusive Licensing Agreement With Ensemble Information Systems
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 1997--
News and Information for the Asking -- General Magic's New "Serengeti" Network Service Will Feature First Voice Delivery of Ensemble's Relevant Corporate Newsroom
General Magic, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMGC) has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Ensemble Information Systems, Inc.
General Magic's upcoming network service, code-named "Serengeti," will integrate Ensemble's Relevant Corporate Newsroom, enabling subscribers to call up news and information from a wide variety of sources simply by accessing it over the phone or via a Web browser.
Serengeti is a communications and information service that acts as a virtual executive assistant for mobile professionals and integrates voice mail, email, faxes, address book and calendar. Serengeti keeps subscribers in touch with the people and information important to them at any time, from any location.
The addition of Ensemble's Relevant, which integrates newswire content and articles from a wide variety of national newspapers and business and trade publications, broadens the scope of news and information that will be available to Serengeti subscribers. For example, Relevant can provide current and historical information about industries, companies or people almost instantaneously.
Relevant tailors the information it delivers to each individual subscriber by continually learning user preferences and updating them. Each subscriber can easily modify the profile as needed by changing the search and archiving criteria. Relevant benefits mobile professionals by allowing users to decide the medium of delivery for their news and information. A user can listen to the customized information and instruct the system to read, email or fax the information.
"Relevant will provide a full-time newsroom with customized information for immediate access to Serengeti subscribers," said Steve Markman, chairman, president, and CEO of General Magic. "A logical extension to our service, it greatly enhances the value of our offering. The agreement with Ensemble is a significant milestone in our strategy to offer the most advanced voice-accessible Internet service to mobile users."
Serengeti is scheduled to debut in mid-1998. General Magic's goal is to establish a "center of excellence" against which all voice interface systems are measured.
"We are very excited to license Relevant's technology to General Magic," said Jean Christofferson, founder and chief technical officer of Ensemble. "Relevant has proven to be a robust technology capable of delivering news and information to mobile professionals. Optimized for voice access, Relevant will enable Serengeti subscribers to receive current customized news and information in real-time."
Under terms of the agreement announced today, General Magic will obtain a multi-year license to deliver Ensemble's Relevant Corporate Newsroom information to its subscribers, and the license will be exclusive in General Magic's field-of-use.
General Magic Assembling All the Pieces
The agreement announced today is the latest in a series of strategic advances by General Magic to integrate the best-of-breed technologies and services into its forthcoming Serengeti service. This fall, General Magic announced an exclusive licensing agreement with AcuVoice, Inc., a Silicon Valley company recognized for developing the world's only text-to-speech synthesizer that sounds truly human. And earlier this year, General Magic announced a joint technology development agreement with Starfish Software, a leading provider of open industry standards-based solutions for the Internet.
In accordance with U.S. securities law, General Magic notes that this press release contains forward-looking statements. There are risks that may cause actual results to vary materially. These risks include, but are not limited to, reliance on key technical and management personnel, the risks inherent in software development, potential schedule changes, competitive pressures and emerging Internet standards. Additional risk factors are detailed in General Magic's 1996 10-K and its second quarter 1997 10Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
About Ensemble
Ensemble Information Systems has been creating custom corporate newsrooms since 1993, delivering hundreds of thousands of online corporate broadcasts for companies and their employees. Ensemble's Relevant Newsroom is a web server plug-in that dynamically generates pages, creates personal views of information, and automatically sends personalized e-mail or fax summaries.
Relevant is open platform, accessible to anyone with a browser, and does not require custom client software. Relevant's open architecture and template-driven, dynamically generated pages can be easily customized and integrated into existing corporate web environments. With Relevant, corporations can seamlessly merge and personalize information from many sources for intranet, internet, and extranet applications.
For more information about Relevant and Ensemble Information Systems, visit www.ensemble.com or contact Ensemble Information Systems, 22 Mitchell Boulevard, San Rafael, Calif., 94903. Telephone: 415/472-8400; fax: 415/472-8412; email: assistance@ensemble.com.
About General Magic
General Magic offers products and services that make communication and access to information easy and convenient for people, no matter where they are. The company's solutions employ innovative user-interface technology to provide simple, yet effective ways for people to communicate, conduct business and keep track of their lives. Founded in 1990, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. For more information on General Magic, please visit the company's Web site at genmagic.com.
Note to Editors: General Magic is a registered trademark of General Magic, Inc. Relevant is a registered trademark of Ensemble Information Systems, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned are property of their respected owners.
CONTACT: Access Communications
Michelle Knoop or Wendi Taylor, 415/904-7070
mknoop@accesspr.com or wtaylor@accesspr.com
or
Financial Relations Board
Don Markley, 415/986-1591 (investor inquiries)
dxm@sf.frbd.com
genmagic.com
18:34 EST NOVEMBER 4, 1997 |
