News January 3, 08:03 Eastern Time
Talkway Strikes Partnership with EarthLink; Agreement Will Allow EarthLink Members to Add Personal Audio and Video to Everyday Emails Quickly and Easily
PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan 3, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Talkway, Inc. today
announced a multi-million dollar Premiere Partnership agreement with
EarthLink (Nasdaq: ELNK), making Talkway the selected audio and video
email communications provider to EarthLink members.
Now, new EarthLink members who sign up for EarthLink Sprint Internet
service through the company's free Web camera promotion will also
receive the opportunity to create, edit and stream personal audio and
video messages through a co-branded Web site
(http://www.earthlink.net/talkway).
With the new suite of Talk More Ways(SM) services, Talkway is the first
company to enable users to record audio and video streams on the Web
and include them into email, greeting cards and discussion groups,
eliminating large file attachments and the need for downloadable
software for the recipient. Even people with modems that operate at
28.8 kbps will be able to enjoy Talkway services.
"Talkway's Talk More Ways services offer people a quick and easy way to
create and share personal messages with the people they miss most,"
said Fabrice Hamaide, president and CEO of Talkway. "People can record
as much as they want in a stream without worrying about bogging down
their recipients' email or annoying system administrators and Internet
service providers around the world, because all the information is
streamed through the Talkway Web site."
"People talk faster than they type," said Howard Lefkowitz, EarthLink's
vice president of business development and Internet marketing. "The
EarthLink and Talkway partnership is a unique opportunity for our
members to incorporate audio and video into the killer application of
email and enhance their everyday communications."
Premiere Partner Program
EarthLink's Premiere Partnership program has provided award-winning
content for the company's Personal Start Page through deals with 40
industry-leading companies, including Amazon.com, BigStar.com, CNN,
eBay, E-Stamp, E*Trade, FOXNews.com, FOXSports.com, GO.com's
ABCNEWS.com and ESPN.com, GoTo.com, HotBot/Wired Digital,
InfoSpace.com, MarketWatch.com, MBNA, MessageClick, PayMyBills.com,
Sprint, Strategy.com, Travelscape.com, The Weather Channel, Wherehouse
Music and a number of other leading Internet content and commerce
providers.
The program, a significant incremental revenue driver for EarthLink, is
designed to deliver marketing reach and frequency to Premiere Partners,
familiarize EarthLink Sprint members with premiere Partner products and
services, and enhance each EarthLink member's Internet experience.
EarthLink reported record incremental revenues of $3 million for the
third quarter of 1999, a 131 percent increase over the same period in
1998. EarthLink is the only pure Internet service provider generating
an increasing amount of significant non-access revenue through its
online marketing channels.
About EarthLink
EarthLink is one of the world's leading Internet service providers.
Through its unified EarthLink Sprint Internet access service, the
company makes the Internet relevant and productive to more than 1.566
million individuals and businesses every day. Headquartered in
Pasadena, EarthLink provides a full range of innovative access, hosting
and e-commerce solutions to thousands of communities internationally
from more than 2,300 points of presence.
In September of 1999, EarthLink and MindSpring announced plans to merge
in a transaction that will create the world's second largest Internet
service provider. The new company will be called EarthLink
(Nasdaq: ELNK), and the transaction is expected to close in the first
quarter of 2000.
Information about EarthLink and EarthLink Sprint services is available
by calling 800/395-8425 and through EarthLink's Web site at
www.earthlink.net.
About Talkway, Inc.
Talkway, Inc. is the first company to enable consumers to record
streaming audio and video and include them in their Talk More Ways(SM)
services. Located in Palo Alto and New York, Talkway has helped people
use the Internet to access discussion groups since 1997. Its initial
services included easy access to more than 35,000 Usenet discussion
groups.
Company management includes executives with experience at some of the
most renowned technology and consumer products companies, such as
Kraft, Logitech, Pure and The Weather Channel. Talkway, Inc.'s current
funding is led by Asset Management with participation from ABN AMRO and
other existing and new investors.
On Nov. 2, 1999, Talkway announced its Talk More Ways(SM) services:
TalkCards enables people to easily include personalized audio and video
into a wide range of online greeting cards; TalkMail allows friends,
family or business colleagues to enhance or replace impersonal text
emails with personalized audio and video; and TalkGroups helps people
share opinions in discussion groups by allowing them to easily include
audio and video.
For information about Talkway services contact Jackie Jones at
415/808-9800 or send inquiries to jjones@golinharris.com or
corporate@talkway.com.
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