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Technology Stocks : General Magic -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mark Oliver who wrote (3994)	10/30/1998 8:20:00 PM
From: Kurt Goebel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10081

News story on Datarover Mobile Systems spinoff and General Magic: news.com

To: Mark Oliver who wrote (3994)	11/11/1998 6:23:00 PM
From: Kurthend	Respond to of 10081

Mark, I just got off the cc with GMGC. It was probably the shortest one I have ever heard. Only one question was asked and that was an individual with Prudential. Hell, I was going to ask a question. I thought the line was just tied up for awhile and the next thing I knew were the words 'there are no other questions." Anyway, here are some bullet comments on the CC. I will leave off some of the info as you will be able to read the press releases from this afternoon. This way I won't be accused of putting out erroneous info:) To all, feel free to correct anything I write if I write info that I may have misunderstood. The info below is as I wrote it during the CC: - Intuit agreement is exclusive. MagicTalk (MT) is the platform, Portico can access quicken.com - See press release on reliability, partnerships/alliances, and progress for the 3rd qtr. - 75 resellers at 250 locations, Resellers used for real world feedback, reliability, etc. - telecos are progressing in a thorough manner (IMO slow and methodical). market trials before the end of the year. - GM wanted to build brand awareness this qtr., target mobile professionals, and capitalize on e-commerce, internet, and utilizing MT as the internet platform for VUI. - The shows attended by GM this fall were met by enthusiasm by others and there were poositive articles on Portico due to these shows. - The spin-off off of DataRover will allow the spin-off (Data Rover Company) to concentrate on the vertical market and allow GM to concentrate on Portico and MT platform. - Increase in costs/expenses for the qtr to $11.9 million (from $9.9) was due to increase staffing, tech fees, and marketing. See press release full full details on the numbers. - Nominal fees for 4th qtr from Portico. - I beleive they said that GM owns 49% of DataRover. GM retains the Magic Cap patent. - At least one teleco will market trial this year. IMO it sounded as though they are extremely confident with at least one teleco. I would hate to quess on any other possible telecos. - Major emphasis on the internet (MT platform) and the telecos. IMO, GM realizes they can't survive without these two major sources of income. - Intuit, millions of users will use the platform, voice access will be done through the NOC, three tiered service: 1-low function, free for users, but they will get revenue from other than the users (IMO advertisement); 2-Additional value level which I believe means more than just requesting quotes over the phone but less than the Portico (small fee paid by the user); and 3-Portico. The exclusive deal with Intuit allows deals by GM with other companies and is part of a branded service?? My take on the cc is mixed. I would say it was nuetral. I was caught off-guard by only one question and Markman not having to answer specific questions. Well, next CC I will be the first to punch those buttons and asked a question. I won't let that happen again. I guess I was hoping for teleco announcements or something magical to happen (no pun intended). If you look at the numbers from this qtr, notice that licensing fees were only $63,000. That sounds as though they in fact only earned nominal revenue from Portico. Well, my guess a month ago of a loss of .40 with expenses in the $12-15 million range wasn't to far off. I can definitely see the stock in its current range through early next year barring the teleco announcement or other internet announcements and then all bets are off. Revenue will definitely be needed by the end of 1st qtr 99 IMO (2nd qtr at the latest) to stop the bleeding of the cash. Anway, hope this helps. Take care. Kurt PS-As you can see from my notes above, nothing was said that wasn't already know by the public in general.