HARMAN INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIES AND PHONE.COM ANNOUNCE BECKER GMBH EXTENDS THE WIRELESS INTERNET TO THE AUTOMOTIVE MARKET
Harman
International (HYSE: HAR) and Phone.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: PHCM), today announced
that Harman's subsidiary, Becker GmbH, has licensed the Phone.com™ UP.Browser®
microbrowser to introduce the wireless Internet into the automotive market.
Becker GmbH is a leading European supplier of automotive navigation and
infotainment systems. Through this agreement, consumers can enjoy built-in
wireless Internet access in passenger vehicles.
Becker is expected to deploy this new technology initially in Europe through
its innovative Becker Online Pro™ integrated navigation/receiver product line
in late spring 2001. Becker OnlinePro is based on the current award winning
Becker Traffic Pro™ integrated navigation/receiver, including high-end double
tuner, navigation, and CD-player. Becker Online Pro takes the next step by
incorporating a GSM Triple Band telephone-module with full GSM 2+capabilities
and powerful hands-free processing, a multimedia processing unit, and an MP-3
encoder/decoder which in itself will offer exciting new mobile music-recording
storage features as well as an IrDA (Infrared Data Association) interface. All
of these features, including wireless Internet access, innovatively reside in a
single-DIN radio unit, which allows for quick and easy installation in a wide
range of existing vehicles.
"The addition of the Phone.com microbrowser will be integral to our
product offering, allowing us to develop the highest quality telematic
in-vehicle multimedia systems in the market," said Dr. Erich Geiger, CTO of
Harman International and CEO of Becker GmbH. "We understand the importance
of having the ability to receive email, itinerary changes, traffic updates,
travel information, up-to-the-minute stock quotes, news 24 hours a day, along
with the opportunity to conduct e-commerce. Providing access to that information
will allow us to remain customer focused, while maintaining our innovative edge
above the competition."
The Becker Online Pro will be WAP- (Wireless Application Protocol) enabled,
empowering drivers and their passengers to access the Internet while on the road.
The system's built-in Phone.com UP.Browser will provide access to a wealth of
Internet-based content and services, including location-based services such as
driving directions, travel information and local entertainment, in addition to
email, unified messaging, personal organizers, news and stock quotes.
"Phone.com has worked very hard to set a standard for the wireless
Internet, and now we are extending our highly successful platform into the
automotive sector through our agreement with Becker," said Jeff Damir, vice
president for the Device Product Group at Phone.com. "We are thrilled to be
working with the leading supplier of automotive navigation systems, in the
'smart' vehicles market to create telematic solutions that bring premiere
wireless Internet technology to the automobile."
Each Becker OnlinePro has its own, unique email address. The access to email
will also be available from the customer's home and business computers. To
ensure that the driver can concentrate fully on driving, all email messages will
be presented using a high quality text-to-speech process.
Additional Phone.com WAP-enabled applications may be integrated to give car
owners the convenience of voice recognition technology for navigating through
and responding to email, as well as voice dialing and universal messaging
technology.
About Harman International/Becker, GmbH In the automotive OEM field, Harman International is a leader in providing a
broad bandwidth of brands, products, and system integration capabilities to the
industry. Its Harman/Kardon™, JBL™, Infinity™, and Mark Levinson™
branded audio systems are deployed on more automotive badges and on more
vehicles than any other branded offerings.
Through the technical innovation and leadership of its subsidiary, Becker,
GmbH, Harman also provides leading edge infotainment system capabilities
including High Speed Networking, Navigation, Telematics, Integrated Modular
Multimedia Displays, Digital TV Tuner/Receivers, User Interfaces and Internet
Firewalls. Becker has also developed the worlds most integrated, multi-function
Navigation systems utilizing innovative, memory-based navigation technology and
world-class manufacturing techniques. Becker enjoys world acclaim from
automotive designers and engineers for industry-leading technology and
sophisticated consumer friendly design. These attributes make Becker the choice
for factory fitted original equipment in many vehicles for a broad range of
producers including Audi™, BMW™, DaimlerChrysler™, Ferrari™, Porsche™,
Saab™, and Volvo™.
Harman International's historical reputation for ingenuity and quality dates
back to 1953, when Dr. Sidney Harman revolutionized the industry with the first
integrated Harman/Kardon high-fidelity receiver. Harman International offers a
full range of Consumer, Professional and Original Equipment audio products.
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