Ultradata Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq/NMS:ULTR), announced today that it will feature its new TripLink Internet travel-appliance at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, January 6-9.
The TripLink, which looks like and weighs about the same as an average pocket-calculator (5 oz.), is targeted to the many millions of every day business and leisure travelers looking for a simple and practical device to download basic travel information from the internet into a portable handheld unit. The TripLink, expected to be priced to the end user for under $100.00, can download turn by turn directions from street address to street address directly off the Internet from a specific URL. The TripLink is also equipped to provide directions to over 70,000 interstate services (i.e. gas, food, lodgings, hospitals, etc) and distance & drive times to cities and towns across the country on Interstates and U.S. Highways.
Ultradata Chief Executive Officer, Monte Ross, said, "In market research, consumers told us that they would pay $100 or more for the luxury of being able to download up to 12 individual sets of directions on one lightweight handheld unit." Ross continued, "candidly, this was double what we expected the consumer to tell us that they would pay." He added, "Many consumers told us that they use the Internet to get directions on a regular basis." He continued, "Imagine having so much data in one user-friendly handheld unit instead of traveling with stacks of papers with discombobulated piles of directions stacked up on the dashboard or seat. TripLink is easy-to-use and links to the PC with a cable. Multiple sets of directions can be downloaded into the handheld for use on the road." Furthermore, Ross said, "we are not trying to compete with premium priced higher-tech personal data assistants (PDA's) or Palm devices, we are providing the average traveler with something easy, simple, and affordable, to make traveling more safe, secure, and more enjoyable."
Ultradata System's Chief Marketing Officer, David Biernbaum, says that the TripLink will be marketed through consumer direct programs, business to business, and through coordinated partner-marketing efforts. Biernbaum said, "The TripLink consumer will use the product in his or her car for routine business and pleasure travel, but also in the rental car, once he or she gets off the airplane." Biernbaum comments, "Years of market research tells us that what a traveler fears most is the idea of getting lost in a strange city. Business travelers want to get off the plane and hit the ground running with easy turn by turn directions. Most travelers do not want to rely on directions with maps and arrows and markers, nor messy directions given to them by other people. Five minutes on the PC prior to any trip will provide the door-to-door detailed sets of directions necessary for any trip." The consumer direct programs, according to Biernbaum, will involve distribution to consumers through integrated direct marketing companies that purchase the product as a distributor, and sell the product through direct media response programs that might include any combination of television, infomercials, and nationwide print ads in leading newspapers and magazines. Revenues from the TripLink will be produced from the sale of the hardware itself, service fees, and co-op marketing. The Business to Business programs will be targeted to support loyalty programs, customer service programs, and transportation and logistics programs. These programs are enhanced by the products nature of bringing the user back to the same URL on the Internet or an Intranet for new sets of directions. Biernbaum says, "examples of potential B to B customers might include Internet Service Providers (ISP's) looking to develop loyalty programs with consumers, or street-delivery services that employ drivers seeking fast and easy directions to any number of locations or addresses." Ultradata Systems, Inc. also plans to partner with other consumer and business marketing partners that already have existing sales organizations in place.
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