November 20, 2001
Pumatech Inc. (Nasdaq:PUMA), a leading provider of enterprise-level software products and services that deliver highly relevant information wherever and whenever it's needed, today announced a licensing agreement with Acer. Through the agreement, Pumatech's Intellisync(R) Lite software will be integrated with Acer's new s10 handheld, the first Chinese native Palm OS(R)-based PDA device, enabling synchronization of calendar, contacts, tasks and notes between the handheld device and Microsoft Outlook and Palm Desktop software applications.
According to Gartner Group Dataquest in its recent report entitled "Asia/Pacific PDA Market in 2000," Chinese-speaking countries (China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan) lead the Asia/Pacific market in unit shipments of PDAs, accounting for an 82 percent market share. With handheld devices becoming popular replacements for traditional organizers for executives in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, unit shipments to the Asia/Pacific market are projected to skyrocket to nearly 6 million by 2005.
"The worldwide market for Chinese language mobile computing solutions is growing at an astounding rate," said Jim Wong, president of Acer's IT product business group, "and Acer took the lead to bring the first Chinese-based Palm OS handheld to the market. We chose to incorporate Pumatech's Intellisync Lite software for users to be 'always in sync'." Mr. Wong added, "By entering into this agreement, Acer and Pumatech together are taking the leading role in providing Chinese language PDA applications to the Greater China region."
To provide the Chinese market with synchronization software for the s10 handheld, The Windward Group, Pumatech's professional services subdivision, localized Intellisync Lite into the simplified and traditional Chinese languages. Buyers of the s10 will also have the option of purchasing the full version of Intellisync, which has been localized for the Chinese market, to gain additional functionality, including e-mail synchronization and expanded application support.
The synchronization capabilities provided by Pumatech's Intellisync Lite software will augment the already robust feature set of the s10 handheld such as audio recording, MP3 playback and dual Memory Stick and versatile connector expansion capabilities -- all in a highly integrated and extremely compact device. The s10 handheld uses localized Chinese versions of both the Palm OS and the Personal Information Management (PIM) applications that millions of people around the world use to manage their lives.
"Our agreement with Acer illustrates our penetration into a demanding market with ever-changing needs. Working with Acer, a global provider, illustrates how our synchronization software is supplying new devices with solutions on a global scale," said Brad Rowe, president and CEO of Pumatech. "We have continued to expand our global capabilities to offer consumers, business professionals and e-businesses a new mobile understanding that allows them to completely control the possibilities of their wireless solutions."
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