New
Digital Phone Packs Popular PDA and Data Communications Features Into a Small Size and
Price: a Personal Communications Assistant™ New
Digital Phone Packs Popular PDA and Data Communications Features Into a Small Size and
Price: a Personal Communications Assistant™
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (February 8, 1999) ¾ CTIA's WIRELESS '99 ¾ Innovative Global Solution, Inc. (IGS), developer and marketer of advanced wireless communications products, today unveiled a new brand of smartphones filled with the most popular PDA applications, data communications and easy-to-use "friendly" features that consumers have demanded, but not yet seen.
Capabilities within IGS' NeoPoint™ 1000 include wireless Internet access, PC synchronization, wireless fax, wireless modem, multi-level voice commands and simple text entry. Also included are extensive Contacts, Calendar, and To Do List functions with a Personal InBox that captures voicemails, emails, text messages in one place. Numerous alerts, from alarm clock reminders to information alerts, are also packed into NeoPoint's 6.4-ounces.
"NeoPoint is designed and priced to be the Simply More Intelligent option for consumers seeking sophisticated wireless capabilities," said William Son, IGS chairman and chief executive officer. "While NeoPoint is positioned for the upscale market, its ease of use and competitive pricing could broaden that reach quickly." NeoPoint is expected to command a street price of under $300.
Completely menu-driven with easy-to-understand icons, NeoPoint is simple to use. The phone features a large display (100 characters per screen), while fitting easily into a pocket. Son added, "In our view, size is just as important as advanced functionality, so we designed NeoPoint to appeal to consumers' personal styles." The NeoPoint 1000 is available in Professional and Personal models, in champagne or slate blue.
Mr. Son sees NeoPoint revolutionizing the way people live and communicate. In essence, NeoPoint will soon be Your New Point of Communication,™ he said. Consumers can carry all of their essential personal information and communication tools so easily in the NeoPoint phone. People will no longer be tethered to landline, PC and address book.
"NeoPoint is not a PDA, yet it's different from smartphones as we know them," continues Son. "It's a Personal Communications Assistant. NeoPoint is designed to contain all the assistance a person needs to communicate."
Added to the personal appeal of NeoPoint are powerful functions. NeoPoint's contact manager NeoPoint can handle up to 1000 memory locations for contacts that users won't have to enter by hand. Shipped with every NeoPoint handset is a PC-sync cable and Softsync™ software for direct PC synchronization of personal data in the popular PC organizer Microsoft Outlook™. NeoPoint users will be able to purchase a dual-bay docking station that allows PC synchronization and battery recharging simultaneously. The docking station is also smart. With its Drop-n-Sync™ feature, synchronization begins automatically -- just as soon as the NeoPoint phone is "dropped" into the docking station.
Rapid Development, Manufacturing Strength, Market Delivery IGS' development and delivery strategy helped to realize the NeoPoint vision quickly -- while many well-known wireless manufacturers still touted concepts. Beginning with the investment backing and the manufacturing prowess of Seoul, Korea-based LG Information & Communications, Ltd. (LGIC), IGS built additional partnerships to rapidly develop components of NeoPoint. It has given IGS the ability to deliver and be first-to-market with the breakthrough PCS product.
In building development partnerships, IGS sought out emerging technology firms that were the best in their respective fields. Advanced Recognition Technologies (ART) worked with IGS engineers to develop voice command capabilities that go beyond dialing. Tegic Communications, Inc., creators of T9™ simple text input technology, worked with IGS to implement text input through the phone's keypad without requiring consumers to learn a set of symbols to make entries into NeoPoint. Unwired Planet worked with IGS software team to develop PIM applications, microbrowser and live Internet access services available with NeoPoint. IGS is the pioneer licensee and first-to-market with Unwired Planet's UP.Smart™ and UP.Browser™ applications.
By rapidly bringing these technologies together, NeoPoint has captured the attention of carriers seeking product differentiation and excitement in their service offerings. With its one-button application launch, consumers will be able to send text messages, pick-up e-mails and access the Internet for stock quotes, weather and breaking news on the fly. And because of its large display, consumers can easily see the captured data. Market tests showed that stock quotes were accessed more quickly on NeoPoint than on the Internet through a PC.
"The NeoPoint 1000 is a product that we believe will generate excitement among mobile professionals," said Phil Garrison, vice president and general manager of subscriber equipment for Sprint PCS. "This customer segment is looking for a device that combines the features and benefits of an all-digital, 100 percent PCS wireless phone with the added functionality of a productivity tool. Ultimately, we believe the opportunity exists to deliver a multifunctional device such as the NeoPoint 1000 to a broader market."
About IGS Innovative Global Solution, Inc. (IGS) develops leading-edge products and technologies, and value-added consumer communications products to enrich personal lifestyles and business communications. In addition to the products division responsible for the development and marketing of NeoPoint, the firm's Network Engineering Services division provides innovative RF engineering and consulting services to leading wireless equipment vendors, carriers and infrastructure manufacturers worldwide. Supported by the manufacturing strength of LG Information & Communications (LGIC) and funded by several significant equity investors, including Transpac Capital, IGS is based in San Diego, California, and operates an office in Seoul, Korea.
LGIC is an integrated information/communication company that produces advanced information / communication equipment including wireless handsets, exchange systems, transmission devices and terminals. Headquartered in Seoul, Korea, the multi-national firm recorded about over US$2 billion in annual revenues in 1998 and operates state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Korea, U.S. and Mexico.LGIC can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.lgic.co.kr.
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