BetaSphere Validates Customer Acceptance for Novatel Wireless' Wireless Handheld Modem.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 2001

Customers Give Minstrel m500 "Seal of Approval" to Help Drive

Higher Quality Product and Reduce Support Costs

BetaSphere, the leading provider of software and services that enable customer-centric product development, today announced results from the customer-acceptance testing program recently completed with Novatel Wireless for the Minstrel m500(TM) Wireless Handheld Modem for Palm(TM) m500 series handhelds. Using BetaSphere's Feedback Management Server(TM) (FMS) and value-added services, Novatel Wireless collaborated with target customers to validate product features and functionality prior to First Customer Ship (FCS). By collaborating with customers during development, Novatel Wireless improved product quality and ensured that the Minstrel m500 modem was aligned with customer needs.

"Success in today's business environment requires both a favorable cost structure and the ability to satisfy customers," said Barry Murphy, senior analyst with The Delphi Group. "BetaSphere addresses these issues head-on by attacking product costs where they are highest at the early stages of development and bringing the voice of the customer into the product development process. BetaSphere aims to deliver the cost reduction that e-business has promised."

"Manufacturers, particularly of sophisticated, high-tech products, are realizing that the costs associated with reworking or reconfiguring a product after it goes into production are astronomical and prohibitive," said Phil Davis, BetaSphere senior vice president of corporate strategy and business development. "Leading companies like Novatel Wireless are validating product stability and viability before a product goes to market to avoid costly oversights and to deliver a competitively superior product that best satisfies customer needs."

Customer Validation of Minstrel m500

BetaSphere and Novatel Wireless were able to secure an extremely high response rate for the Minstrel m500 customer validation program. Ninety-six percent of evaluators provided feedback in contrast to the 40 percent response rate typical for traditional customer-acceptance testing. In addition to identifying potential showstopper bugs and testing connectivity across a broad range of customer environments, Novatel Wireless' primary objectives were to obtain feedback on value-added features and functions, such as, the configurable power button and status indicator LCDs; documentation; look and feel; and perceived value. Additionally, evaluators gave suggestions for improvement, and provided comparative analysis against competing products such as feedback stating that they favored the smaller size and lighter weight of the Minstrel m500 compared to other brands and models.

"Novatel Wireless' core value is in providing innovative and high-quality wireless solutions for the mobile market," said Ray Traynor, product manager for Novatel Wireless. "By working with BetaSphere, we were able to validate our product in a wider range of customer environments, which gave us immediate visibility into the product's stability in the real-world. This enabled us to release the Minstrel m500 with confidence in meeting our high-quality and customer satisfaction standards and helped reduce our post launch support costs by 32 percent."

About BetaSphere

BetaSphere is the leading provider of software and services that enable customer-centric product development. BetaSphere's Feedback Management Server(TM) (FMS) application integrates customer feedback into the development process, enabling companies to increase market acceptance and lower technical risk when developing and introducing new products. Over 100 market-leading companies including Federal Express, Cisco, Intel, HP, Motorola, Palm, Sun Microsystems, UPS, and Xerox use BetaSphere solutions to develop the right products faster, better, and with fewer resources. BetaSphere was named a Top Ten CPC Vendor by Aberdeen Group in its recent report, Making a Case For Collaborative Product Commerce as The Next Big Thing. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., BetaSphere is a privately held company backed by JP Morgan Partners and GE Equity. For more information, visit www.betasphere.com.