Harman International Industries and Phone.com Announce Becker GmbH Extends the Wireless Internet to the Automotive Market.Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers WASHINGTON and REDWOOD CITY Redwood City, city (1990 pop. 66,072), seat of San Mateo co., W Calif., on San Francisco Bay; inc. 1868. Manufactures include commmunications, electrical, electronic, and medical equipment. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 14, 2000 Harman International (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :HAR) and Phone.com, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :PHCM PHCM Master Chief Photographer's Mate (Naval Rating) ), today announced that Harman's subsidiary, Becker GmbH, has licensed the Phone.com(TM)UP.Browser(R)microbrowser A Web browser designed for small display screens on smartphones and other handheld wireless devices. See smartphone and WAP. 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 See how to access the Internet. in passenger vehicles. Becker is expected to deploy this new technology initially in Europe through its innovative Becker Online Pro(TM) integrated navigation/receiver product line in late spring 2001. Becker OnlinePro is based on the current award winning Becker Traffic Pro(TM) 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 See IrDA. (standard, body) Infrared Data Association - (IrDA) A non-profit trade association providing standards to ensure the quality and interoperability of infrared (IR) hardware. ) 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 (Chief Technical Officer) The executive responsible for the technical direction of an organization. See CIO and salary survey. of Harman International and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. 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 See mobile positioning. such as driving directions, travel information and local entertainment, in addition to email, unified messaging Having access to e-mail, voice mail and faxes via a common computer application or by telephone. For example, unified messaging may send faxes and digitized voice mail to a mail server that turns them into e-mail attachments. , 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 See Internet 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 Harman International's historical reputation for ingenuity and quality dates back to 1953, when Dr. Sidney Harman Dr. Sidney Harman, currently chairman of Harman International Industries, Inc., has been active in education, government, and industry. He served for three years as president of Friends World College, a worldwide, experimental Quaker College, and is the founder and an active member 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. In the automotive OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and field, Harman International is a leader in providing a broad bandwidth of brands, products, and system integration capabilities to the industry. Its Harman/Kardon(TM), JBL JBL James Bullough Lansing (audio/speaker engineer) JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JBL John Bradshaw Leyfield (wrestler) JBL Jonathan Bell Lovelace (investment research) (TM), Infinity(TM), and Mark Levinson(TM) 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(TM), BMW BMW in full Bayerische Motoren Werke AG German automaker. Founded as an aircraft engine manufacturer in 1916, the company assumed the name Bayerische Motoren Werke and became known for its high-speed motorcycles in the 1920s. (TM), DaimlerChrysler(TM), Ferrari(TM), Porsche(TM), Saab(TM), and Volvo(TM). About Phone.com Phone.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:PHCM) is a leading provider of software, applications, and services that enable the delivery of Internet-based information and voice services to mass-market wireless telephones. Using its software, wireless subscribers have access to Internet- and corporate intranet-based services, including email, news, stocks, weather, travel and sports. In addition, subscribers have access via their wireless telephones to network operators' intranet-based telephony services, which may include over-the-air activation, call management, billing history information, pricing plan subscription and voice message management. Phone.com is headquartered in Silicon Valley, California and has regional offices in Belfast, Copenhagen, Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. , London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Seoul and Tokyo. Visit http://www.phone.com for more information. Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, Phone.com's limited operating history, potential fluctuations in Phone.com's operating results, uncertainties related to Phone.com's long sales cycle and reliance on a small number of customers, Phone.com's dependence on the acceptance of its products by network operators and wireless subscribers, Phone.com's ability to adequately address the rapidly-evolving market for delivery of Internet-based services through wireless telephones, the need to achieve widespread integration of Phone.com's browser in wireless telephones, competition from companies with substantially greater financial, technical, marketing and distribution resources and the ability of Phone.com to manage a complex set of engineering, marketing and distribution relationships. Further information regarding these and other risks are included in Phone.com's Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. for quarters ended September 30, 1999, December 31, 1999, and March 31, 2000, and in its prospectus dated November 16, 1999 and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Phone.com, the Phone.com logo and the family of terms carrying the "UP." prefix are trademarks of Phone.com, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. |
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