OnStar Awards Production Services Contract to General Magic; Companies Sign Agreement for Development of Enhancements to Virtual Advisor Voice Application.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 1, 2001 General Magic, Inc. (Nasdaq:GMGC), a pioneer in enterprise voice software and services, today announced it has entered an agreement with OnStar Corporation, a subsidiary of General Motors Corp. (NYSC NYSC New York Sports Club NYSC National Youth Service Corps (Nigeria) NYSC National Youth Science Camp NYSC New York State Climatologist :GM), to provide continued voice application development and maintenance services for the OnStar Virtual Advisor, which provides hands-free voice-activated access to web-based information services See Information Systems. in vehicles. The new agreement, which is renewable annually, further augments the already existing relationship between OnStar and General Magic, initiated in late 1999 when OnStar selected General Magic to develop and host the voice application behind the Virtual Advisor, and expanded earlier this year when the companies signed a two-year hosting agreement for the Virtual Advisor. Under the terms of the new agreement, General Magic will provide a dedicated pool of resources to support the continued innovation and development of the Virtual Advisor. "General Magic has been a valuable partner to OnStar and we're pleased to expand our relationship," said Chet Huber, president of OnStar. "Ensuring continued collaboration with General Magic allows us to strengthen the market leadership of Virtual Advisor." "This commitment by OnStar endorses General Magic's leadership position in enterprise voice software. By maximizing utilization of our resources, we can improve the time-to-market for upcoming and ongoing Virtual Advisor feature and content initiatives, while giving both companies a clear and predictable financial picture for the months to come," said Kathie Layton, chief executive officer and president of General Magic. "We're equally delighted to give OnStar the opportunity to take early advantage of our magicTalk Enterprise Platform as we enable continued innovation and excellence in the development of the Virtual Advisor." The OnStar Virtual Advisor currently gives subscribers voice access to e-mail, stock quotes, weather updates, and up-to-the-minute news content, including sports, financial, headline, business, and world news. Additional features incorporating personalized per·son·al·ize tr.v. per·son·al·ized, per·son·al·iz·ing, per·son·al·iz·es 1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. 2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. , location-based content such as traffic are slated to roll out in upcoming months. About General Magic General Magic is a leading voice infrastructure software company that provides enterprise-grade software and supporting voice dialog design and hosting services that enable companies to quickly and efficiently provide anytime, anywhere access to information and services over the telephone. General Magic's VoiceXML & J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) A platform from Sun for building distributed enterprise applications. J2EE services are performed in the middle tier between the user's machine and the enterprise's databases and legacy information systems. (TM)-based solutions enable enterprises to easily integrate voice access into enterprise applications using a broad selection of speech recognition technologies and telephony Meaning "sound over distance," it refers to electronically transmitting the human voice. In the beginning, telephony dealt only with analog signals in the circuit-switched networks of the telephone companies. interfaces. These solutions make voice a strategic tool in helping businesses improve the customer experience, reduce transaction costs Transaction Costs Costs incurred when buying or selling securities. These include brokers' commissions and spreads (the difference between the price the dealer paid for a security and the price they can sell it). , and provide high quality, voice branded access to content and services. General Magic is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale ([sʌniveil]) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 131,760. . For additional information, visit www.generalmagic.com. About OnStar OnStar, a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of General Motors Corporation, is the nation's leading provider of in-vehicle safety, security and information services using the Global Positioning System Global Positioning System: see navigation satellite. Global Positioning System (GPS) Precise satellite-based navigation and location system originally developed for U.S. military use. (GPS) satellite network and wireless technology. OnStar services include automatic notification of air bag deployment, stolen vehicle tracking, emergency services emergency services Emergency care '…services …necessary to prevent death or serious impairment of health and, because of the danger to life or health, require the use of the most accessible hospital available and equipped to furnish those services' , roadside assistance with location, remote door unlock, remote diagnostics Vehicle Diagnostics Vehicle diagnostics enables a mechanic to diagnose the exact mechanical condition of the vehicle and its systems and components. Remote Diagnostics enables to perform such diagnosis without requiring the vehicle to physically be present for checkup. , route support, OnStar Concierge and convenience services. OnStar Personal Calling, being rolled out nationally, allows drivers to make and receive hands-free, voice-activated phone calls through a nationwide network in cooperation with Verizon Wireless Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, owns and operates the second largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, based on total wireless customers. . Virtual Advisor, developed in conjunction with General Magic Inc., allows subscribers to access personalized Web-based information, in a hands-free voice-activated manner -- there are no screens or displays. Additional information is available on the Web at www.onstar.com. General Magic notes that the forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. in this press release involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause industry trends, or actual results, performance or achievement to be materially different from any future trends, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements. These include, among others, risks and uncertainties concerning the adequacy of the Company's financial resources to execute its business plan; including the Company's ability to raise capital in the current financial markets; market acceptance of the Company's voice application products and services; the Company's ability to generate sufficient revenues from its products and services to operate profitably; the risk that the Company's stock maybe delisted from The Nasdaq National Market; the Company's ability to attract, retain and motivate key technical, marketing and management personnel; the ability of the Company to establish and maintain relationships with businesses that have high volume customer interactions, and to establish alliances with companies that offer technology solutions for such businesses; the challenges inherent in the development, delivery and implementation of complex technologies; the ability of the Company's third party technology partners to timely develop, license or support technology necessary to the Company's services; and the Company's ability to respond to competitive developments. These and other risks and uncertainties are detailed in General Magic's Report on Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 15, 2001. Note to Editors: General Magic and magicTalk are trademarks of General Magic, Inc., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. |
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