InfoGear and CIDCO Launch the iPhone; Testing andTrials to Begin in Early 1997.

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 10, 1997--InfoGear(TM) Technology Corporation and CIDCO Incorporated today launched the iPhone(TM), an information appliance that integrates telecommunications, the Internet, and World Wide Web access in a familiar, consumer friendly telephone.

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The iPhone is a high-end telephone with a 7.4" VGA greyscale LCD screen providing a touchscreen Telephone User Interface (TUI). Consumers simply plug-in the iPhone as they would any telephone, and then easily utilize custom calling features, Caller ID, CLASS services, directory services, e-mail and Web access. A QWERTY keyboard pops out of the bottom of the phone for composing e-mail messages, entering URLs or filling out Web-based forms.

"The iPhone represents a leap forward in telephone technology," said Robert Marshall, president and CEO of InfoGear. "In addition to bringing access to all of the content and services available on the World Wide Web, the iPhone is a great full-function, easy-to-use telephone. Enabled by a graphical touchscreen interface, users will enjoy a new, innovative way of using the Web, e-mail and telephone services."

InfoGear and CIDCO also announced an agreement with Sprint to begin iPhone testing and trials in early 1997.

InfoGear Reference Platform

InfoGear's reference platform employs a thin client/server architecture consisting of ServerGear(TM) software that resides on service providers' servers and ClientGear(TM), a software and hardware design for information appliances such as the iPhone that have limited memory resources. The reference platform provides a significant performance increase over standard PC connections, delivering a degree of responsiveness to user commands that exceeds today's typical PC Internet experience.

The InfoGear architecture and TUI are also particularly useful for telephone service providers wishing to implement CCS, CLASS and ADSI services. With these services on the iPhone, a user can access menu-driven options for services such as call forwarding by pressing an icon on the screen rather than memorizing codes that need to be entered using the telephone's keypad.

InfoGear's ServerGear also provides a medium for service providers to deliver additional content to users above and beyond today's capabilities. For example, a service provider could load information such as a daily weather forecast, financial information, or a list of community events on their servers that could then be accessed by the touch of an icon on the iPhone's screen.