At CeBIT'97, Intel, Nokia And Ericsson Announce New Mobile Data Initiative Products Delivering Improved Ease Of Use And Cost Benefits

Hannover, March 13, 1997 --- Today at CeBIT'97, within six months of the launch of the Mobile Data Initiative, Intel, Nokia and Ericsson announced new, innovative products and developments that make it easier and more cost effective for business people to use their Mobile PC's over the GSM digital mobile phone network.

Hans Geyer, Vice President Intel Corporation and General Manager Intel Europe said, "The integration of mobile PC's and GSM will change the way Europe conducts business. The Mobile Data Initiative has acted as a catalyst in the industry and delivers concrete results". Geyer added, "These products will give European business users an opportunity to exploit the European advantage in wireless digital electronic communications and gain a competitive edge".

Many Mobile Data Initiative member companies are delivering products at CeBIT that support the vision of a "Virtual Office," which is a comprehensive set of mobile data solutions that enables business users to be connected anytime and any place. Each company is providing expertise and products that support the common objective of overcoming the barriers to using mobile data solutions.

Mobile Module for Notebook PCs
To give business users quicker access to latest mobile PC technology based on high-performance Intel Pentium® processors, Intel demonstrated the Mobile Module. A Mobile Module is a building block that will accelerate new notebook products to market and provide performance, usability, manageability and additional energy efficiency benefits for Pentium® processor-based notebooks. The Mobile Module is part of Intel's continuous effort to reduce the functional difference between desktop and mobile PCs.

Intel's engineers, with cooperation and feedback from notebook manufacturers, invented a revolutionary way to deliver the latest mobile technology to Mobile PC users.

The Mobile Module enables notebook manufacturers to focus engineering efforts on product differentiation, while bringing the latest processor technology to market quickly Notebook manufacturers face extraordinary challenges in system design and have responded to those challenges with impressive feature and performance rich Pentium® processor-based notebooks, including the newest systems with MMX™ technology.

Card Phones
Nokia introduced a Nokia Cellular Card phone, a PC Card with a built in GSM phone. It turns a mobile PC into a wireless office without an external cellular phone, cables or adapters. The Nokia Cellular Card Phone enables business users to send faxes, e-mail and Short Messages, access the Internet, connect to corporate databases and download files over the GSM network.

Also launched by Ericsson is the new GSM Data Card GC25 which offers both phone/fax and data technology on one PC Card with all the functions built-in. Complete with integrated Windows 95* software and an antenna the GC25 enables business users to connect to their office, send faxes and make phone calls. All of this without the need for a separate phone or PCMCIA connector.

Data Phones
Ericsson introduced the new GS18 Mobile phone handset , that combines all the features of a normal handset with built in SMS (Short Messages Service), fax, data and Phone Book Management. As the first handset on the market to offer this capability, it allows significant cost savings for business users who are sending faxes and data, as the need for a separate PCMCIA card is eliminated.

Soft Modems
Nokia also introduced the Nokia Cellular Data Suite which is a new software-based solution for wireless data transmission using a mobile PC as the user. It consists of Microsoft Windows 95* software and a cable connecting the Mobile PC to the Nokia 8110/the Nokia 3110 GSM or compatible phones via the serial port. "The Nokia Cellular Data Suite is developed to be an optimized connectivity solution for a growing amount of businesses using Mobile PCs for wireless data over GSM", said Reijo Paajanen, Vice-President, Wireless Data, Nokia Mobile Phones.

Mobile Data Initiative
In October 1996, leaders in the mobile computing and telecommunications industries formed a unique, cross-industry initiative aimed at helping European business to deploy mobile data communications for competitive advantage. The initial members of the Mobile Data Initiative are leaders in the complementary fields of mobile computing, digital mobile telecommunications and GSM data and voice services.

The Mobile Data Initiative was formed by PC technology leader Intel; mobile telecommunications equipment leaders Ericsson and Nokia; notebook PC leaders Compaq, IBM and Toshiba; PC Software leader Microsoft; and leading European GSM operators Cellnet, Mannesmann Mobilfunk, T-Mobil, Telia and Vodafone.

The Mobile Data Initiative was formed to help European businesses to use the GSM network to provide its mobile PC users with wireless access to corporate data networks and the Internet, thereby improving the flow of business information, increasing business efficiency, and improving profitability and customer service. European businesses have a unique opportunity to use their pan-European digital telecommunications network to become a more efficient global player.

The Mobile Data Initiative has tripled its membership since the introduction. It now includes 32 companies in the PC industry, the telecommunications industry, GSM network operators and GSM data card industry that work together to provide better mobile data solutions in Europe.

In November 1996, Intel hosted 25 companies participating in the first Mobile Data Initiative Interoperability Workshop. This workshop succeeded in identifying ways to achieve a high degree of compatibility amongst each participating company's product. This is one of the ways the Mobile Data Initiative is making it easy for business people to use their Mobile PC's over the GSM digital mobile phone networks.

The Mobile Data Initiative is expanding its membership worldwide to include additional GSM network operators and equipment manufacturers, Internet and on-line service providers, and mobile PC and software companies. For more information about the Mobile Data Initiative, please contact any of the member companies or visit our site on the Internet: www.gsmdata.com.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.