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Ecrio Inc. Unveils rich instant messaging platform for wireless devices at demomobile 2000

Enables Users of Wireless Devices to Compose and Instantly Transmit Handwritten Messages and Images in Any Language

Pasadena, California - September 6, 2000 — Ecrio Inc., a provider of rich instant messaging applications and infrastructure, today announced that it is launching the industry’s first messaging platform that allows users to handwrite and transmit rich instant messages using wireless devices, such as WAP and SMS enabled phones, PDAs and other wireless Internet appliances. The Ecrio Rich Instant Messaging Platform provides a highly scaleable and reliable end-to-end solution for wireless carriers, portals, ASPs and ISPs to deliver rich Instant Messaging on wireless and desktop appliances. For those partners with existing instant messaging solutions, Ecrio provides the technology to integrate rich instant messaging into their service. Ecrio founder and CEO Nagesh Challa will demonstrate the platform beginning September 7, 2000 at the DEMOmobile conference, an annual show that highlights the best new products and technologies designed to meet the needs of mobile professionals.

The Ecrio Rich Instant Messaging Platform enables users to instantly send handwritten notes in any language, as well as drawings, images and files to any Internet-enabled wireless device. A client-agnostic platform, the Ecrio Rich Instant Messenger runs across PDAs with Palm OS, Windows CE (PocketPC) and Symbian EPOC operating systems, Internet-enabled mobile phones, PC systems and other Internet appliances and information devices.

“Users of mobile data communications are limited today by the physical constraints of wireless devices. Keypads on WAP phones are small and difficult to use and discourage data input,” said Jim Forbes, associate producer of DEMOmobile. “We picked Ecrio for DEMOmobile because its technology frees users from these limitations by allowing them to handwrite messages from anywhere, using any wireless device.”

“Instant Messaging has proved to be extremely popular with PC users,” said Nagesh Challa, co-founder and CEO of Ecrio. “Ecrio’s vision is to remove the barriers to mobile Instant Messaging by making it possible to send any data type to any device anywhere. We will accomplish this by partnering and delivering our technologies to service providers worldwide.”

Mobile Market Opportunity

Demand for wireless data applications continues to rise, and analysts predict that data traffic will surpass voice traffic for wireless devices by 2003. According to IDC, “The number of wireless device users with access to inbound and outbound information services and Internet messaging will increase a whopping 728% from 7.4 million in 1999 to 61.5 million by 2003 in the United States alone.” Mobile Insights predicts that Instant Messaging for desktop platforms and the wireless space combined will grow to 175 million users by 2002.

The Ecrio Rich Instant Messaging Platform bridges these two fast-growing markets, providing the solutions required to overcome the limitations of wireless devices and thus accelerating the wireless instant messaging market.

About Ecrio Rich Instant Messaging Platform

Ecrio’s solution consists of server-based host applications as well as a multitude of client applications running on appliances such as PDA devices, desktops and WAP enabled phones. With the Ecrio Rich Instant Messaging Platform, users can instantly send handwritten notes in any language, drawings and images to and from wireless and desktop appliances. The Ecrio Intelligent Delivery Engine, a component of the platform, dynamically formats incoming and outgoing messages to the sender’s and recipient’s device resources (e.g. display, memory and bandwidth availability) to optimize the readability of the message. With real-time presence and client device detection, users not only know which buddy is online, but also if he is logged in from a PDA, a WAP-enabled phone or from a desktop computer. Currently, the Ecrio Rich Instant Messaging Platform supports the exchange of text, ink and image data types. Rich Instant Messaging providers, using Ecrio technology, can also deliver animated inserts with Ecrio Animink.

The Ecrio Rich Instant Messaging Platform relies on open standards and is interoperable with third-party instant messaging platforms and future IETF standards-based instant messaging technologies. Ecrio’s platform helps maximize hardware investments and delivers the performance to handle high volumes of simultaneous wireless users.

About Ecrio

Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Ecrio is the leading vendor of real time commerce and communications software for mobile phones. Ecrio provides interoperable and standard compliant software to mobile phone manufacturers and mobile operators. Solutions include mobile commerce applications, including NFC and MoBeam mobile barcode redemption, along with 3G communications applications such as Instant Messaging and Presence Services (IMPS), VideoShare, Voice over IP (VoIP), and Push to Talk over Cellular (PoC). Ecrio's customers include industry leaders such as ASUSTeK, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic and Visa. Visit www.ecrio.com

Ecrio and MoBeam are trademarks of Ecrio Inc. All other brands, products, and company names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holders.

Press Contact:

Larry Loper,
Ecrio lloper@ecrio.com
+1 408 596 1500

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