PRESS CONTACT:
Belinda Banks
S&S Public Relations
212-946-2823
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New Version 2 of Handmark® Pocket Express™ Adds Streamlined Design, Location-Based Services, and Expanded Content
Fast, Personalized, One-Screen Access to Wireless News, Sports, Movies, Maps & More
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (26 September 2005) — Handmark®, a global leader in mobile media, today announced it is putting even more information in consumers hands— literally — with Version 2.0 of its award-winning Pocket Express™ bundle of wireless content services for cell phones, smartphones, and wireless PDAs. The upgrade adds a sleek new interface, location-based services, more news and photos, real-time sports scores, and improved mapping features. Pocket Express gains a significant functional upgrade with the new “Tuxedo” interface that makes all Pocket Express services accessible from a single screen called “PageOne.”
This major upgrade to the Pocket Express experience will be available free to all current subscribers.
Up to thirty times faster than browser-based web access and with up to 80% fewer keystrokes, Pocket Express turns an Internet-enabled wireless handset into a personalized instant information center. News, sports, movies, maps and more can be automatically updated throughout the day, and accessed with minimal navigation. Content can be reached using the five-way navigation buttons on the user’s device or the number keys on a phone keypad.
Direct access to Handmark servers and seamless integration with handset functions increase the speed. Pocket Express can quickly map any address in the U.S. and Canada and provide turn-by-turn driving directions between two points. Pocket Express Directories search allows users to look up any published personal or business phone number, perform reverse phone number and address searches, or find a person or a business without paying traditional directory assistance charges. Once found, Pocket Express users can add a listing to the device address book, dial the phone number automatically, or display a map showing how to get there.
Handmark Pocket Express, first introduced in March 2004, won the prestigious DEMOgod™ award, the highest honor given by the highly respected DEMOmobile wireless and mobile technology showcase, and the Laptop Magazine Ultimate Mobility 2004 Ultimate Choice Award. Already an indispensable tool for mobile users from students to CEOs, Pocket Express 2.0 adds even more capability and value to this groundbreaking application.
New features in Version 2.0 include:
• New “Tuxedo” interface dresses up Pocket Express, but it’s more than a pretty face; it’s faster access to all services from PageOne.
• Location-based services enabling the delivery of geographic-specific information including nearby restaurants or movie theaters on handsets that support detection of the user’s location.
• Better news coverage through a new affiliation between Handmark and the Associated Press, the world’s largest newsgathering organization. Users now get more news, from “Top Stories” and “Strange News” to “Business News” and “Technology News,” plus quality Associated Press reporting.
• More news photos with nine out of 10 Top Stories now including images from the AP photography team.
• Real-time sports scores along with sports news stories. Includes schedules, standings, and detailed game-by-game results for major professional and college sports leagues. The experience can be personalized based on your favorite teams and location.
• Movie listings with showtimes, synopses, ratings and ticket purchases— all configurable for your favorite theaters. Four regionally proximate theaters are auto populated based on the user’s zip code. Palm OS® and Windows Mobile™ users also get top 10 box office listings and movie news.
• Easier-to-read maps with new color schemes and new street name placement for increased legibility on small screens. Maps and turn-by-turn driving directions are available for any location in the U.S. and Canada.
• Expanded weather coverage for more than 2 million locations worldwide.
• Dictionary services through a new Dictionary channel available on Palm and Windows Mobile editions of Pocket Express, drawing directly from “The New Oxford American Dictionary,” the most authoritative and accurate resource for using the modern American language.
• Beam makes it easy for PDA users to share Pocket Express with friends and setup a free 30-day subscription directly on Palm OS or Windows Mobile devices.
Pricing and Availability
Handmark Pocket Express is available for wireless handsets including BlackBerry, Palm OS, and Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Smartphone devices for $6.99 per month or $69.90 per year through
http://express.handmark.com, select retail stores where mobile devices are sold or can be purchased directly on a Sprint PCS VisionSM phone. The new version was demonstrated this week at the CTIA Wireless industry event in San Francisco and will be available on all supported platforms on October 7th.
About Handmark
Handmark is a global leader in the development and distribution of mobile content solutions. The company’s flagship Pocket Express wireless service bundle offers consumer-friendly access to news, reference and infotainment content on mobile phones as well as BlackBerry, Treo and Windows Mobile wireless handhelds. The company also holds key mobile content distribution patents including Java-based push technology for wireless devices; has technology and distribution relationships with CNN International, Reuters, Oxford University Press, Hasbro, and Zagat Survey as well as Sprint, Nextel, T-Mobile, Verizon, and others; and has an estimated 43 percent market share in mobile software titles sold through retail channels. Handmark has R&D facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden; Kansas City, Missouri; and Dallas, Texas, with sales offices in Chicago, Kansas City, San Francisco, Stockholm, and London. For more information, visit
www.handmark.com.
© 2005 Handmark, Inc.; Handmark is a registered trademark, tools & toys for a mobile generation, the Handmark logo, Pocket Express, and associated trade dress are trademarks of Handmark, Inc. All rights reserved. Palm, Palm OS, and Treo are among the trademarks or registered trademarks owned by or licensed to Palm, Inc. or its subsidiaries. Windows Mobile is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and/or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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[2005-09-26] Handmark Pocket Express 2 Coming Soon!
