Handmark Acquires MemoWare
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — December 13, 2001 — The leading provider of online content for PDAs has been acquired by software developer Handmark, Inc. Terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.
Under the arrangement MemoWare will operate as an autonomous business unit within Handmark. MemoWare founder Dr. Craig Froehle becomes president of the MemoWare division reporting to Handmark CEO August Grasis III.
Grasis announced that "not much will change, only over the next few months the user experience will just get better. MemoWare has a well-deserved reputation based on providing content that supports many application and device platforms. It is important that users continue to see MemoWare as a trusted source for all kinds of online content."
When asked why Handmark had decided to acquire MemoWare Grasis responded "MemoWare has been an essential service in support of our MobileDB product line with more than 800 online data lists in the MobileDB format. It would be very difficult to reproduce the online resource that is MemoWare, so for us the acquisition helps to guarantee that this service will continue and grow in visibility and in the depth of content. It is also a huge plus to add an industry luminary of Craig's stature to the Handmark team."
MemoWare Management
Dr. Froehle described his new role as being "more focused on the vision and business opportunities that can now grow from the MemoWare enterprise. I'm especially happy to be handing off the technical issues and administration to the Handmark web team."
Day-to-day site support and administration will now be the responsibility of Handmark engineering vice president, Cassidy Lackey. Like Froehle, Lackey was a pioneer of the Palm-based online community with his MobileGeneration.com site, which was acquired by Handmark last year.
Effect on MemoWare Sponsors, Contributors, and Developers
MemoWare will continue to offer one the best values in the PDA community for developers and others who want to reach the millions of online users who look to the site as a reliable source for content. New resources now available to the site will increase the value of sponsor investments in MemoWare.
Contributors to online content at MemoWare will continue to receive tools and technology to help create and post contributions for all applications and hardware platforms. Likewise, MemoWare will continue to encourage content submissions for all handheld application formats.
As a leading destination site for the PDA community MemoWare will offer the widest possible support for PDA applications. The goal is to offer more content for more PDA users than any other content-based site on the web.
Others Comment
Dr. Samuel Peralta, President and CEO of Qvadis, commenting on the acquisition said, "As a long-standing partner of MemoWare, Qvadis enthusiastically supports the Handmark acquisition. Their combined strengths should solidify MemoWare as the premier document repository for the handheld industry. We are confident that, as a continuing MemoWare and new Handmark partner, Qvadis software and services will be able to reach a larger community of handheld users." Qvadis is the developer of Express Reader and other industry leading desktop and palmtop document utilities.
About MemoWare
Craig Froehle founded MemoWare in 1996. Today Dr. Froehle is a professor of business at the University of Cincinnati. The MemoWare.com website has grown from an enthusiast online project into one of the leading content sites on the web.
MemoWare demonstrates the vitality of the PDA market through over ten thousand user submissions for dozens of applications and devices. MemoWare can be found on the web at http://www.memoware.com.
About Handmark
Handmark, Inc., is rapidly emerging as the leading publisher of consumer applications for Palm OS based handheld devices. Handmark offers consumer software for Palm Powered handhelds through major retail chains in North America as well as through its web site: http://www.handmark.com.
Handmark software is available in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. In the U.S. Handmark sells through both national and regional retail stores including Best Buy, CompUSA, Fry's, Staples, OfficeMax, Micro Center, J&R Music World, RCS and others.
Handmark software is compatible with Palm Powered handheld computers from Palm, Inc., Handspring, and IBM as well as other licensees of the Palm OS platform including new devices from Sony. The desktop components of Handmark applications are compatible with Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows personal computers.
The company's headquarters are located at 105 East 5th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106. For information contact Handmark at: (816) 472-7256 and on the Web at http://www.handmark.com.
CONTACT:
Handmark, Inc.
Douglas Edwards
Office: 816/472-7256
Mobile: 816/210-8090 dedwards@handmark.com