Developers Demonstrate Strength of New Newton 2.0 Operating System at COMDEX
LAS VEGAS — November 13, 1995 — Newton developers reinforced the strength of Apple Computer, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: AAPL) Newton 2.0 platform today with more than 50 new product and solution demonstrations here in the Newton Pavilion at the COMDEX trade show (Booth #4354, North Hall, Las Vegas Convention Center.) The ongoing support from the developer community, as well as from Newton licensees and technology and channel partners, reaffirms Apple's leadership position in the personal digital assistant (PDA) marketplace. To champion the efforts of its developers, system integrators (SIs) and value-added resellers (VARs), Apple offers a range of programs designed to facilitate the creation of solutions for both mobile business professionals and vertical markets.
"The outstanding support from the developer community is a testament to the strength of the Newton platform," said Sandy Benett, acting vice president of the Newton Systems Group. "With the Newton 2.0 operating system, we offer developers a powerful platform on which to quickly and easily develop commercial and custom software applications. The past two years in the PDA market have enabled Apple to better understand and meet developers' needs with a flexible, more productive development environment as well as higher level tools. We anticipate that these advances will extend the breadth and depth of applications available on the Newton platform."
Newton 2.0 is a major revision and refinement of the Newton operating system. Designed to provide customers with improved organizational and communications capabilities, Newton 2.0 offers the ability to integrate with Windows and Mac OS-based personal computers and enterprise environments. The creation of Newton 2.0 underscores Apple's commitment to the evolving PDA market by providing developers a more flexible and extensible architecture for creating compelling solutions.
"Newton 2.0 enabled us to deliver true mobility to groupware scheduling with our newest product, Meeting Maker for Newton," said Ivan O'Sullivan, vice president of marketing at ON Technology. "With Meeting Maker for Newton, users will be able to access their corporate scheduling system or create meetings on any PDA device running Newton 2.0. We're excited to offer this highly requested solution to the marketplace."
"Enterprise customers manage a broad range of business-critical information in Lotus Notes. As they deploy PDA technologies like Newton 2.0 into their IT environment, integration of Notes-based information adds great value," said David Rosenbaum, product manager, Lotus Development Corp. "Developers can easily create a connection between Notes and Newton PDAs, thereby providing a compelling enterprise integration solution."
New Announcements
More than 40 independent software developers are demonstrating more than 50 different solutions for the Newton 2.0 platform today. Many of these developers expect to have their Newton 2.0 products shipping by year-end with still more working on solutions for release in the first quarter of next year.
The software demonstrations shown in the Newton Pavilion span both the horizontal and vertical markets and include a range of solutions from companies such as AllPen, American Airlines, Dayna, Intuit, ON Technology and Socket Communications.
Currently, developers provide products and solutions for the Newton platform in four key areas:
— Information Management — allowing mobile professionals to efficiently collect and organize information such as contacts, expenses, and billable hours, with products such as Intuit's Pocket Quicken, a mobile expense tracking application that comes bundled with the Apple MessagePad 120 with Newton 2.0;
— Communications — providing customers the capability to access the Internet, send and receive electronic mail, faxes or alphanumeric pages via PC Card modems or wireless communication methods, with products such as AllPen's Net Hopper, a solution for browsing the World Wide Web;
— Integration with Desktop Computers — enabling customers to organize, manage and synchronize information between Newton PDA devices and applications on both Mac OS and Windows-based personal computers with products such as Now Software's Now Synchronize, which provides synchronization between a Newton PDA and Now-Up-to-Date and Contact desktop applications;
— Vertical Markets — allowing corporate customers to choose from a diverse range of solutions developed specifically for areas such as health care, sales force automation, education and financial services with products such as Bear River's Inspection and Data Collection Systems, a custom data collection application for industries such as transportation, construction and postal receiving.
"The new Newton 2.0 operating system is an ideal platform for our Fortune 1000 clients such as Harris Corporation, where its field service application demands a comprehensive PDA-based communications architecture," said Wayne Yurtin co-founder of AllPen Software Inc.
According to Tony Meadow, president of Bear River Associates, "The field service applications we're developing for the transportation and construction industries require that we connect into enterprise computing systems. Newton 2.0 and Apple's Desktop Integration Libraries (DILs) a set of APIs for direct data synchronization between Windows or Mac OS-based personal computers and Newton PDAs allow us to do this efficiently and effectively."
Editor's Note: For a more complete listing of solutions available for the Newton platform, please check the Newton 2.0 Applications list in the Newton Systems Group press kits available at COMDEX or see the Newton Solutions Guide available in the Newton Pavilion or posted on the Newton home page: http://www.info.apple.com/newton.
Developer Support Programs
To fuel the efforts of its growing developer base, Apple offers a range of technical support programs designed to meet the varied requirements of its developers. These programs range from self-help to unlimited, programming-level support. Technical training courses are also offered through Apple Developer University.
Apple addresses its key vertical markets through value-added reseller (VAR) and system integrator (SI) programs, which offer specialized support for creating custom solutions in the health care, sales force automation, education, and financial services markets as well as many other industries. To date, more than 200 SIs and VARs have taken advantage of the program offerings, which include a monthly newsletter, quarterly co-marketing materials, technology presentations and demonstrations, and an annual symposium.
Vertical Applications
Newton technology is widely used for custom application development in specialized industries such as field service and education by organizations like Taco Bell, the Idaho Power Company and Leon County Schools. Taco Bell uses Newton technology for restaurant quality inspections, reducing paperwork and response time while improving data consistency. Idaho Power performs substation inspections, saving time and eliminating redundant data entry. Schools in Leon County, Fla. use Newton technology to monitor student progress in an alternative assessment program.
These are just a few of the many examples of Newton technology at work. With the new features and solutions offered by the 2.0 platform, Newton technology continues to enable mobile solutions that offer companies productivity improvements, cost reductions and solutions not previously possible.
Apple Computer, Inc., a recognized pioneer and innovator in the information industry, creates powerful solutions based on easy to use personal computers, servers, peripherals, software, online services, and personal digital assistants. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple develops, manufactures, licenses and markets products, technologies and services for the business, education, consumer, scientific, engineering and government markets in over 140 countries.
Customer Information Contact: If you are considering the purchase of an Apple product and would like to have product information faxed to you, please call 1-800-462-4396 in the U.S. or 415-598-4329 in Canada. If you do not have a fax machine or would like to locate an Apple authorized reseller near you, please call 1-800-538-9696. Customers outside the U.S. should contact their local Apple representatives for information.
Apple's home page on the World Wide Web: http://www.apple.com
Newton home page on the World Wide Web, the centralized location for obtaining information about the Newton platform: http://www.info.apple.com/newton
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CONTACT:
Jennie Shikashio, 408-974-1867, or Jeni Johnstone, 408-974-2589, both of Regis McKenna, Inc.