“Market’s Most Popular Open Mobile Alliance Standards Suite Speeds Linux Phones To Market. DEMOmobile, La Jolla, Calif.- September 18, 2003 — Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV), the leading independent provider of open software products and services for the mobile communications industry, today announced the availability of Openwave® Phone Suite Version 7 (V7) for Linux at the prestigious DEMOmobile 2003 conference.
Chosen by conference organizers for its unique benefits to manufacturers and end-users, V7 brings new user experience innovations and Open Mobile Alliance standards technologies to Linux. Manufacturers in search of secure, open and flexible software solutions for their most advanced handset development can now rely on the same Openwave technologies they have used to ship over 400 million phones to every wireless market worldwide over the past eight years.
“V7 revolutionizes the mobile data experience for end-users. By extending V7 to Linux-based systems, Openwave provides a viable alternative to both Symbian and Windows for high-function mobile devices,” said Chris Shipley, executive producer of DEMOmobile and industry icon.
Handset manufacturers are turning to the fast emerging mobile Linux OS and development environment because of the security, control and innovation offered by open source software. Openwave Phone Suite Version 7 (V7) for Linux has been validated and is interoperable with MontaVista® Linux® Consumer Electronics Edition (CEE). CEE includes advanced features like Dynamic Power Management, rapid boot, execute-in-place and tight integration with supported hardware platforms. Leading phone manufacturers such as Motorola and NEC have recently announced next generation handsets and development efforts based on MontaVista Linux.
“Handset user experiences available today lag the capabilities of most phone hardware,” said Thomas Reardon, vice president and general manager, client software group, Openwave. “Bringing our V7 graphics technology and applications to Linux closes that gap by opening innovation and freeing manufacturers to compete in this consumer electronics business on their economic and technological terms, not on the terms of their suppliers.”
The flexibility and comprehensiveness of V7 opens new market segments and wireless markets for manufacturers without compromising brand differentiation, sacrificing product margins or locking them into proprietary technologies. Improvements in phone hardware, especially displays, are enriching user experiences to prompt increased usage of new revenue generating features and services. V7 for Linux helps manufacturers and operators take advantage of these improvements with innovative messaging, browsing, gaming and enterprise applications while fulfilling critical network and service requirements. Extensive XML-based customization capabilities within V7 enable manufacturers to define a distinct look, feel and behavior for a consistent user experience across the entire device while accommodating operator-specific customizations between devices.
V7 Momentum
Openwave can be found in more than 50 percent of all data phones shipping today. The Company has shipped its client software for mass-market phones in over 400 million phones and 550 models worldwide. Openwave has broadened its client software portfolio beyond the browser to include a set of powerful phone tools, Openwave Phone Suite Version 7. V7 offers a modular suite of phone applications, services and components that allow manufacturers to add new phone functionality with maximum flexibility and minimum time to market. The suite consists of upgrades to Openwave Mobile Browser and Openwave Mobile Messaging Client, as well as two new products, Openwave File and Application Manager and Real Networks’ RealOne(TM) Mobile Player. Seven out of the top ten phone manufacturers have licensed and plan to utilize V7 in phones scheduled to ship during the next twelve months.
About Openwave
Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV) is the leading independent provider of open software products and services for the communications industry. Openwave’s breadth of products, including mobile phone software, multimedia messaging software (MMS), email, location and mobile gateways, along with its worldwide expertise enable its customers to deliver innovative and differentiated data services. Openwave is a global company headquartered in Redwood City, California. For more information please visit www.openwave.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements relating to expectations, plans or prospects for Openwave Systems Inc. that are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of Openwave’s management and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. In particular, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: (a) the ability to make changes in business strategy, development plans and product offerings to respond to the needs of our current, new and potential customers, suppliers and strategic partners; (b) risks associated with the development and licensing of software generally, including potential delays in software development and technical difficulties that may be encountered in the development or use of our software; (c) the ability to successfully partner with other companies; (d) increased global
competition; (e) technological changes and developments; and (f) general risks of the Internet and wireless and wireline telecommunications sectors.
For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the risk factors discussed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including but not limited to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003, and any subsequently filed reports. All documents also are available through the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov or from Openwave’s Web site at www.openwave.com. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this document.
Openwave and the Openwave logo are trademarks of Openwave Systems Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. MontaVista is a registered trademark of MontaVista Software Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.
For further information:
Contact Openwave Worldwide Public Relations”
