NeoMedia Technologies, Inc (NEOM)

[ss9173]

Here is a very interesting PR issued Janaury 2001 that involves all of the companies that formed this merger.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=81306&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=142863&hig...

American Express Company's Harvey Golub Joins AirClic as Chairman, Phillip Riese As CEO

BLUE BELL, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 2001--

Announces Acquisition Of Connect Things, Strategic
Relationships With Symbol Technologies, Ericsson
and Motorola And New Funding For AirClic


AirClic Inc. announced today the election of Harvey Golub as chairman of the board and Phillip J. Riese as a director and chief executive officer of AirClic. Mr. Golub recently retired as CEO of American Express Company but remains the company's chairman until April. Mr. Riese was most recently CEO of OptiMark, Inc., a leading provider of technology systems to electronic markets. Prior to OptiMark, Mr. Riese was president, Consumer Card Services Group at American Express, and an 18-year veteran of the company.

AirClic further announced that it has completed a series of important transactions:

AirClic has acquired Connect Things, a technology spin-off from LM Ericsson AB (NASDAQ:ERICY). Connect Things, based in Stockholm, Sweden, brings significant technical capability as well as an advanced database architecture and "high-volume switch" to AirClic. Connect Things infrastructure is already actively used in Europe for connecting bar codes to specific pages in a particular Web site. The purchase gives AirClic immediate presence in the European marketplace, enhances its technical and engineering talent, and provides a product testing capability in a relatively mature market for wireless devices.

AirClic has closed on a round of substantial funding from Symbol Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: SBL), Ericsson Business Innovation AB, Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and a private investor group led by Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS).

AirClic has received, as part of a broader strategic relationship, a license to proprietary intellectual property from Symbol Technologies relating to scanning applications. AirClic will, as part of this strategic relationship, use Symbol's laser scanners and emerging scanning technologies as central to its product offering.

AirClic's ONE-SCAN(TM) technology allows users of mobile and other Web-enabled devices to directly access the Web site of their choice without the laborious task of typing Internet addresses using the telephone keypad or the alternative small keyboards integrated into cellular telephones, PDAs or two-way pagers. It allows the user to get to the Web page they want without having to tunnel through page after page to get to the desired location. Thus, it allows for easy delivery of information and transactions, and it allows this to happen where and when the user wishes on a device they already have with them - their mobile phone or PDA.

AirClic transforms Web-enabled phones, PDAs and other devices into personal scanning devices by attaching tiny bar code readers to them or incorporating the reader into the unit itself. This is done primarily using Symbol's bar code scanning technology.

AirClic has assembled and maintains a CLIC-THRU(TM) registry which points bar codes, including the ubiquitous EAN, UPC and JAN bar codes printed on products, labels, in magazines and catalogues and other places in the physical world to specific Web pages where information can be found or transactions can be made. This is done through arrangements with e-commerce sites and providers globally on a non-exclusive basis, providing users the broadest array of choices in information and transactions.

AirClic and Symbol have also developed a new, small bar code, the Scanlet(TM). Scanlets(TM) allow businesses and individuals to fully control and determine the specific Web page that particular users will be directed to via the registry. The registry and switch operate globally and are configured to support millions of bar codes and user transactions daily.

With a simple scan of a UPC, EAN, JAN or Scanlet(TM) by an AirClic-enabled device, people will be connected, through AirClic's high-speed switch, directly to the appropriate page of the appropriate Web sites. Here they can order products, find information, and manage everyday tasks and transactions, with the information delivered from that Web site to their device in an appropriate and easy-to-use format.

"AirClic's technology makes portable, Web-enabled devices easy to use," said Mr. Golub. "It eliminates a significant limitation preventing broad utilization of these devices for critical business processes and consumer needs, allowing users to quickly get to the Web page and service they want without having to press lots of buttons or surf Web page after Web page as they search for the desired information."

"AirClic and Connect Things' people and infrastructure, in combination with Symbol's reach and experience in the area of scanning and Motorola and Ericsson's support, make this transformation of Web access possible," added Mr. Riese. "There are many outstanding mobile Web-enabled applications waiting to happen all around the world. AirClic's technology is finally providing the technology, the tools, the infrastructure, a global standard and the economic incentives to allow them to blossom."

AirClic provides open, accessible, and easy-to-use tool kits for application developers to build business and consumer applications using the AirClic platform, and for businesses to incorporate scanning into their advertising, sales, inventory management, distribution and other mission critical processes. AirClic also provides economic incentives to third parties when they either enable portable Web devices or help deploy mobile Web applications to use ONE-SCAN(TM) technology. By supporting an open platform architecture, the company's efforts will be directed towards becoming the global standard for Web-based application providers, bar code users, and Web-enabled device manufacturers.

"Ericsson supports the AirClic symbology standard and the potential benefits it will bring to mobile users around the world," said Joran Hoff, CEO of Ericsson Business Innovation AB, Ericsson's incubator unit. "We intend to work with AirClic to incorporate scanning technology compliant with the AirClic standard into future Ericsson mobile offerings."

"Motorola supports AirClic's open business model because it amplifies choice and simplifies use of the mobile Internet," said Warren Holtsberg, corporate vice president of Motorola Ventures. "The opportunity to incorporate ONE-SCAN (TM) technology into a full suite of Motorola's end-to-end customer solutions is very compelling."

"Through AirClic, Symbol is coming one step closer to its vision of connecting the physical world of people 'on-the-move' and m-commerce to the virtual world of the Internet and e-commerce," said Tomo Razmilovic, president and CEO, Symbol Technologies. "AirClic promises to create the first pervasive use of scanning technology by consumers and major new uses of scanning for a host of business applications."

Product rollouts in major North American and European markets are planned for the first half of 2001. AirClic is in the final stages of negotiating agreements with several top-tier content and applications providers who plan to use the technology to expand their e-commerce capabilities.

About AirClic Inc.

AirClic Inc. operates an open system that provides the technology and infrastructure that transforms any portable Web device - a cellular phone, personal digital assistant, or a two-way pager -- into a simple remote control for thousands of business and consumer applications. Using the device to scan (ONE-SCAN(TM) Technology) a bar code, the user goes directly to a relevant Web page, application or stores the bar code for later use - allowing the user easy access to information, to perform transactions, or to use a specific application. This is done through AirClic's ClicThru(TM) switch and bar code registry which connects a particular bar code to Web pages deep within sites that have the right information or transaction capability. AirClic performs this function for a number of bar codes - most importantly EAN/UPC/JAN and a proprietary small bar code, a Scanlet(TM), which, when leased from AirClic, allows businesses and individuals to fully control the specific Web page that particular users will be directed to in the registry. These codes can be printed on product packages, as they are today, as well as a full range of print media. AirClic provides tool kits and access to Scanlets(TM) to applications providers, corporations and individuals to allow them to develop a wide variety of consumer, business and proprietary applications globally --- for direct sales management, learning, purchasing, replenishment, bill paying and more. For more information, visit www.airclic.com. Also, visit www.airclic.com/partners/index.html for information regarding AirClic application development.

About Symbol Technologies, Inc

Symbol Technologies, Inc., winner of this year's National Medal of Technology, is a global leader in wireless and Internet-based mobile data transaction systems and services. Symbol provides its customers unique value with innovative solutions utilizing application-specific information appliances, data and voice wireless networks, and bar code and data capture scanning. Symbol and its global network of business partners provide LAN and WAN mobility solutions from the enterprise to e-commerce for industries including retail, transportation and distribution logistics, manufacturing, parcel and postal delivery, healthcare, education, and hospitality. Symbol's broad range of information appliances is in use by business and consumers from the factory, to the office, to the home. Information is available from Symbol at http://www.symbol.com.

About Connect Things, Inc.

Connect Things, Inc., a 1999 spinout from LM Ericsson, has developed and initially deployed in Europe an innovative database linkage service that provides direct links between bar codes and Internet resources on a global scale. With origins at an Ericsson research laboratory, the company's system is a highly scalable, highly available, distributed database that supports the registry of hundreds of millions of Web codes. This flexible technology architecture allows the linkage of Web codes to web pages to be tailored to the needs and interests of the Internet user. For example, a user may be directed to a web page in their native language, or to a page that is formatted optimally for their mobile device. The architecture supports Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to allow value-added services to be developed by third party service providers. Connect Things is operating a beta test in Halmstad, Sweden, available to 3,000 homes, which has indicated high consumer and business interest in Connect Things' technology. For more information, visit the Connect Things web site at www.connectthings.com.

About Ericsson

Ericsson is the leading communications supplier, combining innovation in mobility and Internet in creating the new era of mobile Internet. Ericsson provides total solutions covering everything from systems and applications to mobile phones and other communications tools. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for customers all over the world. More information is available at www.ericsson.com

About Motorola

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated communication solutions and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 1999 were $33.1 billion. Motorola Ventures, the global strategic venture capital investment arm of Motorola, Inc., actively invests at early stages in developing companies of strategic value to Motorola in order to accelerate access to new technologies, new markets and new talent. More information is available at www.motorola.com.

Note to editors: Images and a video demonstration of the technology are available upon request.


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