EO Unveils World’s First Personal Communicators; Devices Enable Faxing, Messaging, Personal Computing — Anytime, Anywhere

November 4, 1992 — EO Inc. Wednesday announced the EO Personal Communicator 440 and EO Personal Communicator 880, devices that put fax, electronic mail, cellular phone and personal computing capabilities into the hands of mobile executives.

“We believe personal communicators will have as much impact on person-to-person communications as the telephone had in the early 1900s,” said Alain Rossmann, president and chief executive officer of EO.

“The EO devices will be the first to market in what will prove to be a watershed in communications.”

The EO Personal Communicators provide an integrated communications solution in an extremely compact device, weighing just 2.2 pounds for the EO 440 and 4 pounds for the EO 880. They are designed around new, innovative processing and communications technology, and come with built-in messaging capabilities for exchanging electronic mail and faxes.

Using an EO Personal Communicator for the first time is as easy as turning on the switch. There is no need to install any software, since EO engineers took the bold approach of putting both the operating system and nine bundled applications into read-only memory (ROM). In addition to this out-of-the-box convenience, the software represents an $1,100 value.

“We have had overwhelming interest in the Personal Communicator from potential corporate users in many industries, from insurance to apparel to entertainment,” said Rossmann. “Companies will use the devices as communication ‘life-lines’ for mobile executives, and as sales automation tools for their field representatives. Other customers, such as those in the pharmaceutical industry, are evaluating more specialized vertical applications.”

EO will first release the Personal Communicators in an extensive beta program beginning at the end of the year. The first customers for early beta units will include NBC TV stations, Aetna Insurance, and Levi Strauss.

The devices are designed from the ground up for efficient person-to-person communications. For example, all EO users receive a free subscription to an AT&T EasyLink Services AT&T Mail electronic mailbox, accessible through an 800 number in the United States, for sending and receiving electronic mail and faxes. And, the hardware and software, which include AT&T’s RISC-based Hobbit microprocessor, a built-in high-speed modem, an onboard fax, an optional cellular phone connection, the PenPoint Operating System from GO, and special applications for phone, fax and mail, are optimized for a wide variety of communications needs.

AT&T EasyLink Services provides EO users with inexpensive access to the largest electronic mail system in the United States, and the ability to reach 30 million people around the world. With their AT&T mailbox, customers can send and receive faxes and electronic mail from any remote location — including an automobile, airport, or hotel room.

“EO Personal Communicators are new tools for a new age of worldwide messaging and information services,” said Gordon Bridge, president of AT&T EasyLink Services. “Combined with AT&T’s sophisticated wired and wireless mo-bile messaging solutions, they will dramatically change how business and individuals communicate.”

The devices use the PenPoint Operating System from GO Corp. PenPoint’s “pen-and-paper” metaphor provides a simple, intuitive interface, allowing users to enter information and control the Personal Communicator with familiar pen-based gestures.

The EO 440 and EO 880 are the first products to incorporate AT&T Microelectronics’ Hobbit processor, a new high-performance, low power consumption RISC-based microprocessor. High performance is critical for personal communicators, which must be as responsive to the user as pen and paper. Whether a user is writing text, editing a document received over the modem, or retrieving a telephone number from an on-line address book, the device provides immediate response.

The EO 440 runs at 20 MHz, delivering two to three times the performance of a 20 MHz Intel 386SL microprocessor. The EO 880 runs at 30 MHz, delivering performance comparable to a 33 MHz Intel 486SX processor.

The Hobbit’s low power consumption enables EO Personal Communicators to run on batteries for up to four hours. An optional extended-life battery pack for the EO 440 provides up to seven hours of continuous service. Batteries can be recharged in 90 minutes.

Nine applications are bundled with the devices and reside along with the operating system in 8 MB ROM. They include programs for faxing, electronic mail, note-taking, calculation, scheduling, and address book management. In addition, a number of other programs, such as word processing, spreadsheet and database applications are being ported to, or developed for, the EO Personal Communicators.

The EO 440 and EO 880 feature a cellular-ready, high-speed 14,400 bps V.32bis data modem with up to 38,400 bps throughput, and 9600 bps send/receive fax capability. Both the EO 440 and EO 880 offer a built-in microphone and speaker, allowing voice annotation of forms, documents, meeting notes and even calendar appointments. There is also an optional CellPhone connection for communicating both voice and data over a wireless network.

The devices feature 4 MB or 8 MB of RAM, expandable to 12 MB through user-installable expansion cards. Optional mass storage, in the form of an internal hard disk drive, is available for both systems.

EO Personal Communicators include a high-speed serial port and cable, allowing the exchange of data with any IBM-compatible personal computer, and a parallel port that connects to popular laser and dot-matrix printers, or an optional external 1.44 MB floppy drive.

The devices feature a communications port for optional cellular and other wireless modules, and an industry-standard type 2 PCMCIA slot (2 slots in the EO 880) for future expansion. The EO 880 features a VGA port for connecting a full-size VGA monitor for presentations, and a SCSI II port for connecting external hard drives.

The EO Personal Communicators will be distributed through an extensive beta program starting in December 1992, with broad-based availability in Q2 ’93. The EO Personal Communicators will be offered in various configurations at the following prices: -0-

– $1,999 EO Personal Communicator 440 (4MB RAM)
– $2,499 EO Personal Communicator 440 (4MB RAM, internal modem)
– $2,799 EO Personal Communicator 440 (8MB RAM, internal modem)
– $2,999 EO Personal Communicator 880 (4MB RAM, internal modem)
– $3,299 EO Personal Communicator 880 (8MB RAM, internal modem)

Optional internal hard disk drives will also be available (20MB for EO 440, 64 MB for EO 880). Prices for these drives will be announced at a future date. The cellular phone option is priced at $799.

EO Personal Communicators come with a one-year warranty. The company will provide technical support via a toll-free 800 number, and plans to offer a range of fax and e-mail options for technical assistance.

EO Inc., founded in 1991, designs, builds and markets personal communicators: a new class of products which will revolutionize person-to-person communications. An integral part of EO’s strategy is its partnerships with AT&T, Matsushita and Marubeni. EO’s partners contribute both technical expertise and funding. In addition, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture capital firm, is an investor in the privately-held corporation. EO employs approximately 90 people at its headquarters in Mountain View and European Office in Cambridge, England.

Note to Editors: For more information, contact Mark Smotroff/Sharon Miller at Access Public Relations, 101 Howard Street, 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, 415/904-7070, fax 415/904-7055.

CONTACT:
Access Public Relations
Mark Smotroff or Sharon Miller, 415/904-7070