AT&T EO Personal Communicator Available in Phone Centers
PARSIPPANY, N.J. — June 30, 1993 — Fulfilling the promise of some of its futuristic "You Will" advertising, AT&T now says, "You can!" by offering customers its new handheld, pen-based personal communicator, which combines fax, electronic mail, cellular phone and personal productivity applications.
The AT&T EO 440 Personal Communicator is available beginning today in 52 select AT&T Phone Centers across the country.
In the national television advertising campaign from AT&T, a device similar to the EO 440 is used by a person originating a fax message from the beach. The EO 440 is the first in what AT&T and EO believe will be a new generation of products that will change the way people interact, providing messaging and information-handling capabilities that go far beyond today's fax and electronic mail.
"With the introduction of this product into Phone Centers," said Dave Atkinson, vice president of the personal communications group of AT&T Consumer Products, "we begin offering a new dimension of interactive communications that will have as much impact on person-to-person communications in the '90s as the telephone had in the early 1900s."
AT&T and EO are making the device available through Phone Centers as part of an agreement announced earlier this month. The agreement will allow EO to use the AT&T brand on its personal communicators; give EO access to AT&T's communications technology and services, and to its sales channels; and make AT&T the majority stockholder in the Silicon Valley company.
"With AT&T's powerful sales channels, its reputation for quality and service, and its tremendous brand recognition, we can bring the benefits of personal communications to the broadest possible audience," said Alain Rossmann, EO's president and chief executive officer.
AT&T selected 52 Phone Centers for initial rollout of the device based on the market interest in high-technology and business products. Customers can call 800-222-3111 to get the location of the nearest Phone Center carrying the product. The company expects to introduce the 440 into its over 300 other Phone Centers gradually throughout the rest of the year.
Prices for the EO 440 start at $1,999. Phone Centers will offer a number of configurations, including one equipped with 8 MB of RAM, a 20 MB hard drive and an internal modem. This version will be available through mid-August at the special introductory price of $3,299.99, when the everyday selling price of $3,499.99 will go into effect. The products come with a one- year warranty from EO, Inc.
Standard features in all versions include a high-speed serial port and cable, allowing exchange of data with any IBM- compatible personal computer; a parallel port for connection to a printer or an optional 1.44 MB floppy drive; a communications port for optional cellular or wireless modules; and a PCMCIA slot for future expansion. Additional product information is available from EO's toll-free number: 800-458-0880.
CONTACT:
AT&T, Parsippany
Steve O'Donnell, 201/581-3904 (office)
or 201 228-6707 (home)
or
Kevin Compton, 408/452-3966 (office)
or 408/355-3883 (home)