Sony New Technologies and Farcast to Develop Electronic News Service for Personal Communicators
NEW YORK — September 28, 1995 — Combining the immediacy of customized news and stock quote retrieval with the convenience of personal communicators, Sony New Technologies Inc. and Farcast Inc. have agreed to jointly develop a version of Farcast's electronic information service to be made available for the Sony Magic Link(TM) and Motorola Envoy(TM) personal communicators.
The news service will provide specific news and stock quotes to meet each user's personal search criteria – and will also update the information according to the user's preferred schedule, whether at a specific time each day, more frequently, or on an ad hoc basis. By using sophisticated software on Farcast's server to consolidate and search a range of news sources, response time is almost immediate. "Customized news delivery marks an important development in our goal of transforming the Magic Cap platform into a truly personal medium," said John Kelly, Director of Marketing for Sony New Technologies.
"Someone interested in the entertainment industry, for example, can now receive all the latest breaking news and stock quotes in that field at any time – and in any place where they can carry a personal communicator." Scott Love, Farcast's president, added, "Users of personal communicators are often precisely the same on-the-go business people who must stay current with news in their industry, so we see this alliance with Sony as bringing the promise of the PDA vision another step closer to reality. Unlimited use of the Farcast service will be available to users of Sony's Magic Link(TM) and Motorola's Envoy(TM) personal communicators for a six-month subscription price of $ 179.
The application is expected to be available before the end of 1995. Farcast Inc. is a Menlo Park, Calif.-based provider of electronically distributed news. Magic Cap is the operating system developed by General Magic Inc. for personal communicators such as the Magic Link from Sony and the Motorola Envoy.
CONTACT:
Sony New Technologies Inc.
John Kelly, 212/833-6008
or
Farcast Inc.
Scott Love, 415/327-2446