WordPerfect InfoCentral 1.0 for Windows in Beta Testing; Intelligent Personal Information Manager Set to Ship by End of First Quarter

February 10, 1994 — WordPerfect Corp.’s consumer products division Thursday announced the company’s new intelligent personal information manager for Windows, WordPerfect InfoCentral, has entered beta testing.

WordPerfect InfoCentral, as part of the WordPerfect Main Street consumer product line, takes advantage of object-oriented technology to help users organize people, places, things and events.

WordPerfect InfoCentral (previously code named CIA) is a personal productivity tool that allows users to organize and manage their daily information and contacts. The PIM offers calendaring, address book and to-do features — all of which are integrated with patent-pending iConnect technology, in a simple interface.

“WordPerfect InfoCentral has created a new paradigm for information management,” said Ad Rietveld, president and chief executive officer, WordPerfect Corp. “The product is truly an intelligent information manager. With more than five years of development and with patent-pending technology, the superior capabilities of the PIM will make it easy for users to organize and manage their documents, contacts and appointments.”

Connections. WordPerfect InfoCentral intelligently connects information between people, places, things and events with iConnect. The PIM automatically sorts information into an easy-to-read outline that lets users describe the relationship or connection between pieces of information.

“iConnect” allows users to enter and find information from multiple view points. For example, a user can enter the name George Bush into WordPerfect InfoCentral and include the companies, organizations, places, and people to whom George was formerly or presently associated. The users connects George to all of the categories and George can now be instantly retrieved by looking up any of the connected categories.

Related File Launch. Through related file launching technology and OLE 2.0, users can now manage any type of in-formation produced in any Windows applications including word processors, databases, spreadsheets, presentation pro-grams, etc.

For example, to write a letter to George Bush, the user simply finds George’s name in the PIM, clicks on the Related File launch button and WordPerfect InfoCentral automatically launches into the user’s Windows word processor.

Within seconds the program organizes a letter with George’s name, address, opening salutation, and closing while put-ting the cursor in the exact location to begin writing a letter.

After the user completes, saves, and closes the letter, WordPerfect InfoCentral takes the user back to George’s name in the PIM where a “document” entry appears. By clicking on the document entry, the user can find the letter and any other document the user has connected to George Bush.

Mail-enabled. The PIM is mail-enabled through WordPerfect Office or any e-mail application that supports VIM or MAPI standards.

Enter Information Once. WordPerfect InfoCentral reuses information already entered into the PIM such as names, addresses and phone numbers. The benefit for the user is that WordPerfect InfoCentral eliminates the redundant entering of data, saving valuable time and hard disk space.

“The time has come to deliver a true intelligent information manager that is designed with the user in mind,” said Jeff Mallett, senior director, consumer products division. “We haven’t forced an old information management or paper con-tract system into a software package. Instead, we have maximized object-oriented technology and put the user in charge, not the program.”

Tabs. Tabs, similar to file folders, allow users to keep information they use most in an organized, easy to use format. Information updated in one tab, is automatically updated within all tabs.

Outline View. WordPerfect InfoCentral presents information in an easy-to-understand Outline View. The Outline View shows users how all of their information is interconnected. No outlining is ever required by the user — the user’s information is outlined in the PIM automatically.

Calendar View. The program’s Calendar View includes day, week and year views. Users can easily drag and drop appointments between days or weeks and schedule tasks in the same view. WordPerfect InfoCentral will also print information in all standard planner sizes for users who wish to carry their information in hard copy format.

Address Book View. The Address Book View allows users to access names, addresses, phone and fax numbers, cellular numbers, and e-mail addresses of related persons and places.

Information Bases. Another unique feature of WordPerfect InfoCentral that sets it apart from other PIMs is the four information bases, or iBases, that ship with the product. The four iBases include information on four iBases are presented using the PIM’s technology that provides users with an instant reference and an excellent foundation or start-ing point for users to add their own personal information. WordPerfect Corp. will continue to develop iBases and work with other content providers to give users updates and additional iBases.

Templates and quick tours. Templates and quick tours will help users quickly get started using WordPerfect InfoCentral. Several iBase templates will help users begin entering and connecting their information right away. Quick tours take users step by step through various functions of the PIM.

System Requirements and Pricing

System requirements for WordPerfect InfoCentral are a 386 processor or higher with 4M of RAM. Microsoft Windows 3.1 or later and 4-6M of hard disk space are also required. The PIM can be used with any pen computer using Microsoft Windows for Pen Computing. The expected shipping date of version 1.0 is first quarter 1994 with a suggested retail price of $149 US/$179(a) CAN.

WordPerfect InfoCentral is one of 28 products included in the WordPerfect Main Street consumer product line. Several other new products are expected to ship during 1994 to meet the computer software needs of the home and small business markets.

WordPerfect Corp., headquartered in Orem, is a privately held company that develops business software to help people process, share and present information across a wide variety of computer operating systems. Among the company’s key products are the world’s best-selling word processor, WordPerfect, as well as WordPerfect Office, WordPerfect InForms and WordPerfect Presentations.

Recognized for its leadership in providing outstanding customer support, WordPerfect Corp. is represented throughout the world by 57 international affiliates serving 117 countries with products in 28 languages.

(a) Canadian pricing subject to change in accordance with daily exchange rate.

NOTE: All brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

CONTACT:
WordPerfect Corp., Orem
Blake Stowell, 801/228-5063 or 801/228-5077 (fax)