WAP Interoperability


GEOWORKS AND APION DEMONSTRATE WAP INTEROPERABILITY

Collaboration of Premion Interface+ and WAP Gateway Confirmed Compatible

ALAMEDA, Calif. (Jan. 12, 1999) - Geoworks Corporation (NASDAQ: GWRX), a leading provider of wireless software and service solutions, and network software provider APiON Ltd. announced today that the two companies have been working closely for several months and have successfully tested the interoperability of their products based on the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).

The joint effort involves Geoworks' Premion Interface+ graphical user interface and APiON's WAP gateway system in a series of tests to ensure WAP interoperability in sending and receiving data over any network using the protocols and formats defined by the WAP Forum. APiON's WAP gateway offers the means for wireless networks to send the WAP applications, services and content over any network, while Geoworks' Premion Interface+ provides a dynamic graphical user interface (GUI) environment for wireless handsets to display WAP applications, services and content. Geoworks and APiON will be showcasing this interoperability at APiON's booth at the upcoming GSM World Congress, Feb. 23 - 25, 1999 in Cannes, France.

WAP interoperability testing is a critical step in verifying that technologies from a wide variety of WAP-based vendors seamlessly work together. Geoworks Premion Interface+ is the first client technology with which APiON is testing its WAP gateway, which provides the network software required for wireless service providers to successfully transmit data and complete Internet connections.

"The acceptance of WAP by wireless service providers depends on successful interoperability between WAP products produced by vendors such as Geoworks and APiON," said Richard McConnell, APiON's Research and Development Director. "Our mutual goal is to demonstrate to wireless handset device manufacturers and network service providers that Geoworks' interface platform and APiON's network infrastructure offer an easy and efficient way to utilize WAP in their devices and provide a value-added service provision."

"Specializing in network switching, signaling, convergence and management, APiON provides an important component for testing our WAP-based interface application platform," said Adam de Boor, Geoworks' chief technology officer. "Together, APiON and Geoworks are helping prove the interoperability of WAP to further speed WAP's acceptance and deployment."

Both Geoworks and APiON are members of the WAP Forum, an industry consortium driving WAP viability and acceptance. The WAP Forum has established specifications for an advanced protocol that works across different wireless network technologies and devices internationally. With strong industry support from companies such as Geoworks and APiON, WAP is expected to easily enable cross-vendor interoperability across multiple networks.

Designed to run on top of any operating system and phone software, Premion Interface+ is the first product of its class to seamlessly blend a customizable user interface tool set with a WAP-compatible application platform. This enables handset manufacturers to create enhanced phones -- mobile terminals with the capability to utilize data services through user-friendly GUIs.

The APiON WAP gateway product, which will be released in early 2nd quarter 1999, has been designed for scalability and to allow easy integration with existing network infrastructure, such as billing and network management systems. Early interoperability work and demonstration of WAP service concepts have been carried out using a currently available alpha release of the WAP Gateway System.

Future plans call for APiON and Geoworks to continue their relationship by testing Premion Server+, another Geoworks product that delivers information and services to all types of wireless mobile devices. The two companies plan to test the over-the-air transmission of information data and the WAP interoperability of Geoworks' server technology and APiONs' gateway.

About APiON
APiON is well established as a world-leading Telecommunications Software Company with significant expertise and competence in a range of network infrastructure technologies including Switching, Signaling, Wireless Data, Internet Integration, and Intelligent Networks. APiON is actively involved in WAP forum activities, and is committed to being 'first-to-market' with new and innovative functionality as the WAP standards develop.

About Geoworks
Based in Alameda, Calif., with international operations in the United Kingdom and Japan, Geoworks Corporation is a leading provider of end-to-end software solutions for the wireless communications industry. The Company creates operating system software, applications and actionable services for a variety of wireless devices, ranging from enhanced phones to high-end, all-in-one smart communicators. For additional information on Geoworks, contact the Company on the World Wide Web at http://www.geoworks.com.

In keeping with U.S. law, Geoworks notes that this press release includes forward-looking statements, including the acceptance and utilization of the WAP specifications, the successful implementation of products from wireless manufacturers and service providers utilizing the WAP specifications, the successful interoperability of WAP-based products, and the emergence of the enhanced phone market. Actual results may vary significantly due to various risks and uncertainties. Those include, but are not limited to, the following: i) the enhanced phone market may not emerge to the degree or in the timing anticipated; ii) the Company must consummate definitive agreements with key partners; iii) the WAP Forum may not be successful in its goal to achieve interoperability; and iv) new technologies and new services are inherently subject to development, timing and consumer acceptance risks. Additional information is available in the Risk Factors and Business discussions in the Company's Forms 10-K, 10-Q and other filings available from the Company or from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Source: Geoworks
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