Press Releases - 2000

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, May 30, 2000 – PointBase, the leader in mobile wireless 100% Pure Java™ data management products, today announced that it is teaming with Microware, a leading provider of embedded real-time operating software, to jointly address the emerging market for mobile wireless data applications. The companies are working together to provide data management, data synchronization, and operating system support for the full spectrum of mobile wireless applications currently entering the market. By 2003 data-intensive applications for both personal and enterprise productivity will be widely deployed on the billions of Internet-enabled phones, digital pagers, PDAs, and mobile computing platforms in the market by that time.

"The market for mobile data products and services is consistently listed among the top five growth markets of this decade, and most industry observers believe that the Java development platform will play a dominant role in this space," said Bruce Scott, president and CEO of PointBase "Microware and PointBase have complimentary technologies that jointly are the first to deliver everything manufacturers need to embed Java-based mobile data capabilities in their devices. This is a very powerful platform for developers who want to extend enterprise data out to mobile wireless devices and PDAs."

Earlier this month, Microware released the next generation of its PersonalJava™ Solutions for its fully featured and stable OS-9® RTOS for cellular and smart handheld devices, digital TV, and Internet appliances. Because PersonalJava 3.0.1 and PointBase data management products are all developed on the Java platform, developers of embedded applications will be able to integrate the advanced data management and SQL with their mobile and device applications quickly and easily. They complement one another perfectly: Microware provides a secure RTOS system required to run an embedded application, while PointBase provides the data management and synchronization capabilities.

"We chose to partner with PointBase because they are the premier provider of embedded 100% Pure Java databases," said Ken Kaplan, president and CEO of Microware. "Our technologies represent the future of embedded devices and the Internet. This market is set to explode, and Microware and PointBase give developers the edge they need to get to market first."

Potential applications are wide ranging for both business and the home. They include mobile reporting of sales, expenses and billable time from remote handheld devices; organizing digital audio and video on portable entertainment systems; and remotely accessing a variety of household security and observation systems. Numerous business applications are on the horizon in the transportation, financial, and travel industries.

About Microware PersonalJava™ Technology
Microware is the leader in providing PersonalJava Virtual Machine technology to the embedded marketplace, with hundreds of thousands of units shipped to date. Microware has released its next generation of PersonalJava Solutions for OS-9® for cellular and smart handheld devices, digital TV, and Internet appliances. PersonalJava 3.0.1 provides the same reliable, high-performance Java platform as previous versions, but with the following significant enhancements: faster execution, smaller footprint, multi-windows support, plug-in architecture, and other cutting edge tools.

"Having an entire development solution - a reliable OS, integrated graphics, networking support, PersonalJava, and power management, all on one CD -is a huge advantage for our customers, made all the more powerful with PointBase," Kaplan said.

About the PointBase Products
PointBase's Mobile Edition, Embedded Server and Network Server database products, incorporate PointBase's universal synchronization option - UniSync. UniSync v3.3 provides transparent, bi-directional, multi-tiered, heterogeneous data synchronization between databases, including PointBase and enterprise databases. PointBase's collection of database products, enable developers to create pure Java, distributed, database-driven applications that extend and synchronize enterprise data among wireless devices, Internet appliances, mobile applications, and networked servers. The company's products solve the problem of managing data for applications deployed globally across a diversity of platforms.

About Microware
Microware Systems Corporation (NASDAQ:MWAR) provides embedded software solutions for successful products. The solutions include software components such as the OS-9® real-time operating system, development tools such as integrated development environments (IDE), and consulting and support services. Microware software is used in telecommunications and data communications, industrial automation, office automation, consumer electronics, automotive control, and other markets worldwide, representing many of the fastest-growing areas in technology. Founded in 1977, Microware is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, with offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. For more information, visit www.microware.com, send e-mail to info@microware.com, or call 1-800-475-9000 (US and Canada) or 515-223-8000 (International).

About PointBase
PointBase, the leader in mobile wireless data management, creates the technology for extending and synchronizing enterprise data among wireless devices, Internet appliances, mobile applications, PDAs, and networked servers. The company's 100% Pure Java products solve the problem of managing data for applications deployed globally across a diversity of platforms.

PointBase was established in 1998 by Bruce Scott, co-founder of Oracle Corporation and Gupta/Centura Software, and Jeff Richey, one of the key developers of the Sybase SQL database server. The management team includes industry veterans from IBM, Oracle, Sybase, Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems. For additional information on PointBase and its products, please send an email to information@pointbase.com, call 1-877/238-8798 (U.S. and Canada) or 650/230-7200 (International) or visit the company's website at http://www.pointbase.com.
 

Note to Editors—Java, and 100% Pure Java, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.