Here's the press release:
YAHOO! TEAMS WITH CIDCO TO DELIVER WEB SERVICES TO MAILSTATION INTERNET APPLIANCES
Relationship Brings Yahoo! Content to Consumers; Enables New Sales Channel, Co-branding Opportunities for CIDCO's E-Mail Device
MORGAN HILL, Calif. and SANTA CLARA, Calif.-April 4, 2000-CIDCO Incorporated (Nasdaq: CDCO), a worldwide leader in Internet appliances, telephony products and services, today announced a content delivery and co-branding agreement with Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), a global Internet communications, commerce and media company. The two-part agreement brings Yahoo!® Web-based services to an additional group of people-those without personal computers who have chosen CIDCO's popular MailStation Internet appliance for communication with friends and family and those seeking a PC companion for alternate access.
"CIDCO is an important alliance for Yahoo! as we continue to expand the reach of specific Yahoo! services to consumers seeking a low-cost alternative to the PC," said Drew Lanham, senior director, business development, Yahoo! Inc. "Working with CIDCO to distribute basic Yahoo! services to Internet appliances is an extension of our Yahoo! Everywhere strategy, to enable consumers to gain access to Yahoo! on pagers, data phones, personal digital assistants, and an array of other alternative and wireless devices."
"This agreement with Yahoo! will allow a new spectrum of people to gain the benefits of Internet-based communication and content," said David L'Heureux, CIDCO vice president of product development. "As an originator of the e-mail Internet appliance, CIDCO has opened many new doors of communication with the MailStation concept. Now, we will be able to usher in a new era of PC-like personalized content to our user base."
The first phase of the agreement commences in May 2000 and provides MailStation users with a varied selection of Yahoo! branded content such as local weather reports, prime-time TV listings, top headline and business news, stock updates, and more. Consumers can choose up to five of the available Yahoo!-branded content selections, which will be updated daily when they access the CIDCO network to either send or receive e-mail. Each of the selected content choices will be represented by a Yahoo! icon displayed on the MailStation's LCD screen. By simply pressing the button beneath the Yahoo! icon, the desired content will fill the entire MailStation LCD screen. For example, utilizing the MailStation's graphical LCD screen, the five day weather report will appear in picture format as opposed to, text-oriented information often found on other devices. Additionally, in phase one, CIDCO is gaining a dynamic new sales and promotional channel with the creation of a Yahoo! Store (www.store.yahoo.com/mailstation) where anyone accessing Yahoo! can purchase the MailStation.
Phase two of the agreement is expected to lend new capabilities to next-generation MailStations offering expanded Yahoo! services. The second phase will commence in the second half of this year.
CIDCO's MailStation is compact, portable, affordable, and a plug and play mass consumer e-mail appliance in the Internet appliance category. It is ideal for a large segment of the population which is either without a PC or does not wish to use a PC to send and receive e-mail. Capable of operating on AA batteries for portability or via a standard electrical outlet, the MailStation only requires connection to any standard telephone jack for immediate sending and receiving of e-mail messages to anyone in the world.
Yahoo! launched the Yahoo! Everywhere initiative to enable consumers around the globe to access Yahoo! content and services on pagers, data phones, personal digital assistants, and an array of other alternative and wireless devices. To date, Yahoo! has entered wireless agreements with a number of service providers and manufactures of Web-connected devices as part of its Yahoo! Everywhere strategy. Palm Computing, Motorola, and Sprint PCS have teamed with Yahoo! to offer Yahoo! Web content and services to their consumers inside the U.S. Internationally, Bell Mobility in Canada, D2 Mannesman Mobilfunk in Germany, Siemens in Asia and Europe, SmarTone and New World in Hong Kong, Radiolinja in Finland, and SK Telecom and Hansol PCS in Korea have also joined with Yahoo! to distribute Yahoo!'s Web content and services to wireless phone users.
ABOUT CIDCO
CIDCO Incorporated (Nasdaq: CDCO), founded in 1988, is a worldwide leader in Internet and telephony products, services and appliances that empower consumers to communicate simply and easily over advanced telephony networks and the Internet. Through its alliances with many of the world's leading telephone companies, CIDCO develops advanced network appliances such as network feature telephones, Caller ID devices, voice mail navigation appliances and Internet appliances that enable consumers to maximize the value of telephony networks and Internet services. CIDCO introduced its first Internet appliance in 1998 for a world moving into the developing Internet appliance era and is extending this vision to devices that will make e-mail and other information services readily available to consumers that don't have access to or require traditional computers. The company is headquartered in Morgan Hill, California at the south end of Silicon Valley. For additional information, visit www.cidco.com or call (408) 779-1162.
ABOUT YAHOO!
Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) is a global Internet communications, commerce and media company that offers a comprehensive branded network of services to 120 million individuals each month worldwide. As the first online navigational guide to the Web, www.yahoo.com is the leading guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user reach, and is one of the most recognized brands associated with the Internet. The company also provides online business services designed to enhance Yahoo!'s clients' Web services, including audio and video streaming, store hosting and management, and Web site tools and services. The company's global Web network includes 22 World properties. Yahoo! has offices in Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Canada and the United States, and is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. MailStation and CIDCO are trademarks of CIDCO Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Editorial Contacts:
Tamara Burnett
Michele Arnold
McGrath/Power Public Relations
(408) 727-0351
tamarab@mcgpr.com
michelea@mcgrp.com
