News/Events

MIRAPOINT UNVEILS NEW PRODUCTS TO ENABLE SERVICE PROVIDERS TO QUICKLY BRING NEW MOBILE MESSAGING SERVICES TO MARKET
New i-mode and WAP Solutions Give Mirapoint Customers Global Mobile Email Coverage

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - October 29, 2001 - To address the growing mobile communications market opportunity for service providers, Mirapoint Inc., a leading provider of Internet messaging infrastructure products, today announced i-mode Direct, a new product that provides i-mode wireless subscribers with email access from any i-mode mobile phone. Complementing its support for desktop email, Webmail and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) clients, the introduction of i-mode Direct makes Mirapoint the first company to offer complete, multi-mode subscriber access on a single Internet messaging server.

To provide additional functionality for mobile users, Mirapoint also introduced WAPCal Direct™, a new personal calendar for users of WAP mobile phone handsets. WAPCal Direct complements Mirapoint's WAPmail Directä, which provides WAP-based access to email messages, and WAP address book.

With the addition of these new products, Mirapoint delivers service providers and wireless operators a strategic platform for rolling out new mobile messaging services more quickly and efficiently than ever before. Mirapoint is now equipped to handle a more comprehensive set of client access methods over wire-line and wireless networks, allowing for universal access to all types of messages from anywhere, via any device. By supporting open, Internet standards, Mirapoint's architecture also is well suited for high-speed, third-generation (3G) mobile networks such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS).

The mobile messaging market is increasing at a significant rate. For example, NTT DoCoMo currently has more than 27 million i-mode subscribers, and the Radicati Group states that there will be 779 million wireless users this year is expected to grow to over 2.8 billion by 2005. Additionally IDC reports that the number of email boxes is an estimated 505 million worldwide, and that figure is projected to climb to 1.2 billion by 2005.

"Supporting different access devices is critical for service providers and wireless operators to sustain subscriber satisfaction," said Sara Radicati, president and CEO of the Radicati Group, a market research firm based in Palo Alto, Calif. "By deploying Mirapoint's comprehensive messaging architecture, customers have a sophisticated and cost-effective way to deliver multiple access methods."

"The demand for reliable, high-performing mobile messaging services calls for a new approach," said Satish Ramachandran, Mirapoint's chairman and CEO. "With Mirapoint's rich mobile messaging products, service providers can accelerate the availability of new services to accommodate the requirements from a diverse community of mobile users." In addition to service providers, enterprises that serve large and varied communities will also benefit from these products. For example, the University of Tokyo is evaluating i-mode Direct as an addition to its Mirapoint messaging infrastructure. "Mirapoint's messaging products have provided us with the reliability and performance we need to serve a large population of students, faculty and staff," said Dr. Koji Ando, senior research associate, Information Technology Center, University of Tokyo. "Mirapoint makes it easy to add new functionality to our current system and i-mode Direct is a way to seamlessly begin offering i-mode access to email."

Going Direct
i-mode Direct and WAPCal Direct use Mirapoint's Direct Access™ technology to provide users with direct access to multiple media messages without the need for protocol translation, via a variety of communication devices such as a telephone, PC or PDA. The technology is designed for service providers who need to support multiple device access to a single, unified mailbox. By integrating protocols into one message server, Mirapoint's products allow customers to offer a variety of messaging services to subscribers much faster and more cost-effectively. Other products that leverage this technology include WAPmail Direct, Webmail Direct™, which provides users with Web-based access to messages, and WebCal Direct™, a Web-based personal calendar.

New Products Strengthen Mirapoint's Mobile Messaging Portfolio i-mode Direct allows service providers to deploy i-mode messaging services quickly by removing critical issues such as protocol translation via a gateway, message synchronization and the need to render message content appropriately for specific devices. In addition to email access via i-mode, service providers are able to concurrently support access from Web, WAP or Internet standard messaging protocols - enhancing the mobility offering to their subscribers.

To use i-mode Direct, a user enters their service provider's URL or company Web site address into an i-mode phone to begin accessing their messages. The user is then able to perform typical email functions such as reading messages in their inbox, composing messages, replying to and forwarding messages, and gaining access to all folders. The user may also establish optional mail filters to prioritize and organize messages. In addition to personal calendaring services, WAPCal Direct provides alerts and event notification and has to-do list features. It works with all mobile phones, PDAs and other handheld devices that support WAP-compliant browsers. In addition, it can be used in conjunction with a Web-based client.

Pricing and Availability
Both i-mode Direct and WAPCal Direct are available now worldwide. Pricing is based on the number of users and is discounted at larger volumes.

About Mirapoint
Founded in 1997, Mirapoint designs and manufactures specialized, dedicated Internet messaging solutions optimized for fast deployment in service provider and enterprise environments worldwide. Mirapoint's cost-effective and modular solutions provide customers with high performance, high reliability, built-in security and easy integration with legacy messaging infrastructure. Named to Upside Magazine's Hot 100 Private Companies List in 2001 for Internet Infrastructure, Mirapoint is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., with offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information on Mirapoint, call 800.937.8118 or visit its Web site at http://www.mirapoint.com.

2007 Mirapoint, Inc.  All rights reserved. All company and product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

< Back to Current Press Releases