frontpath Announces Mobile Internet Appliance
R. Krause - October 11, 2000

Event Summary

[Source: frontpath press release]September 27th, 2000 -- Fontpath, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of S3« Incorporated, today announced ProGear. ProGear is frontpath's Information Appliance targeted to the vertical market segments. ProGear couples hardware and software to deliver one of the first ever wireless, truly portable, untethered, broadband-based products capable of enabling vertical partners to fully customize content. frontpath says it will initially focus on the travel, education, entertainment, and medical markets. ProGear supports all rich media formats and offers a high quality 10.4' TFT display, X 86 compatibility and a touch screen that will enable quick access to applications or the Internet. A soft keyboard or handwriting recognition gives users the choice of input modes. The three- pound product comes with a Soundblaster« compatible audio and microphone/headphone support. ProGear comes standard with a three cell, three-hour battery. As upgrades, ProGear has a six cell, six-hour battery and also offers a cradle with integrated charging station. Both batteries are lithium ion with smart battery technology.Initially available to frontpath partners in the US, the company anticipates that the most popular configuration will be in the $1,500 range with the flexibility to upgrade or downgrade features such as batteries, memory, cradle, access points, keyboard and mouse. Beta units are scheduled to be generally available in Q4, 2000 with quantity shipments scheduled to be available in Q1, 2001.Market Impact..