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Palm Aligns with Leading Integrators of Enterprise Handheld Computing Solutions in Australia and Asia Pacific



Palm, Systems Integrators Announce Strategic Initiative to Mobilise Mission-critical Data for Real-time Business

SYDNEY, Jan. 31, 2002 -- Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM) today announced a strategic initiative to offer integrated handheld computing solutions based on the Palm OS® platform to enterprises in key Asia Pacific markets including Australia.

The initiative, named the Enterprise Alliance Program (EAP), also is being announced in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, and reflects the commitment of 16 systems integrators across Asia Pacific. In conjunction with their existing systems-integration competencies, EAP participants will focus on handheld computing solutions based on the Palm OS platform.

Joining the EAP across Asia Pacific is PwC Consulting. This reflects the extension to the region of existing global alliance agreement between Palm and PwC Consulting, and reinforces Palm's strategy to work on a global basis with the leading providers of enterprise handheld computing solutions.

"Globally, Palm has been successful in establishing relationships with leading providers of enterprise handheld computing solutions," said Craig Will, vice president, Asia Pacific, Palm, Inc. "Through the Enterprise Alliance Program, we'll leverage these relationships in key Asia Pacific markets. We're also pleased to be announcing the involvement of strong in-country participants."

"What this means for enterprises in Australia is access to best-of-breed technology for rapid and cost-effective deployment of Palm(tm) handheld computing solutions," Mr. Will explained.
EAP participants are expected to benefit from access to value-added opportunities from Palm, including training, market development and joint marketing initiatives. Interested enterprises can locate further information at www.palm.com/au/solutions/enterprise/.

Regional Enterprise Alliance Program Participants
The strength of Palm's relationship with PwC Consulting has been demonstrated through an award-winning deployment, Palm@Palm, which gives Palm employees real-time remote access to corporate email, group and personal calendars, the Internet, and enterprise applications such as sales and distribution and data warehousing.

Through the EAP, PwC Consulting will help companies in Asia Pacific integrate their existing enterprise systems with mobile capabilities. The resulting solutions will enable enterprise to derive benefit by mobilising knowledge resident in enterprise applications.

Enterprise Alliance Program Participants in Australia
IBM provides solutions for the mobile computing needs of enterprise customers across every industry. In Asia Pacific, IBM Global Services will extend its collaboration with Palm to enhance consulting and systems integration competencies and develop business applications for Palm OS platform devices and related OS based data services. The technology to deliver these solutions is based on IBM's WebShpere Everyplace Suite, which allows wireless devices to connect to the web. In addition, IBM's DB2 Everyplace database, WebSphere MQ products, VisualAge MicroEdition Java technology and Tivoli Device Manager are fully enabled to support the Palm OS platform.

Palm and IBM will offer products and services to help enterprises extend critical information and business applications for the Mobile Internet, reaching employees, customers and suppliers, virtually anywhere, at any time. The solutions will provide companies with the flexibility and convenience to complete a variety of essential tasks, including logging on to corporate intranets, referencing databases for information, reading and sending e-mail, updating calendar information, accessing automated sales tools and entering orders.

Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC), is one of the world's leading consulting and information technology (IT) services firms. It helps customers in industry and government achieve strategic and operational objectives through the use of technology.

"Leveraging off our capability in wireless technologies, applications and business processes, we see our relationship with Palm here in Australia as key in delivering mobile solutions - via the Palm platform," said Mike Shove, vice president, Product and Application Services for CSC in Australia.

Enterprise Solutions
Systems integrators joining the EAP will seek to address the specific needs of vertical industry segments, and together with solution providers also will make available broad-based enterprise handheld computing technology. In turn, Palm will work alongside EAP participants to assess and meet the needs of enterprises in Australia.

"Enterprise handheld computing solutions, ranging from wireless email to mobile e-business, can help companies mobilise mission-critical data for reduced operational cost, increased employee productivity and greater customer satisfaction. Companies in Australia will be in a position to specify an end-to-end solution that meets their unique needs," Mr. Will stated.

Elements of such a solution may include customer relationship management, supply-chain management, enterprise portals, and other "behind-the-firewall" applications. Enterprise end users can benefit from rapid access to mission-critical data, such as sales reports, warehouse inventory, maintenance records and inbound customer email.

Enterprise Leadership
Today's announcement capitalises on Palm's continued worldwide leadership in the enterprise handheld computing segment. Forward-looking enterprises in Asia Pacific, including Singapore Mint, Unilever, Pharmvision, Creative Field Marketing, ING Antai Insurance, Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department and Jurong Shipyard, already are realising the benefits of handheld computing solutions based on the Palm OS platform.

A recent survey of Fortune 1000 companies found that a majority of the 585 companies that responded selected the Palm OS platform as a handheld platform of choice for their standards lists -– 85 percent of the respondents with a handheld standard have selected the Palm OS platform for their standards list; 70 percent of the respondents with a handheld standard selected Palm branded devices as their corporate standard; and 57 percent of the respondents with a handheld standard identified Palm OS platform devices as their exclusive handheld computer standard.

Palm today also announced in Australia an Enterprise Hardware Service Program, intended to make it easier and more cost-effective for enterprises to deploy and support Palm handhelds. (Please see the press release "Palm Enhances Support Offerings for Enterprise and SME Deployment of Handhelds in Australia" for full details.)

About Palm, Inc.

Palm, Inc. is a pioneer in the field of mobile and wireless Internet solutions and a leading provider of handheld computers, according to IDC (December 2000). Based on the Palm OS® platform, Palm's handheld solutions allow people to carry and access their most critical information with them wherever they go. Palm(TM) handhelds address the needs of individuals, enterprises and educational institutions through thousands of application solutions.

The Palm OS platform is also the foundation for products from Palm's licensees and strategic partners, such as Franklin Covey, HandEra (formerly TRG), Handspring, IBM, Kyocera, Sony, and Symbol Technologies. Platform licensees also include Acer, Garmin, Nokia and Samsung. The Palm Economy is a growing global community of industry-leading licensees, world-class OEM customers, and more than 160,000 innovative developers and solution providers that have registered to develop solutions based on the Palm OS platform. Palm went public on March 2, 2000. Its stock is traded on the Nasdaq national market under the symbol PALM. More information is available at www.palm.com

Palm OS is a registered trademark, and Palm is a trademark of Palm, Inc. or its subsidiaries.





Palm, Palm OS, and Treo are among the trademarks or registered trademarks owned or licensed to Palm, Inc. Microsoft and Windows Mobile are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other brand and product names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify products or services of, their respective owners.