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Press Release
Media Contacts:
Kristen Garrigus
A&R Partners for Palm
650.762.2832
kgarrigus@arpartners.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Palm Brand Products to Feature Secure Digital (SD) Card Slot for Expansion
New Web Clipping Applications to Provide Out-of-the-box Access to
Leading Internet Content
New York City, NY -- June 27, 2000 - Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) today announced that it will bring the smallest, lightest expansion slot to handheld computers, by including the SD Card slot in future Palm™ branded products in early 2001. A sleek form factor which will integrate elegantly into a wearable handheld, the SD Card offers a flexible solution that can provide both data storage and I/O access. Users will be able to plug in cards to make backup copies of their data; to access digital media like electronic books, maps or MP3 files; or use an SD Card with Bluetooth for wireless connectivity.
The SD Card, established by leaders Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), SanDisk, Toshiba and supported by a 60+ company consortium, is the fifth type of hardware expansion technology the Palm OS® platform will support, making it the most expandable handheld platform on the market. Since the SD Card is also compatible with existing MultiMedia Cards (MMC), customers will be able to use these cards in SD-equipped devices when they debut.
Hardware expansion products for Palm branded products currently make use of Palm handheld's serial connectors, which are also used for synchronizing data between the handheld and a desktop computer. Currently, there are more than 500 developers designing or providing snap-on products and accessories for Palm branded products, including keyboards, modems, GPS devices, printers and industry-specific tools like scientific probes. While some of the products currently designed for the serial connector will migrate to SD Cards, Palm will continue to offer external hardware expansion for larger form factor I/O peripherals like keyboards and modems via the same connector that is used for HotSync® operations.
"With its small size and the broad support from industry leaders, the SD Card is a logical hardware expansion option for users of handheld computers," said Jim Forbes, a Demo senior analyst and producer of DEMOmobile. "Since companies are planning inter-operable SD media for both data-intensive applications like graphics and I/O connectivity options like Bluetooth, products that support the SD slot allow consumers and enterprise customers to take advantage of important expansion products that expand the functionality of their handhelds."
A very compact internal expansion option approximately one-fourth the size of a compact flash card, the SD Card measures 32 mm long by 24 mm wide by 2.1 mm thick.
"By integrating an SD slot, Palm will be able to offer extremely thin, elegant products that offer tremendous benefit to individual users and enterprise customers," noted Alan Kessler, chief operating officer of platform and products for Palm, Inc. "For enterprises, SD is an seamless, cost-effective solution for IT organization to leverage as they distribute proprietary databases and software and support this content with a minimum of interruption to their mobile workers. Consumers will enjoy the easy customization of their handheld and the plug-and-play interoperability of the SD Cards between various products in their household."
In addition to its postage-stamp size, Palm elected to support the SD protocol for several important reasons, including: compatibility, cost, data storage access and security.
- Compatibility: An open standard already supported by fellow consortium member companies including Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), SanDisk, Toshiba, JVC, NEC, Philips, Nokia, Qualcomm, Kodak and Canon, SD will enable companies to easily create a range of consumer electronic devices without licensing the data storage or I/O solution, which will spur broader adoption. Consortium companies are planning devices that create, store, and communicate digital content in exciting new ways -including MP3 players, digital cameras, and smart phones.
- Cost: By supporting an industry standard solution, customers will benefit from economies of scale
- Data Storage and Access: SD will support 32 MB and 64 MB and beyond of storage, enough to support other data-intensive applications like graphic images, video and digital audio files. Combined with SD's outstanding data transfer rate of up to 10 megabytes per second, the SD architecture allows quick access to and storage of large amounts of data. SD allows sharing of content among multiple devices through advanced check-in, check-out, and move capabilities. Also, a higher storage capacity will be achieved in the future as the SD Card can accommodate the layering of several flash memory chips to expand storage capacity.
- Security: The SD Card's unique security functions are incorporated in the card, facilitating the secure exchange of content between devices and the card. This security technology has been designed to comply with current and future Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) portable device requirements, making it an excellent medium for the distribution of digital content, including digital music. Also, a physical write protection tab on the outer edge of the card provides a simple and secure method for users to ensure that information is protected.
A Powerful Solution for Enterprise
By using SD Cards, enterprise IT organizations will be able to significantly ease deployment of mission-critical, secure enterprise databases or software upgrades to their mobile workers, and even leverage SD for data backup. The small size of the SD Card, combined with the operational advantages of sending end-users a plug-and-play solution will offer significant cost savings.
Companies will also be able to insert industry-specific SD solutions into the handhelds of their mobile workers. For example, workers could carry:
- Healthcare: Mobile heart monitor, blood pressure monitor and on-the-spot insulin/glucose meter
- Industry: Utility meter reader, vending machine transactor and barcode reader
- Navigation/Location: GPS receiver and mapping device
Greater Flexibility, Solutions for Consumers
Consumers will be able to use SD for a myriad of applications, and SD's small size means that people will be able to carry several of these cards along with the product and plug-and play the various accessories as needed. In the future, this versatility may enable consumers to customize their handhelds with cards that add digital camera functionality, connectivity to HomeRF or Ethernet, or contain electronic books, maps or other reference materials or play MP3 files, or transfer them easily to other consumer electronics products. The SD Card is also ideally suited for Internet music players, cellular phones, smart phones, and car navigation systems.
Fellow SD supporters Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), SanDisk, Socket, Toshiba and Kodak all endorsed Palm's commitment to SD, citing examples of the kinds of cross-product functionality they will be able to offer consumers and businesses as the companies bring their planned SD-equipped products to market over the next year.
Palm will distribute enhanced software development kits, hardware development kits and developer support components, to simplify development for the SD Card among Palm's community of over 80,000 registered developers. Palm developers interested in supporting SD should register with Palm, and then watch the Palm developer newsletter for specific information on the availability of these kits.
For more information on SD Cards and the over 60 companies behind the industry initiative, please see the SD Association website at www.sdcard.org.
About Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc. is the leading provider of handheld computers (IDC personal companion devices category, 1999), including the Palm III, V and VII series of handheld computers. The Palm OS̉ platform is the foundation for the market-leading handheld computers from the company as well as products from its strategic partners such as IBM, QUALCOMM, Franklin Covey, Handspring and Symbol Technologies. Designed to support the increasingly mobile and geographically dispersed nature of information management, the company's handheld solutions allow people to carry their most critical information in their pockets. For more information, please visit www.palm.com.
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Palm OS and HotSync are registered trademarks and Palm is a trademark of Palm, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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