Consumers to Benefit From Flexibility of SD Standard

NEW YORK, TECHXNY/PC Expo, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- In a drive to ensure that handheld computers, mobile phones, digital cameras and other electronic devices can share digital content with one another, Palm, Inc. and Panasonic today announced joint efforts to accelerate consumer and enterprise acceptance of the Secure Digital (SD) memory and Input/Output (SDIO) card standards. These efforts may include such things as joint advertising and promotion activities in the United States, portions of which will debut at PC Expo. Broad adoption of the SD technology will promote compatibility among many electronic devices, giving consumers and mobile professionals the advantages of interoperability and data-sharing functionality.

Palm and Panasonic believe that the SD technology standard is the best choice for media expansion and interoperability among electronic devices. SD cards, which are about the size of a postage stamp, offer high-density memory capacity and input/output capabilities. The cards can be slipped out of one device and inserted into another, allowing consumers and enterprise mobile professionals to share content among digital devices, such as cameras, printers, computers and handhelds.

Panasonic, a founding member of the Secure Digital Association (SDA), is one of the first companies to incorporate SD technology in its consumer electronics products. The company's current line of SD-enabled products include digital cameras, digital video camcorders, voice recorders and e-wear(TM) MP3 players. Seeing the long-term benefits of SD as an expansion technology, Palm, also a member of the SDA, introduced SD technology in March with its Palm(TM) m500 series handhelds.

Palm and Panasonic also are working with content creators to develop consumer applications and enterprise solutions that further accelerate the push for SD technology.

"SD will broaden handheld usage just as CD-ROM and PCMCIA did for PCs," said Palm Chief Marketing Officer Satjiv Chahil. "Open standards -- not proprietary and island technologies -- drive market growth. Our vision is to create a digital world where all SD-enabled devices can communicate. The winners will be our customers -- from individual consumers to large enterprises -- because they will all have the freedom to choose from the proliferation of SD-capable products introduced by companies such as Panasonic."

SD technology opens up a world of new possibilities for consumers and corporations. For the first time, consumers and mobile professionals will be able to use Panasonic's SD products to share data with their Palm m500 series handhelds. For example, consumers now can take a digital picture with Panasonic's iPalm(TM) digital camera, remove the SD card and insert it into a Palm m500 series handheld, which comes bundled with MGI's PhotoSuite Software for instant photo viewing. Business professionals can now share presentations, images, large files and databases by saving this information to an SD card, slipping out the card and inserting it into a Palm m500 series handheld. Within seconds, enterprise employees can share information and collaborate in new ways with their handheld computers.

Palm and Panasonic are working together to reach the mainstream market. Palm is the leading global provider of personal companion handheld devices with more than 13 million Palm handhelds sold worldwide. Panasonic is a worldwide leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of electronics products for a wide range of consumer, business and industrial applications. Together, these two globally recognized brands will raise consumer awareness and understanding of SD technology.

Here at the TECXNY/PC Expo in New York City, Palm Chief Executive Officer Carl Yankowski will introduce Dr. Paul Liao, chief technology officer of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America ("Panasonic") and president of Panasonic Technologies Inc., during today's keynote address. The two companies are co-hosting a press event today at the Palm booth, No. 3404. In addition, the companies will cooperate in a joint multiple-media campaign around the annual show, featuring co-branded banners and other graphics, including video messages on the NBC Astrovision by Panasonic sign in New York City's Times Square. Future plans may include such things as co-branded advertising in major transportation locations and in-flight advertising on major airlines.

"Panasonic's relationship with Palm marks the beginning of a new era of interoperable technologies for consumers," said Dr. Liao. "Both companies bring to the relationship unique experience and understanding of different market segments. By combining the strengths of Palm and Panasonic, we can reach a larger portion of the world market. We look forward to working with Palm to expand on the adoption of the SD standard and our respective SD products."

Commenting on the two companies' efforts, Ray Creech, president of the Secure Digital Association (SDA), said, "We're extremely pleased to see Palm and Panasonic championing the SD standard. With more than 280 companies in the SDA, this technology already has a solid foundation and is building momentum toward new levels of interoperability and mobility."

About Panasonic and its SD Products:

Matsushita Electric Corporation of America ("Panasonic"), based in Secaucus, NJ, is the principal North American subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in the development of technologies for and the production of electronics and electric products for consumer, business and industrial use. Matsushita Electric recorded sales of $61.45 billion for the fiscal year ended March 2001. Along with its affiliates, Panasonic has more than 6,500 employees. Other Matsushita Electric operations employ another 21,500 for a total of 28,000 people employed by Matsushita Electric subsidiaries and affiliates in the Americas. Additional information is available at www.panasonic.com.

Panasonic offers a variety of SD consumer electronic products that can be leveraged by Palm m500 series handhelds, as well as other SD-based consumer electronic devices. More information can be found at http://www.panasonic.com/sd .

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(R) 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 approximately 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.

About SDA

The Secure Digital Association (SDA) is an open industry standards organization established in January 2000 by SanDisk Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., best known by its Panasonic brand name. The SDA's mission is to set industry standards for the SD card and promote its wide acceptance in a variety of applications. In addition to Palm and Panasonic, there are more than 280 companies in the SDA. More information on the SDA is available at www.sdcard.org.

NOTE: Palm OS is a registered trademark and Palm is a trademark of Palm, Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other brands may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Palm, Inc.
Web site: http: //www.palm.com
CONTACT: Julia Rodriguez of Palm, Inc., 408-878-2605, julia.rodriguez@corp.palm.com; or Yvette Lorenz-Machlan of A&R Partners, 650-762-2827, or ylorenz-machlan@arpartners.com, for Palm, Inc.; or Kurt Praschak, 201-392-6124, or praschakk@panasonic.com, or Jeff Samuels, 201-392-4571, or samuelsj@panasonic.com, both of Panasonic