First Headset Manufacturer to Commercialize a Wireless Bluetooth* Headset
Launch Affirms GN Netcom's Global Leadership Position in Wireless
Headset Market
Company Debuts Leading-edge Technology at the PCIA GlobalXChange
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, and NASHUA, N.H., Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- GN Netcom
today launched the GN 9000 Bluetooth wireless headset, the world's first
commercially available headset to achieve official Bluetooth product
certification from a Bluetooth Qualification Body (BQB). While other
companies have announced plans to launch products incorporating the new
wireless technology, GN Netcom is the first headset manufacturer to market a
product that has earned the Bluetooth approval and is a "true" Bluetooth
product. This announcement was made at the PCIA GlobalXChange International
Conference and Exposition in Chicago.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000927/NEW026
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990920/GNNETCOM )
"Our ability to come to market with the first Bluetooth headset reinforces
GN Netcom's position as the world leader in the headset market and underscores
our technological edge," said Niels B. Christiansen, GN Netcom A/S president
and CEO.
The GN 9000 Bluetooth is the culmination of an intensive global Bluetooth
product development initiative undertaken by GN Netcom and its partners. The
company's Bluetooth development efforts brought together resources from both
Denmark and the United States.
"The headset will enable users to communicate with a variety of different
Bluetooth-enabled devices, including mobile phones, personal computers, PDAs
and other such devices -- all without a single wire and completely hands-
free," said Christiansen.
The Bluetooth standard calls for the elimination of the numerous and
inconvenient cable attachments required for connecting computers, headsets,
mobile and desktop phones, and hand-held devices to each other. Each
Bluetooth-enabled device incorporates microchips that allow the device to make
instant, ad hoc connections with other Bluetooth-enabled products for easy and
seamless communications.
Bluetooth is expected to erase today's boundaries between the different
wireless digital communications technologies. In the future, the short-range
radio transmission of Bluetooth wireless technology will enable users to move
freely from one environment to the next and remain connected to different
kinds of digital instruments and networks.
GN Netcom, an early entrant into the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, is
one of many telecommunications and computing industry leaders working together
to define and promote the Bluetooth specification. GN Netcom expects the
trend towards voice-controlled Bluetooth applications will boost the need for
flexible and user-friendly Bluetooth headsets. And the numbers back them up:
it is estimated that more than 250 million units of Bluetooth-enabled products
will ship by 2002. (source: Dataquest)
The GN 9000 Bluetooth
Targeted at the professional office and SOHO markets, GN Netcom's first
Bluetooth headset, the GN 9000 Bluetooth, eliminates all traditional headset
wires providing complete wireless freedom. The GN 9000 Bluetooth system comes
complete with a desktop base station and lightweight headset with adjustable
headband and flexible microphone boom. The headset and base station feature
volume and mute buttons and on-line indicators. The GN 9000 Bluetooth
operates within a range of 30 feet/10 meters from any Bluetooth device with
which it is connected.
The base station for the GN 9000 Bluetooth will plug into any standard
desktop phone and thereby Bluetooth-enable that phone, allowing users to take
advantage of the freedom Bluetooth wireless technology offers -- now. The
headset will also be offered as a standalone product, capable of communicating
with other Bluetooth-enabled devices as they come to market, many of which are
expected in the next six months. According to Dataquest's recent projections,
two-thirds of all new mobile phone handsets will be Bluetooth-enabled by 2004.
The GN 9000 Bluetooth system has a $499 manufacturer's suggested retail
price (MSRP) and the headset-only product, the GN 9015-BT, has an MSRP of
$299. Both products will ship in November and GN Netcom's worldwide
distribution network will begin taking orders for the GN 9000 Bluetooth on
October 2, 2000. The headset-only product will be available through both GN
Netcom and JABRA channels of distribution.
The new GN 9000 series is showcased at the PCIA GlobalXChange show,
September 26 - 29, at Chicago's McCormick Place. GN Netcom will exhibit in
booth #919 in the main pavilion and #3982 "O" in the Bluetooth pavilion.
About GN Netcom
GN Netcom is a world leader in hands-free communications technologies.
Specializing in the design and manufacture of high-quality telephone headsets,
voice input devices, remote voice pickup and related products, the company
offers a product line that defines the state-of-the-art for both traditional
corded and wireless solutions.
By working in close partnership with customers, GN Netcom has become a
leading provider of hands-free solutions to the call center, general office,
SOHO, mobile and PC applications markets in North America, Europe, and Asia-
Pacific. GN Netcom has production facilities in the United States and Europe
and cooperates with distributors in more than 60 countries around the world.
In August 2000, GN Netcom acquired San Diego-based JABRA Corporation, the
leading and fastest-growing supplier of advanced hands-free headset/earset
products for cellular, desktop and computer applications in the United States.
GN Netcom is part of GN Great Nordic, a Danish based group of companies in
the technology sector. The GN Great Nordic Group is traded on the Copenhagen
Stock Exchange (Reuters: GNTC.CO, Bloomberg: TELN DC) and the London Stock
Exchange.
GN Netcom, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of GN Netcom A/S, is
headquartered in Nashua, N.H., with offices in Scotts Valley, Calif., San
Diego, and Mississauga, Ontario. GN Netcom products are sold through specialty
distributors, retailers, supply houses and dealers, under the brand names GN
Netcom, JABRA, Liberation, UNEX and ACS. GN Netcom also provides OEM products
to familiar brand name companies.
For more information about any of GN Netcom's high quality, innovative
hands-free communications solutions, contact GN Netcom, Inc., 1-800-826-4656,
or visit http://www.gnnetcom.com.
* BLUETOOTH is a trademark owned by Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson,
Sweden and licensed to GN Netcom A/S
SOURCE GN Netcom, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.gnnetcom.com
Photo Notes:
NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000927/NEW026
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990920/GNNETCOM
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 201-369-3467
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/128300.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 128300
CONTACT:
Michelle Boockoff-Bajdek of GN Netcom, Inc.,
800-826-4656, ext. 525, mbb@gnnetcom.com; or Rachael Cairone of
Earle Palmer Brown, 203-705-9256, rcairone@epb.com, for GN
Netcom, Inc.
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