Unveils First Internet Appliance for High-Traffic Home Areas
With Convenient, Easy-to-Use Instant AOL Service
New Gateway Connected Music Player Also Introduced
All New Gateway Appliances and Most New Gateway PCS Now
Network-Enabled With Broadcom HomePNA 2.0 Technology
'Connected Home' Comes to Life in Gateway Country Stores
Note To Assignment Desks: B-Roll And Soundbites Satellite Feeds 11/10/00
10-10:15 A.M. (EST) C-Band: Telstar 4, Transponder 10
KU-Band: Telstar 6, Transponder 14
1:00-1:15 p.m. (EST) C-Band: Telstar 4, Transponder 10
KU-Band: Telstar 6, Transponder 14
(Includes event footage)
NEW YORK, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Gateway Inc. (NYSE: GTW) and strategic
allies America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL), Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM)
and Transmeta Corporation (Nasdaq: TMTA) today unveiled an array of new
products and services, along with new training capabilities, that promise to
accelerate the proliferation of new home Internet devices -- adding to the
PC's convenience and versatility while making the vision of the connected home
a reality today.
Starting in late November in most Gateway Country stores nationwide,
consumers can experience first-hand the new Gateway Connected Touch Pad home
Internet appliance featuring the new Instant AOL service. The stores also
will debut the new Gateway Connected Music Player. Both can be linked within
the Gateway Connected Home -- an easy-to-use system that connects PCs and
other devices in the home at broadband speed to enable a host of new
capabilities and make the Internet an even more central feature of consumers'
daily lives.
The Gateway Connected Home brings a variety of new capabilities into the
home, including:
-- Accessing the Internet from a variety of devices in addition to the
PC, extending the medium's convenience into every part of home life;
-- Taking advantage of a new customized, "instant-on" version of the AOL
service that connects the consumer to AOL as they turn on the device,
designed to be used with new appliances that can be located in parts of
the home where a PC typically is not;
-- Accessing family members' common calendars, address books and other
information across multiple devices;
-- Instantly accessing personalized information like news, investment
updates and weather forecasts from any room in the house;
-- Creating a centralized, digital music library that's accessible from
any room in the house through multiple devices.
Yesterday Gateway also announced a strategic relationship with Broadcom
Corporation as a key enabler of its Gateway Connected Home system. Gateway
already has begun shipping all Gateway Select and Performance consumer desktop
PCs with Broadcom Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA) 2.0 chipsets as
standard equipment -- enabling customers to easily and seamlessly connect
Gateway PCs and Gateway appliances via existing telephone lines in the home at
broadband speed.
"People today are embracing a wave of new technology and devices that can
do more than ever before. Many of these devices can now access the Internet,
which has made them incredibly useful," said Jeff Weitzen, Gateway president
and CEO. "Linking PCs and other devices to each other throughout the home
adds a new level of convenience and usefulness. Gateway and its partners have
made that possible, and we're delivering it to people in a way that's simple
and appealing."
Gateway Connected Touch Pad with Instant AOL
The Gateway Connected Touch Pad featuring the Instant AOL service is a
compact, easy-to-use touch-screen device offering instant-on access to all of
AOL's hallmark features including e-mail, instant messaging, the My Calendar
service and Address Book feature, chat and full Internet access. The Instant
AOL service also puts at members' fingertips content that is particularly
convenient for use in either the kitchen -- like information on home and
family, recipes and shopping time savers for groceries and gifts -- or the
family room, such as TV and movie listings and online music.
The Instant AOL service also offers key "Essentials" available at the
touch of a button, including a family Notepad, access to Favorite Places,
Search, the Buddy List(R) feature and more. Members also have access to AOL's
20 Channels including House & Home, Kids Only, Parenting and other Channels as
well as AOL's comprehensive Parental Controls feature.
The Gateway Connected Touch Pad with Instant AOL is designed for use in
high-traffic areas of the home -- such as the kitchen or family room -- where
PCs typically are not located. The sleek Gateway Touch Pad, which can be set
on a countertop or mounted beneath kitchen cabinets, can be operated using a
stylus and touch screen and with a wireless keyboard that includes convenient
shortcut icons to AOL e-mail, instant messages, Channels and more. For added
convenience, the Gateway Connected Touch Pad features a Notepad where family
members can leave messages for each other during the course of the day.
The Gateway Connected Touch Pad can be used with either a dial-up
connection or, when networked with a PC, a broadband Internet connection.
When linked with other devices in the Gateway Connected Home, it can take
advantage of simultaneous Internet access from any room in the house.
Barry Schuler, president of AOL Interactive Services, said: "Gateway's
vision of the Connected Home and our 'AOL Anywhere' strategy are based on a
common realization that consumers are making the Internet more and more
central to their daily lives, and that they want to access its convenience
from more places, more frequently. The Gateway Connected Touch Pad with
Instant AOL is an important step in meeting our shared commitment to help
consumers create the next Internet revolution by making the services they rely
on even more convenient than ever before."
The Gateway Connected Touch Pad's price is $599. Price plans for Instant
AOL service will fit within standard AOL subscription packages. The Gateway
Connected Touch Pad with Instant AOL service can be ordered starting Dec. 1
from Gateway Country stores, 1-800-Gateway or Gateway.com, for shipment by
approximately Dec. 15 to the customer's home.
Key technological features of the Gateway Connected Touch Pad are its
Transmeta Crusoe processor and Netscape's Gecko browsing engine. The
appliance also operates on the innovative Mobile Linux operating system and
Broadcom home networking silicon for improved reliability and lower cost.
Gateway Connected Music Player
The Gateway Connected Music Player allows family members to listen to
music files in any room in the house from a common music library on a PC.
The Gateway Connected Music Player can be connected to the user's stereo
system or, when paired with powered speakers, it can be used as a stand-alone
audio player that's easily located in any room in the home. Users can create
song playlists organized by title, artist, album or genre. The device also
features a convenient remote control.
Like the Gateway Connected Touch Pad, the Gateway Connected Music Player
utilizes Broadcom HomePNA 2.0 silicon for connecting to existing phone lines
in the home, in addition to an Ethernet connection capability.
It can be ordered for $299 when offered for sale around Dec. 1 in Gateway
Country stores, through 1-800-Gateway or on Gateway.com, for shipment by
approximately Dec. 15 to the customer's home.
The Gateway Connected Home
As part of the Gateway Connected Home, these new products feature the
ability to be linked to Gateway PCs and other devices in the home at broadband
speed using existing telephone jacks. Gateway's new alliance with Broadcom --
the leader in broadband transmission of voice, audio, video and data over
existing communications systems -- enables this key feature and creates a
simple and powerful framework into which additional devices can be integrated.
The Gateway Connected Home will meet a growing consumer demand for
Internet ubiquity in the home. In the recently released AOL/Roper Starch
Cyberstudy 2000, more than 60 percent of online consumers said they believe
that every room in their house will be wired to the Internet within 10 years.
Gateway Country Stores
Making these new products and services easy to evaluate, buy and enjoy is
the unique role of Gateway Country stores. Starting next week, most Gateway
Country stores are providing a customer-friendly buying experience with a
comprehensive demonstration of the Connected Home's capabilities. Gateway
Country stores recently underwent a multi-million dollar retrofit to include
comprehensive Connected Home demonstration areas.
When shipment of the new Gateway appliances begins in mid-December,
Gateway Country stores will be available to provide expert set-up,
user-focused training and comprehensive support.
Gateway Country stores make it easy for people to get more use -- and less
frustration -- out of technology. Gateway Country stores recently were cited
by readers of PC World as their favorite place to buy technology products.
The Connected Home in 2001 and Beyond
In 2001, Gateway plans to introduce new appliances compatible with the
Gateway Connected Home system as well as Broadcom-enabled adapters that allow
stereos, TVs and other traditional consumer electronics to benefit from
connectivity. In the future the Gateway-Broadcom alliance also plans to
enable customers to watch digital-quality movies on any TV in their homes from
a common video library. Gateway and Broadcom also plan to introduce Internet
telephony which enables telephone calls from anywhere in the home, plus other
features and benefits now in development. Consumers will be able to give each
phone in their home a unique Internet address, which allows phone-to-phone
intercom capabilities within the Gateway Connected Home -- all using a single
phone line.
Additional Gateway appliances now in development also incorporate Instant
AOL, Transmeta Crusoe processors, the Netscape Gecko browser and Broadcom
connectivity features. In 2001 Gateway will introduce a wireless web pad
appliance affording instant Internet access from anywhere in the home.
About Gateway
Gateway (NYSE: GTW), a Fortune 250 company founded in 1985, focuses on
building lifelong relationships with consumers and businesses through complete
technology personalization. Gateway ranked number one in U.S. consumer PC
revenue in 1999 (1) and was rated among the top ten best corporate reputations
in America according to a survey conducted in August of 1999 by Harris
Interactive and the Reputation Institute and published in The Wall Street
Journal. In 1999, Gateway was seventh in total return to shareholders among
Fortune 500 companies and tenth in total shareholder returns over the past
five years. (2) Gateway employees worldwide provide clients with services and
built-to-order computers that consistently win top awards from leading
industry publications. Gateway had total global revenue of $8.65 billion in
1999. For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.gateway.com.
(1) According to GartnerGroup/Dataquest US PC Quarterly statistics.
(2) According to Fortune Magazine, April 17, 2000.
About America Online, Inc.
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc. is the world's leader in interactive
services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.
About Broadcom Corporation
Broadcom Corporation is the leading provider of highly integrated silicon
solutions that enable broadband digital transmission of voice, video, and
data. Using proprietary technologies and advanced design methodologies, the
company designs, develops and supplies integrated circuits for a number of the
most significant broadband communications markets, including the markets for
cable set-top boxes, cable modems, high-speed local, metropolitan and wide
area networks, home networking, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), carrier
access, residential broadband gateways, direct broadcast satellite and
terrestrial digital broadcast, optical networking, digital subscriber lines
(xDSL) and wireless communications. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine,
Calif., and can be contacted at 949-450-8700 or at http://www.broadcom.com.
About Transmeta Corporation
Founded in 1995, Transmeta is a public company based in Santa Clara,
California. Transmeta develops, in concert with its OEM customers, platform
solutions for the Mobile Internet Computing market. Transmeta markets and
sells the Crusoe processor solution as the engine for a new class of
computers.
Crusoe is built to run the large installed base of PC software
applications with high performance and longer battery life.
To learn more about Transmeta, visit http://www.transmeta.com.
SOURCE Gateway Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.gateway.com
CONTACT:
Brad Williams (Consumer Div.), 858-799-2511
(O), or 858-735-7001 (C), brad.williams@gateway.com, or John
Spelich (Corporate), 858-799-2657 (O), or 858-354-2657 (C),
john.spelich@gateway.com, both of Gateway; or Anne Bentley,
703-265-2825 (O), annebent@aol.com, or Marta Grutka, 703-265-0110
(O), mgrutka@aol.com, both of America Online; or Bill Blanning,
949-585-5555, blanning@broadcom.com, or Adam Stein, 408-209-7377,
adam@broadcom.com, both of Broadcom; or Phillip Bergman of
Transmeta, 408-919-6818 (O), or 408-242-9464 (C),
pbergman@transmeta.com, or Becky Igo (Ketchum), 650-596-2229 (O),
becky.igo@ketchum.com, for Transmeta
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