Ambient's New InTouch Text(TM) Service Brings At-A-Glance Personal Messaging to Its Popular Wireless Information Display Devices
No Set-up or Wifi: Remind Your Kids 'Pack a Lunch' or Wish Grandma
'Happy Birthday' Right on a Dedicated Ambient Device; InTouch Text Service
to be Included in New 2009 Ambient Products, including Weather, Sports and
Stocks
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Ambient Devices today announced the
Ambient InTouch Text(TM) service, the simplest and most direct way to
receive important messages, greetings and reminders from family members,
friends and colleagues. Ambient InTouch Text messages will appear on
Ambient devices, which are dedicated, wireless Post-It sized displays that
provide instant, effortless access to Internet information, such as
weather, sports and stock prices, with zero set-up. Ambient InTouch Text
will debut in a select assortment of new Ambient products to ship in 2009.
Receiving InTouch Text messages is as easy as checking the weather on
an Ambient device, and can be done at a glance. When new messages appear,
the Ambient InTouch Logo button lights up. The message is displayed without
any pointing or clicking. Messages can be sent to any compatible Ambient
device through SMS, email or a website. Like all Ambient products, Ambient
InTouch Text is a zero configuration service and requires no set-up, wifi
network, computer or cell phone.
"Our research shows that people use Ambient products because they are
an incredibly simple way to get information they care about. The logical
next step is to add personal messages in an equally simple, fast and
convenient way," said Carl Yankowski, Ambient's CEO. "Ambient Devices is
committed to improving and simplifying lives through intelligent design
that merges complex technology with extreme usability."
Ambient InTouch Text works equally well for highly connected
individuals or un-connected friends, relatives, and colleagues. For
example, for the first time, users can send messages to a location, which
might have a larger group audience, such as the kitchen, family room,
bedroom, conference room, office kitchen, or office lobby, as opposed to a
specific person. In addition, Ambient InTouch Text may also be used to
relay messages from online applications and services that provide email
notifications, such as online calendars and social networking sites.
Some of the ways all types of consumers will use Ambient InTouch Text
include:
-- Family message center in the kitchen ("I'll be home late,
dinner is in the fridge")
-- Office bulletin board at reception desk ("10 days left in the
quarter - 90% to goal")
-- Personal message board ("Happy Birthday Grandma!")
-- Community reminder system ("Don't forget to clean the
kitchen")
-- Family reminder ("Soccer practice at 3pm today")
-- Dedicated notification system ("BOS vs NYY, 7:15pm, Channel
7")
"Ambient InTouch Text is a very exciting step towards the promise of
extending the best parts of the Internet to our immediate environment,
without the hassle of the PC," said Benjamin Resner, CTO and co-founder.
"Ambient's new capabilities have very broad appeal, and create interesting
opportunities for new services that we will rollout this year."
Ambient will demonstrate Ambient InTouch Text in the South Hall 1,
Booth # 22061 in the Las Vegas Convention Center, from January 8th to 11th,
2009.
Ambient was recently included in Inc. Magazine's list of the 5000
fastest growing companies in America for 2008, and was recognized in 2008
by the Consumer Electronics Association as an Innovations Award winner for
its 7-Day Weather Forecaster(TM). All Ambient products, including Baseball
and Football ScoreCast(TM), Market Maven(TM), 7-Day Forecaster(TM), and the
Ambient Umbrella(TM), receive data from Ambient's InfoCast(TM) Network,
which reaches over 90% of U.S. households.
About Ambient Devices
Ambient Devices delivers information at a glance(TM) to everyday
products and dedicated displays without a PC or internet connection. The
Company's technologies enable instant, effortless access to dynamic
information, such as weather forecasts, stock market activity, sports
scores, and much more - with little or no user configuration.
Ambient Devices was founded in 2001 to commercialize patent-pending
technologies pioneered at the MIT Media Lab. The company is headquartered
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is privately held. For more information,
please visit http://www.ambientdevices.com.
