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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
SCO Unveils Innovative Platform for Mobile Digital Services
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., DEMO Conference, Sept. 19
-- The SCO Group, Inc. ("SCO") (Nasdaq: SCOX), a leading provider of UNIX(R)
software technology for distributed, embedded and network-based systems, today
announced an advanced networking platform, providing feature-rich consumer and
business digital services for smart phones and other intelligent mobile
devices. SCO's Me Inc. digital services platform is being unveiled this week
at the DEMO conference, the technology industry's premier event for the
unveiling of promising new products and services.
Me Inc. provides a new approach to mobile communications, collaboration
and control that allows users of smart handheld devices, such as the Palm
Treo, to be more productive and effective. In the near future, SCO plans to
make Me Inc. available to users of other popular handheld devices such as RIM
BlackBerry, and those that run Microsoft Windows Mobile and the Symbian OS.
Me Inc. operates using unique edge processor software technology running
in a network-based UNIX or Microsoft Windows operating environment to simplify
integration of mobile devices with backend resources. The Me Inc., edge
processor offloads logic and data from end-point devices, enables secure,
efficient access to enterprise and Internet-based information, services and
resources, and enables a new level of coordination, communication and control
for mobile work groups of any size.
Me Inc. has been a multi-year development effort by SCO and builds on
technologies that the company gained through a Web Services technology
acquisition in 2003.
The Me Inc. networking software platform is designed to allow service
providers and carriers to create and deploy new digital services for a market
that is seeing significant growth. According to IT industry research firm IDC,
smartphones will make up approximately 85 percent of all intelligent mobile
device shipments by the year 2007. Research from The Radicati Group indicates
that the worldwide mobile workforce will grow from 17 percent of corporate
professionals in 2004 to 89 percent in 2008.
"SCO is a company that has been creating innovative technology and Me Inc.
is a result of the creative ideas and hard work coming from our employees,"
said Darl McBride, president and CEO, The SCO Group, Inc. "We've successfully
used Me Inc. internally during the past year to improve the way we work as a
company and we've anxiously anticipated the time when we would deliver it to
the marketplace. We're pleased with the early customer acceptance of Me Inc.
and look forward to making it broadly available in the coming weeks."
Me Inc. will initially provide a number of digital service components that
can be used individually or integrated into custom mobile applications and
services. At introduction, Me Inc. component digital services will include the
following:
Shout -- A highly flexible way to capture, communicate and share
multimedia messages. Shout allows users to distribute voice or text
communications to individuals or groups of any size.
Action -- A mobile way to easily plan, delegate, track and report on the
progress of projects, goals, objectives and action items of individuals and
groups.
Vote -- A rapid and reliable way to conduct and display opinion polling
and other real-time research data capture.
People -- Allows users to create groups with enhanced multimedia profiles
of people from existing directories or a users' mobile service.
"Me Inc. is an innovative digital services platform that SCO has worked on
for more than 30 man years," said Chris Sontag, senior vice president and
general manager for Me Inc., The SCO Group, Inc. "With Me Inc., SCO is
providing a platform for digital network services that will allow us to enter
new markets while also leveraging our SCO UNIX technology for a demanding edge
processing environment. SCO has created a rich mobile experience that we
believe will resonate with end users and provide them with new ways to
connect, communicate, coordinate, and control their information in a mobile
computing environment."
Initial Me Inc. user feedback has shown enhanced business effectiveness in
those organizations that have tested it and has resulted in signed deals with
SCO even prior to the product's announcement. Musco Food Corporation, a
premier distributor of Italian food products based in Maspeth, New York, was
looking for a more reliable way for their field sales representatives to enter
and process orders while onsite with customers. ASK Technologies, the reseller
and technology consultant for Musco, recommended Me Inc. as the solution
because it would allow cost-effective mobile access to current product and
inventory information and enable mobile order entry and reporting. SCO and ASK
were able to develop and provision this solution for Musco in less than 12
business hours thanks to Me Inc.'s advanced design.
"SCO has provided a smart phone-based transactional order entry system for
Musco that gives field reps instant access to inventory, pricing and product
promotions which allows them to satisfy more customers per day then ever
before," said Stephen Pirolli, principal, ASK Technologies, Inc. "With SCO's
Me Inc. system, Musco Food Corporation anticipates saving thousands of dollars
per month in order processing, fulfillment and customer service costs. The
new system will ease the difficulties in providing same day confirmation and
next day delivery of orders for the first time in the company's history. This
higher level of customer service will give Musco Food Corporation an edge in
their competitive business environment."
Utah State University recently used the Me Inc. Shout service to alert
their school's sports booster organization to a game cancellation when
Hurricane Katrina made it impossible for the Thibodaux, Louisiana-based
Nicholls State University team to travel to Utah.
"Using Shout, I was able to inform hundreds of USU boosters of our game
cancellation with a simple 12 second audio message from my Treo, so boosters
were informed through a Shout message on their desktop or mobile device of the
cancellation before the media reported on it," said Tom Hale, executive
director of Utah State's Big Blue booster program. "Shout allowed me to reach
out to my constituents in a personalized way and communicate quickly and
effectively. Boosters were blown away at the effectiveness of our outreach."
Availability & Pricing
SCO will sell Me Inc. digital services through qualified channel resellers
and will also make the services available for download from www.sco.com
beginning in October. Me Inc. digital services will be sold on a subscription
basis and pricing will be announced as the product gets closer to shipping.
About SCO
The SCO Group (Nasdaq: SCOX) is a leading provider of UNIX software
technology for distributed, embedded and network-based systems, offering SCO
OpenServer for small to medium business, UnixWare for enterprise applications,
and Me Inc. for digital network services. SCO's highly innovative and reliable
solutions help millions of customers grow their businesses everyday, from SCO
OpenServer on main street to UnixWare on Wall Street, and beyond. SCO owns the
core UNIX operating system, originally developed by AT&T/Bell Labs and is the
exclusive licensor to Unix-based system software providers.
Headquartered in Lindon, Utah, SCO has a worldwide network of thousands of
resellers and developers. SCO Global Services provides reliable localized
support and services to partners and customers. For more information on SCO
products and services, visit www.sco.com.
SCO, SCO OpenServer and the associated SCO logo, are trademarks or
registered trademarks of The SCO Group, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries.
UNIX and UnixWare are registered trademarks of The Open Group. Windows is a
registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other brand or product
names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify products or
services of, their respective owners.
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements related to the
success of the launch of Me Inc. digital network services from The SCO Group,
Inc., and is subject to certain risks and uncertainties including market
acceptance, competition and other factors noted in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
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