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  OPENWAVE AND LEADING CONTENT PROVIDERS BRING M-SERVICES TO LIFE WITH ENRICHED MULTIMEDIA CONTENT FOR THE MOBILE INTERNET
  

  Multimedia Downloads to Drive Adoption of Next Generation Wireless Handsets and Demand for GPRS
 
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - December 10, 2001 -- Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV), the worldwide leader of open IP-based communication infrastructure software and applications, today announced that it is working with leading content providers to deliver enriched multimedia content and services, fully optimized for M-Services compliant handsets using Openwave™ Download Fun software. Following the GSM Association’s recent announcement that 16 M-Services compliant handset models will be on the market between now and early 2002, this announcement marks the beginning of the next important phase of the GSM Association’s M-Services Initiative – the availability of compelling multimedia services.

Through Download Fun, an important element of the M-Services Guidelines, consumers will now be able to download a wide range of rich multimedia content to their wireless handsets. Consumers can use these download services to personalize their handsets with the latest content such as polyphonic ring tones, trendy screen savers, sports team logos, greeting cards, and favorite pictures of pop bands, friends, family and pets. They will also be able to play games with other players on different networks, and send mobile postcards with images, sound and text to friends around the world. The ability to download multimedia content through Download Fun takes consumers a step closer to multimedia messaging service (MMS), which will enable, among other things, animations and video clips to be sent between mobile devices. Openwave’s MMS is part of the company’s IP-based messaging services offering.

"The introduction of Download Fun allows a company like ours to take advantage of Openwave's browser-based digital rights management and non-intrusive transaction billing to provide rich mobile multimedia formats, such as 16-chord polyphonic ring tones, to our blue-chip customers,” said Anthony Stonefield, CEO, YourMobile/Premium Wireless Services. “The deployment of Download Fun extensions—enabling over-the-air downloads of rich-media products—brings compelling, iMode-like entertainment and personalization services to the world’s wireless data markets.”

Download Fun is an open content delivery platform for downloading larger and richer content – such as color graphics, digital pictures, Java applets and music files – which will enable communication service providers (CSPs) to act as a trusted agent to ensure security, reliability and payment for content downloads. In addition to enabling the download of multimedia content, Download Fun will allow CSPs to implement flexible and creative billing and revenue models through detailed usage reporting features. Download Fun offers a content delivery value chain that will benefit CSPs, content providers and subscribers. Download Fun is part of Openwave’s suite of M-Services compliant products, which includes gateway and provisioning infrastructure, client software, download platforms, and messaging services.

“Up until now consumers have personalized their phones through simple text messaging. However, through Download Fun consumers will be able to download much larger files resulting in richer, more exciting content. Moving from a voice- and text-only environment to multimedia is a big step forward, and further proof that M-Services is coming to life, to deliver compelling services and an enriched experience for the end user,” said Mark Taguchi, director of M-Services worldwide for Openwave.

Openwave has been working with the developer community around the world to create exciting new Download Fun content for M-Services, and continues to work with leading developers for MMS content. Some of the developers Openwave is working with include:

Premium Wireless Services (PWS), YourMobile Inc. is one of the world's leading mobile entertainment brands, under which the company offers mobile multimedia content services and targeted international and local marketing to consumers. Premium Wireless Services (PWS), YourMobile's business-to-business division, provides private-label, mobile multimedia distribution solutions to network operators (carriers), mobile device manufacturers, and entertainment/media companies worldwide; these include Sony, AOL/Time Warner, Cingular Wireless, Voicestream Wireless, Fido Wireless, Midwest Wireless, BT Cellnet, Bell Mobility, Infospace, News Corporation/OmniMedia, Associated New Media, Austereo Radio Group, Pepsi Chart Show/Capitol Radio, Columbia Pictures, Info2cell, Fanscape, and many others. PWS' extensive content library is licensed for international wireless data distribution from the major music publishers, including EMI, Sony/ATV, Warner-Chappell, and Universal, and numerous independent music publishers, rights societies, and content studios, internationally.

Run Media builds and maintains wireless media content platforms for carriers, retailers, and consumer brand companies. At the Openwave booth at COMDEX last month, Run Media became the first content company to demonstrate a next generation wireless media service leveraging Download Fun to distribute polyphonic ring tones, midi and karaoke files, as well as digital audio clips. Run Media enables carriers to offer a private labeled Web and Wap service that gives subscribers access to their personal media collection. Run Media has relationships with top music companies including Time-Warner, EMI, and Zomba. Run Media’s professional musicians create ring tones that achieve the highest level of sound quality possible on the wireless device.

ANIMOBILE INC. creates, produces, formats, markets, merchandises, and distributes entertainment content for existing wireless media and develops content for third generation (3G) devices. ANIMOBILE’s seasoned management represents more than 25 years of collective entertainment industry experience, and has a team of creative advisors, designers, programmers, producers, and engineers who understand the wireless, information, and entertainment industries. As a start-up, ANIMOBILE was funded by Hyperion Studio, a leading U.S. producer of television, home video, and theatrical animation and live-action entertainment. Hyperion's client list features an array of major U.S. and international companies, including ABC, Artisan, Bellsystem24 (Japan), CBS, Canal+, Discovery Channel, Disney, HBO, Hallmark, Tokyo Broadcasting, Mitsubishi Electric, Miramax, NBC, NHK Japan Broadcasting, Nickelodeon, Showtime, Paramount, USA Networks, and Warner Bros.

Sagem, Samsung, Siemens and Telit are among the device manufacturers Openwave is working with to bring M-Services handsets to market.

The M-Services Initiative was created by the GSM Association to drive adoption and usage of mobile Internet services with the rollout of GPRS. Key components of M-Services include a graphical user interface for mobile handsets and the ability to securely download rich, multi-media files like ring tones, wallpapers and other graphical images to the handset, through functionality based on Openwave Download Fun specification. On a royalty-free basis, Openwave contributed to the GSM Association’s handset specification the intellectual property rights for Download Fun and the graphical user interface. Openwave also works with handset manufacturers and developer partners to provide content that will be attractive to the consumer market, helping to drive mobile Internet usage.


About Openwave
 
Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV) is the worldwide leader of open IP-based communication infrastructure software and applications. Openwave is a global company headquartered in Redwood City, California. For more information, please visit www.openwave.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
 
This release contains forward-looking statements relating to expectations, plans or prospects for Openwave Systems Inc. that are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of Openwave's management and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. In particular, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: (a) risks associated with the development and licensing of software generally, including potential delays in software development and technical difficulties that may be encountered in the development or use of the Company's software; (b) competition and technological changes and developments; and (c) risks associated with the success of the GSM Association's M-Services Initiative; and (d) general risks of the Internet and wireless and wireline telecommunications sectors.

For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the risk factors discussed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including but not limited to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2001. All documents also are available through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov or from Openwave's Web site at www.openwave.com. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this document.


 
Openwave, the Openwave logo and Services OS are trademarks of Openwave Systems Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

For further information:
 
Contact Openwave Worldwide Public Relations

Openwave Systems Inc.
Heidi Flato
+1 650 480 7895
heidi.flato@openwave.com

  



 
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