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SpatialNews Press Release
OmniSky Takes Lead Role Advocating Users' Right to Location
Privacy; Company Becomes Charter Member of the Wireless Location Industry Association
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SAN FRANCISCO, May 16, 2001--OmniSky Corporation (Nasdaq:OMNY), an innovative provider of
award-winning wireless applications and services, announced today that it is taking a leadership role in advocating users' right to
location privacy and has joined the Wireless Location Industry Association (WLIA) as a Charter Member in order to help drive the
adoption of a standards-based location privacy policy.
The WLIA's mission is to create positive awareness among consumers of the wireless location industry, which is creating products
and services that add significant value to consumers -- and is an industry that fully respects the interests and rights of its customers. The
wireless location industry has particular interest in protecting its customers' privacy rights, and is committed to the development and
implementation of standards establishing responsible industry practices.
"At OmniSky, we take our users' right to location privacy very seriously and look forward to working with the WLIA and the
industry to help create a privacy policy that protects our users' desire to have control over their location-based information," said
Patrick McVeigh, chairman and CEO of OmniSky.
"The WLIA is thrilled to have OmniSky join our organization and we look forward to the valuable role they will play in helping the
WLIA and the wireless location industry move forward in adopting a workable privacy policy that protects users' rights to
location-based information," said John Jimison, executive director of the WLIA.
OmniSky has recently fortified its core software platform of proprietary technologies that will enable the company to offer
subscribers location based services that allow subscribers to access location-based information and interact with a community of users
by leveraging both online and cached data. Once integrated with the OmniSky core service, subscribers will be able to:
1. Locate and access comprehensive and media-rich information
about local restaurants, entertainment venues, and other
businesses as a function of their location; view and interact
with maps and receive directions to those businesses; and save
this information on their handheld device;
2. Connect with merchants in person or online to complete a
transaction, such as buying movie tickets or making restaurant
reservations;
3. Identify the location of -- and invite other subscribers to --
an event or a place and send along pertinent data including
the address and directions, which, in turn, can be saved on
the handheld device; and
4. Engage in real-time communications and collaboration,
including instant messaging, with friends and colleagues.
The company expects to roll out its location-based services in the next version of the OmniSky service, which is expected to launch
this summer.
According to a recent International Data Corporation study, location-enabled subscribers in the U.S. are projected to grow at a
compounded annual growth rate of 74% to 149 million by 2005.
About OmniSky
OmniSky (Nasdaq:OMNY) is a leading global provider of wireless applications and services for users of mobile devices.
OmniSky's award-winning service offers mobile professionals access to up to six e-mail accounts, including corporate e-mail via
Microsoft Outlook as well as POP3 e-mail, the ability to search and surf the Internet, a broad range of optimized Web content, and
the ability to securely conduct e-commerce transactions. The OmniSky service is available on the Palm V and Palm Vx, Handspring
Visor Platinum, Visor Prism and Visor Edge, HP Jornada 520/540 Series Pocket PCs and the Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC, and soon
on the Casio E-125 Pocket PC and HP Pavilion notebook PCs. The OmniSky service can be purchased online or in over 1,500 retail
outlets across the U.S. Service coverage includes over 167 major metropolitan areas within the United States, encompassing over 172
million people. Through a joint venture with News Corporation, OmniSky now offers its wireless service through U.K. and German
beta programs and has plans to expand into additional international markets this year.
In 2001, OmniSky will offer its proprietary wireless applications and services, including Communications, Content Delivery, and
Location-Based Services to telecommunications carriers, online service providers, hardware manufacturers, and other third parties.
OmniSky intends to enable these companies to offer differentiated wireless data solutions on any mobile device, from WAP-compliant
cell phones to PDAs and laptop computers, and on the most widely available wireless networks, such as CDPD, CDMA, GSM and
GPRS.
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