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Leading Graphics, Communications, Health Record, and Security Providers Endorse New U3 Platform for USB Flash Drives

Posted on: Friday, 7 January 2005, 12:00 CST

U3-Compatible USB Flash Drives Will Let Users Carry, Store and Launch Applications Anywhere They Go

U3(TM) LLC, which is creating a new hardware and software platform that will expand the USB flash drive market beyond storage, announced today that five significant application companies joined in endorsing the organization's efforts.

U3 announced these endorsing companies in a press conference at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show: Corel Corp., provider of award-winning line of graphics products; ICQ(R), a leading instant messaging service provider with a global online community from America Online Inc.; the MedicAlert Foundation, one of the world's largest nonprofit membership organizations providing 24/7 transfer of critical identification and medical information; McAfee Inc. (NYSE:MFE), the leading provider of intrusion prevention and anti-virus solutions; and Zone Labs(R), a Check Point(R) company (Nasdaq:CHKP), known as one of the most trusted brands in Internet security and a leading creator of endpoint security solutions.

U3 is backed by the two market leaders in USB flash drives, M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers Limited (NASDAQ:FLSH) and SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK), which made a companion announcement at the electronics show. The two founding companies said that U3 will expand the market for USB flash drives beyond storage by creating a new platform to attract a community of independent software developers (ISVs) to make applications for U3 devices. For the first time, users will be able to move more than just data. With U3, users will be able to choose from a wide range of applications that can be easily carried, stored and launched from any U3-compatible USB flash drive to any PC wherever they go. U3 technology will enable users to carry not only stored files, but entire computer applications on a tamperproof USB flash drive and launch such applications from any computer.

"We are very excited to receive these key endorsements of the ground-breaking U3 platform," said Kate Purmal, interim executive director of U3. "U3 is committed to increasing the value and expanding the market for USB flash drives by uniting the industry around best-of-breed technology - attracting the best possible roster of developers to create novel and useful applications for one of the fastest-growing consumer electronic devices in history."

U3 aims to expand the USB flash drive market beyond storage by creating a new standard platform; opening up a large untapped market for software developers; attracting a community of independent software vendors to create U3 applications; and providing developers with development tools and ongoing technical and marketing support including a Web-based distribution channel where users can easily purchase and download U3-compatible applications.

Support for the U3 Vision

"U3 has great potential to expand and simplify the way our customers take their Corel projects from computer to computer," said Jacqueline Maartense, Corel's executive vice president worldwide of product marketing. "Today, we are evaluating how we might be able to take advantage of this technology and which products would be most suitable for this type of mobility."

"ICQ supports the U3 initiative because it gives people the power to carry, store and launch essential applications by simply plugging a U3 device into any PC," said Ronen Arad, director of product management for ICQ. "The intelligent USB is the perfect way to provide convenience and security for users who want non-stop, portable access, and we at ICQ are extremely pleased to be the first to develop a compatible instant messaging client."

"McAfee is proud to support anti-virus and firewall protection for the U3 platform," said Todd Gebhart, sales senior vice president of McAfee's global service provider team. "Since U3 devices will enable applications to be portable, the device becomes similar to a remote PC. McAfee's products will provide the features that will ensure U3 devices remain secure and virus-free."

"U3 is a platform that will encourage the use of USB flash drives for people who need to be able to discretely and efficiently carry their health information with them at all times," said Paul Kortschak, president and CEO of MedicAlert Foundation. "This means that a MedicAlert(R) member can carry a complete medical history wherever they go to improve quality of care and to perhaps enable receiving a life-saving treatment in case of an emergency. Furthermore, this technology enhances our strategy and commitment for supporting health information technology initiatives to address medical errors and high healthcare costs related to the lack of available health information at the point of care."

"New devices that provide 'anywhere/anytime' access increase the productivity and enjoyment of users," said Paul Weinstein, vice president business development, Check Point Software Technologies. "By leveraging U3 technology, Check Point can allow enterprises to manage and control secure usage of USB devices, enabling productivity gains without compromising corporate security standards."

The first U3-compliant devices are expected to ship by this summer.

About U3

U3 LLC is based in Redwood City, Calif. Its objective is to expand USB drive technology beyond storage. Users will be able to easily carry, store and launch a wide range of new applications from their U3 device from any PC wherever they may go. For more information see www.U3.com.

About Corel Corp.

Corel Corp. provides innovative software solutions that help millions of value-conscious businesses and consumers in over 75 countries improve their productivity. The company is renowned for its powerful software portfolio that combines innovative photo editing and graphics creation, vector-illustration and technical-graphics applications along with office and personal productivity solutions. Corel's flagship products include CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, the WordPerfect Office Suite, the Corel Painter Natural-Media painting and illustration software and the Paint Shop Family of digital photography and image-editing software. Corel was acquired by San Francisco-based Vector Capital in August 2003 and, since that time, has achieved record levels of profitability and growth across all product lines. Founded in 1985, Corel has headquarters in Ottawa, Canada. For more information or to download a trial version of the company's software, please visit www.corel.com.

About ICQ

ICQ is a leading instant messaging service provider with a global online communications community. The company's robust instant messaging software, enhanced communications features and dynamic community are available in 18 languages free of charge at www.icq.com. ICQ, created in 1996 by the Israel-based company Mirabilis is now wholly owned by America Online Inc.

About McAfee

With headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., McAfee Inc. creates best-of-breed computer security solutions that prevent intrusions on networks and protect computer systems from the next generation of blended attacks and threats. McAfee's customers span large enterprises, governments, small- and medium-sized businesses, and consumers. For more information, McAfee Inc. can be reached at 972-963-8000 or on the Internet at http://www.mcafee.com/.

About MedicAlert

Founded in 1956, MedicAlert (www.medicalert.org) is one of the world's largest nonprofit membership organizations with a mission to protect and save lives. The MedicAlert Electronic Health Record provides a secure and seamless transfer of identification and medical information to health and safety professionals 24 hours a day anywhere in the world, thereby ensuring patient safety and improving the quality of their care. With headquarters in the United States, MedicAlert has affiliates in nine countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand that help serve more than 4 million members around the globe. See www.medicalert.org.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

About Zone Labs

Zone Labs(R), a Check Point(R) company (Nasdaq:CHKP), is one of the most trusted brands in Internet security. Zone Labs is a leading creator of endpoint security solutions protecting millions of PCs and the valuable, personally identifiable information on those PCs, from hackers, spyware and data theft. The company's award-winning endpoint security product line is deployed in global enterprises, small businesses and consumers' homes, protecting them from Internet-borne threats. Check Point Integrity(TM) is an endpoint security management platform that protects corporate data and productivity. The ZoneAlarm family of products is among the most popular and successful Internet security products available today while IMsecure(R) Pro offers comprehensive security for instant messaging. Please visit http://www.zonelabs.com for more information.

All company and product names mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and are used for identification purposes only.

NOTE: This press release includes forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as they are subject to various risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to vary significantly. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks related to: market acceptance of the U3 platform; the impact of competitive products and pricing; U3 development; commercialization and technological difficulties; development and growth of anticipated markets for U3; capacity and supply constraints; the effect of global economic conditions in general and conditions in SanDisk's and M-Systems' industry and target markets in particular; shifts in supply and demand; timely product and technology development/upgrades and the ability to manage changes in market conditions as needed; and other risk factors detailed in the M-Systems' and SanDisk's most recent respective annual reports and their other respective filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available as of the date hereof. Each of M-Systems and SanDisk assumes no obligation to update the information in this release and disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Reference to above Web sites does not constitute incorporation of any of the information thereon into this press release.

Source: Business Wire

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