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Pumatech, Inc. to Provide Synchronization Software for Hong Kong-Based Group Sense PDA Ltd.

Posted on: Tuesday, 23 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 2003--

Group Sense PDA Ltd. Licenses And Bundles Pumatech's Intellisync(R)

Lite Software For Palm OS(R)-based PDA Phone in Asia and Europe

Pumatech, Inc., a leading provider of synchronization software and services, today announced a licensing agreement with Group Sense PDA Ltd. (GSPDA), the third largest seller of handheld computers in Asia and the PDA subsidiary of Group Sense (International) Ltd. (GSL, HKEx: 0601). Through the agreement, Pumatech's Intellisync(R) Lite software will be bundled with Group Sense PDA Ltd.'s Palm OS(R)-based smartphone, Xplore G18, enabling synchronization of calendar, contacts, tasks and notes between the Group Sense device and the Microsoft Outlook and Palm Desktop software applications. According to Group Sense PDA Ltd, the solution will be sold in the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Europe.

In its recent report entitled "3Q02 Asia/Pacific PDA Forecast, 2002-2006 Update", Gartner Group noted that Chinese-speaking countries (China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan) lead the Asia/Pacific market in unit shipments of PDAs, accounting for a 72 percent market share. With handheld devices becoming popular replacements for traditional organizers for executives in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, unit shipments to the Asia/Pacific market are projected to reach more than 5 million by 2006.

"The worldwide market for Chinese language mobile computing solutions is growing at a rapid rate," said Samson TAM, Chairman of Group Sense (international) Ltd. "In order to best serve this emerging market, Group Sense is committed to delivering mobile solutions that incorporate and meet our customers' requirements. Synchronization has been one of the most significant requirements for maximizing the mobility of our customers. Pumatech's Intellisync Lite software is the ideal solution for us, as it enables us to offer a reliable and robust synchronization solution that will add value to our devices."

To provide the Asia/Pacific and European markets with synchronization software for the Xplore G18, the world's smallest Palm OS-powered smartphone, Pumatech's professional services team localized Intellisync Lite into the simplified and traditional Chinese languages, as well as English. Buyers of the Group Sense device will also have the option of purchasing the full version of Intellisync to gain additional functionality, including expanded application support.

With Intellisync Lite, Group Sense PDA users can utilize advanced synchronization capabilities like intelligent field mapping, custom filtering and conflict resolution that provide the accuracy, convenience and reliability associated with Pumatech's Intellisync software.

"Our agreement with Group Sense PDA illustrates our penetration into a demanding market with ever-changing needs," said Clyde Foster, Pumatech's senior vice president of sales and marketing. "Working with Group Sense, a global provider, illustrates how our synchronization software is supplying new devices with solutions on a global scale. Through the incorporation of Intellisync Lite, the Xplore G18 will be able to provide customers with significant out-of-the-box functionality, thereby increasing the product's appeal to consumers and enterprises alike."

ABOUT INTELLISYNC

Intellisync software provides a powerful synchronization solution that enables users to keep their most important information - calendars, e-mail, contacts and tasks - constantly up-to-date between Palm OS(R), Pocket PC, Windows CE and Symbian Release 5.0-compatible handhelds and a broad range of PC applications. Only Intellisync lets customers simultaneously synchronize handheld organizer data with multiple PC applications like Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes and Organizer, Novell GroupWise, ACT! and more.

ABOUT GROUP SENSE PDA LIMITED

Group Sense PDA Limited (GSPDA), the flagship of its parent company Group Sense (International) Limited for PDA business, was established in 2000 in Hong Kong. Besides conventional PDAs, GSPDA also produces converged products - PDA-phones and smartphones. In September 2001, GSPDA rolled out the world's first Chinese-based PDA-phone model (the e938), which features an open OS architecture and full-range communication functions including voice, fax, e-mail, WAP and SMS. For non-phone products, embedded-Bluetooth is added to provide short-range connectivity with other Bluetooth-enabled devices. GSPDA is now selling products in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, the Middle East and France.

ABOUT PUMATECH

Pumatech, Inc. (NASDAQ:PUMA) provides organizations with a comprehensive suite of software products and services that synchronizes and distributes critical information throughout the enterprise. Organizations can choose to use Pumatech's ready-made enterprise offerings, or they can leverage Pumatech's professional services team to create custom solutions built upon Pumatech's core enterprise platform. Pumatech's customer and strategic partner base includes Global 2000 companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, PeopleSoft, America Online, Yahoo!, NTT DoCoMo, Eastman Kodak and IBM. The Company has headquarters in Silicon Valley and offices in Amsterdam, Munich, Tokyo and London. Pumatech offers more information on its products and services at www.pumatech.com.

The forward-looking statements above in this news release, including statements regarding the bundling of Intellisync Lite software with Group Sense PDA Ltd.'s Palm OS based smartphone, Xplore G18; the ability to synchronize contacts, calendars and tasks between the Xplore G18 phones and essential PC applications; the territories in which the Xplore G18 will be sold; the market projections for sales in the Asia/Pacific region; the opportunity to upgrade to a full version of Intellisync that will provide expanded application support; are based on current expectations and beliefs and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include risks associated with uncertainties related to the effect of continued weakness of general economic factors on the overall demand for Pumatech products and services, the timing of market adoption and movement toward data synchronization solutions, market acceptance of wireless data services, margin erosion, market shrinkage, economic uncertainty related to terrorism and conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world, timely introduction, availability and acceptance of new products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, consummation of binding agreements with prospective business partners, as well as additional risk factors, as discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of Pumatech's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2002 and Pumatech's quarterly reports filed from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Pumatech disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release.

Pumatech, the Pumatech logo and Intellisync are trademarks of Pumatech, Inc., that may be registered in some jurisdictions. Palm OS is a registered trademark of Palm, Inc. All other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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