EO Selects Sitka’s Mobile Networking Solution for New Line of Personal Communicators

November 4, 1992 — Sitka Corp. and EO Inc. announced Wednesday a licensing agreement that will enable the world’s first “personal communicators” to transparently share resources and information on local area networks.

Sitka’s mobile networking products, PenTOPS and PenCentral, will be bundled with EO’s Personal Communicator 440 and 880, devices that combine phone, computer, fax and electronic mail capabilities in one mobile platform.

With Sitka’s PenTOPS and PenCentral, users will extend the EO Personal Communicator’s communication and computing capabilities by having access to all network resources, including shared files, network printers, CD-ROM, and network applications, such as corporate databases and groupware.

“EO has combined leading-edge technologies in microelectronics and wireless communications to provide a revolutionary way to communicate anyplace, anytime,” said Alain Rossmann, chief executive officer of EO Inc. “With Sitka’s mobile networking solution, EO’s personal communicators can also easily make connections ‘on the go’ to local area networks and desktop computers.”

Based on Sitka’s cross-platform, peer-to-peer networking architecture, PenTOPS client software was developed specifically for mobile computing environments and is tightly integrated with easy-to-use, gesture-based commands. Pen-TOPS has been ported to the EO platform and is built into the ROM of every EO personal communicator so that users easily exploit its network and desktop connectivity capabilities.

PenTOPS is used in conjunction with Sitka’s PenCentral server software, which allows PenTOPS clients to connect to DOS-based personal computers via serial port or modem. With PenCentral, multiple PenTOPS clients can make trans-parent connections to all drives and printers on the PenCentral server as well as gateway connections to network re-sources, including those on NetWare and LAN Manager networks.

Sitka’s PenTOPS and PenCentral connectivity solutions have been adopted by leaders in the mobile computing industry, including IBM and GO Corp.

“There is an unfulfilled demand for traveling professionals, field representatives and other mobile workers to better integrate their communications and computing needs into the existing business environment,” said Deborah Triant, president and chief executive officer of Sitka.

“With PenTOPS and PenCentral, EO’s personal communicators will help mobile professionals improve productivity while providing access to the network resources which are crucial to today’s businesses.”

Sitka Corp., a Sun Microsystems Inc.-owned business, was founded in 1984 and pioneered the market for cross-platform, peer-to-peer networking products. The company markets 10NET, MacTOPS, DosTOPS, SunTOPS, PenCentral and PenTOPS software which lets users easily share resources among different hardware platforms and operating systems. Headquartered in Alameda, Sitka’s products are available in 7 languages and 42 countries worldwide.

EO Inc., founded in 1991, designs, builds and markets personal communicators: a new class of products which are revolutionizing person-to-person communications. An integral part of EO’s strategy is its partnerships with AT&T, Matsushita and Marubeni.

EO’s partners contribute technical know-how and funding that is key to realizing a shared vision that personal communicators will have as much impact on person-to-person communications as the telephone had in the early 1900s.

In addition to EO’s industrial partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture capital firm, is an investor in the privately held corporation. EO employs approximately 90 people in Mountain View, Calif., and European Office in Cambridge, England.

Note to Editors: Sitka is a registered trademark of Sitka Corp., a Sun Microsystems Inc.-owned business. SitkaTOPS, MacTOPS, DosTOPS, SunTOPS, PenTOPS, PenCentral and OpenTOPS are trademarks of Sitka Corp. 10NET is a registered trademark of Tiara Computer Systems Inc. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

CONTACT:
Sitka Corp., Alameda
Rick Brown, 510/769-2679
or
Access Public Relations
Mark Smotroff or Sharon Miller, 415/904-7070