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NEW
START-UP INFORMAL SOFTWARE, Inc.™ REDEFINES THE DESKTOP COMPUTING
EXPERIENCE
Development of A New Category of Software Addresses The Untapped
Potential of Handheld Devices
SANTA
CLARA, Calif. (11/8/99) — A new start-up, Informal
Software, Inc., is poised to dramatically alter the way consumers
and business professionals interact with their PCs and the way they
communicate and share information with others. Informal Software's
first software product, enotate™ software, turns stylus-based
devices, such as 3Com’s PalmPilot, into an indispensable tool
for everyday computing by turning it into a direct, real-time extension
to the PC. With enotate Informal Software is allowing users, for
the first time, to annotate text, sketch ideas and draw directly
onto their PC just as they would with the traditional pen and paper,
saving consumers and corporations time and money.
Leading
Informal Software, Inc. is founder and CEO Ian Cullimore, former
architect for the original Pocket PC. Cullimore has gathered together
a team of software and mobile computing industry leaders to help
redefine the desktop computing experience, including Steve Magidson,
vice president of marketing. Magidson was instrumental in the establishment
of synchronization software for industry leader Puma Technology
and he brings his vast experience in the mobile computing industry
to Informal Software, Inc. The team’s combined expertise is
driving the development of a completely new category of software
offerings by allowing stylus-based devices to interact naturally
with a personal computer in a manner analogous to using pen and
paper.
"Having
followed Ian’s path in the mobile computing industry over
the years and having witnessed the significant contributions he
has made, leads me to believe that this new category of software
will bring desktop and handheld computing to a new level,"
said Gerry Purdy, President and CEO of Mobile Insights. "The
mobile computing industry is exploding. enotate is an important
development in getting handheld pen-based computers to do things
that can add value to our personal computing experience. Ian’s
expertise provides him with the knowledge to make substantial advancements
in the mobile computing marketplace."The technology developed
by Cullimore and his team will address the challenges that software
packages in the past have failed to meet because their technology
did not utilize a direct, real-time and natural interface between
the drawing device and the PC. Informal Software, Inc. has uncovered
the untapped potential of stylus-based devices, and using them in
tandem with Informal Software’s technology, consumers and
corporations will be provided with enhanced functionality and a
means of integrating these devices into the everyday computing experience.Capitalizing
on Wealth of Software and Mobile Computing Knowlege
A trailblazer
in the field of software development with a career in the computer
industry spanning eighteen years, Informal Software's Cullimore
has witnessed first hand the evolution of the stylus-based device
market and the technological developments that have been made in
response to their growing popularity. Cullimore founded Distributed
Information Processing Ltd., where he developed the handheld IBM-compatible
organizer product that was later licensed and distributed as the
Atari Portfolio. During his tenure with Poqet Computer Corp., as
founding vice president of software, Cullimore spearheaded the creation
of the Poqet PC, which received PC Magazine’s prestigious
Technical Excellence Award. His wealth of experience took him to
Novell, Inc., and as a chief systems architect he created and launched
"Netware PalmDOS," an operating system for mobile platforms
with Netware connectivity. During his recent tenure at Xircom, Inc.
as the director of software development, Cullimore conceptualized
the Mobile MIB (Management Information Base) which enabled the effective
management of mobile clients in a network environment."Until
the advent of the computer, users were able to sketch and draw in
everyday life, but today these tasks are attempted with the use
of a keyboard or mouse which are not as flexible or natural as pen
and paper," Cullimore said. "While the keyboard and mouse
are critical PC tools, neither is adept as pen and paper for easily
expressing a conceptual thought or idea. Our software offering takes
handheld devices to an entirely new level by providing users with
the same freedom of expression they have using the traditional pen
and paper when using a PC. For the first time, consumers can convey
"informal" concepts or comments in both personal and professional
environments by drawing circles, arrows or freehand notes on a document
or photo."
With
more than 25 years of experience in the high-tech industry vice
president of marketing, Steve Magidson leads the marketing efforts
at Informal Software, Inc. Prior to joining Informal Software, Inc.,
Magidson was vice president of marketing for Puma Technology, a
leading provider of mobile device management and synchronization
software. He was also the founding vice president of marketing at
Xircom, Inc., a leading supplier of mobile networking products.
Magidson has served as a technical and marketing consultant to a
variety of mobile and networking vendors such as Zenith Data Systems,
Microcom, Toshiba and Entrenga. He also served on the board of directors
of PCMCIA, has had numerous articles published in a wide range of
both trade and business publications, and has been a speaker at
key industry trade shows and technical symposia.
About
Informal Software
Informal Software, Inc., founded in 1998, provides innovative software
solutions that enable a stylus-based device, such as 3Com’s
PalmPilot, to be used as a direct PC input/output device alongside
the traditional keyboard, mouse, and display. Unlike pen tablets,
drawing/sketching software packages or other pen-based computing
solutions, Informal Software’s unique "Informal Interface"
allows these stylus-based devices to interact naturally with a personal
computer in a manner analogous to the comfortable "pen and
paper" model. Informal Software’s enotate allows PC-based
electronic documents, sketches, and/or digital photos/drawings to
be "marked up" and/or annotated in real-time, directly
from a stylus-based device. In addition, enotate allows initial
concepts such as informal sketches, layouts, drawings, maps, etc.
to be expressed in a natural fashion on an electronic medium. With
enotate, users will for the first time, be able to naturally and
intuitively represent and communicate electronically the true "gist"
of information, messages, thoughts and statements using a digital
document or image.Learn more about the Santa Clara-based company
and the Informal Software, Inc. product line by visiting www.informal.com.
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