Press Releases

ACCESS to Provide Free NetFront™ v3.0 Evaluation Copy For PocketPC

ACCESS’ Microbrowser Available For Download on Web Site

TOKYO, JAPAN/FREMONT, CA – February 20, 2002 – ACCESS Co., Ltd., a leading global provider of software and services for IP-based consumer electronics devices, today announced that it will provide a free evaluation copy of its new microbrowser, the NetFront^® v3.0, for intelligent home appliances. Specifically designed for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), the embedded NetFront browser for Pocket PC will operate on the Microsoft^® Pocket PC and Pocket PC 2002.

The Japanese version evaluation copy is offered with a 45-day limited demo license agreement (license expires at 45-days from installation) and will be available for download from the ACCESS Co., Ltd. web site, www.access.co.jp, as of February 20, 2002. The final release for NetFront v3.0 for Pocket PC will be generally available the second quarter of 2002.

NetFront v3.0 for PocketPC, the newest microbrowser for home intelligent appliances, is fully compliant with the latest W3C1 specifications, including HTML 4.01, cHTML (Compact HTML), HTTP Cookie, CSS1 and CSS2, JavaScript1.5, DOM Level 1 and Level 2 and Dynamic HTML. NetFront also supports SSL v3.0/TLS1.0 with 128-bit encryption, tab-browsing and on/offline browsing functions that enable five multi-windows displays. In addition, this multi-component embedded software solution enables resource-constrained products to deliver high performance and high functionality while maintaining low power consumption.

ACCESS will use the download service to gather user information and requirements to develop products that better serve users’ needs. To facilitate this effort, a message board has been provided so that users who download the software can openly post their comments. The site will also provide support for questions in addition to NetFront v3.0 for Pocket PC product information.

NetFront v3.0 for Pocket PC features summary

• HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.0, CHTML(Compact HTML), XHTML Basic 1.0
• CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) and partial support for CSS2
• ECMA Script 3rd Edition (JavaScript 1.5)
• DOM (Document Object Model) level 1, level 2 and partial support for Dynamic HTML
• Support for multi-format images such as GIF/animation, GIF, PNG, JPEG and MNG
• HTTP/1.1
• SSL2.0/3.0 TLS1.0
• Multi-window function (five window display)
• Full support for cookies
• Bookmark and page memo
• Java Script 1.5 subset
• Setup display image, animation GIF, table, JavaScript and CSS on and off functions in a basic setup screen
• Evaluation copy will be offered with a 45-day limited license agreement

About NetFront
NetFront^® is one of the world’s most popular embedded Internet browsers for consumer information appliances. Since its introduction in 1995, more than 53 million commercial-license copies of NetFront and its micro version, Compact NetFront^®, have been shipped for use in over 150 different consumer information appliances. Among these appliances are Internet TVs, PDAs, set top boxes, car navigation systems (telematics), smart phones, web/screen phones, vertical intranet terminals, video game consoles, word processing machines and Internet kiosks. NetFront provides key advantages of high portability, flexible UI customization, and high performance within limited CPU/memory resources.

1 The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was founded in 1994 to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability. The CHTML (Compact HTML) markup language was proposed to the W3C for compact electric appliances by ACCESS, Matsushita Electric Industrial Corporation, Ltd., NEC Corporation, Fujitsu Limited, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Sony Corporation. It is fully compliant with the W3C recommended specifications.

About ACCESS Co, Ltd. and ACCESS Systems America
ACCESS Co., Ltd. (Tokyo Stock Exchane: 4813) is a leading global provider of software and services for IP-based consumer electronics devices. ACCESS’ embedded NetFront^® and Compact NetFront^® browsers power over 150 different commercial products worldwide including mobile phones, digital televisions, set-top boxes, game consoles, PDAs, car navigation systems, web phones, kiosk terminals and intranet terminals. ACCESS’ Compact NetFront microbrowser is most widely deployed in phones for NTT DoCoMo’s popular i-mode service. To date, more than 53 million ACCESS software licenses have shipped from more than 40 major Internet device manufacturers. ACCESS Systems America, Inc. (ASA) is the U.S. subsidiary of ACCESS Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan and is based in Fremont, CA. More information is available at www.access.co.jp and www.access-us-inc.com.

This press release is not an offer of any securities of ACCESS Co., Ltd. for sale in the United States. Such securities have not been registered in the United States under the Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent such registration or an exemption there from.

Intel is a registered trademark. ARM and Strong ARM are registered trademarks of Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. ACCESS is a registered trademark in Japan. NetFront and Compact NetFront are registered trademarks of ACCESS Co., Ltd. in Japan and other countries. NetFront is a registered trademark of NetFront Communications, Inc. in the United States and is used under license. AVE^™-TCP, AVE-File and uMore are registered trademarks of ACCESS Co., Ltd. in Japan. TRON is the abbreviation of “The Real-time Operating System Nucleus.” ITRON is an abbreviation of “Industrial TRON.” uITRON is an abbreviation of “Micro Industrial TRON.” TRON, ITRON and uITRON are not names of any specific products or group of products. Company names and product names mentioned above are the trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies.