Press Releases

ACCESS’ Micro-browser to be Integrated in Toshiba Handsets for European and Taiwanese i-mode Services

TOKYO, Japan / FREMONT, USA / Oberhausen, Germany – December 20, 2002 – ACCESS Co., Ltd., a global provider of integrated, next-generation data platforms and Internet access technologies for the mobile communications market, today announced that its Compact NetFront^™ Plus micro-browser will be integrated in Toshiba Corporation’s TS21i （Europe） and T535i （Taiwan） handsets deployed for the international i-mode^® services operating on the GPRS data networks run by KPN Mobile Group in Europe and KG Telecom in Taiwan. ACCESS also provided Toshiba Corporation with Compact NetFront for the T2101V handset deployed for the FOMA^® 3G network service operated by NTT DoCoMo. ACCESS is a leading promoter of global i-mode services based on its state-of-the-art wireless Internet technologies and extensive development and integration experience gained in the Japanese i-mode market.

“Based upon ACCESS’ extensive experience and track record in the Japanese domestic market, we have chosen Compact NetFront Plus as the browser to be embedded in international i-mode handsets manufactured by Toshiba,” said Mr. Shigekazu Hori, of 3G, 2.5G Mobile Terminal Business, Mobile Communications Company, Toshiba Corporation.

“We are very pleased to have our Compact NetFront Plus browser integrated in GPRS mobile phones developed by Toshiba Corporation for international i-mode services. And we are working hard to ensure the success of international i-mode services by sharing our business experience gained in the Japanese market as well as our wireless technologies. We expect the growth of the global mobile Internet market to be interrelated to the network functions embedded in all mobile phones,” said Toru Arakawa, president and CEO, ACCESS Co., Ltd.

About Compact NetFront Plus
Compact NetFront Plus is a microbrowser designed for 2.5G and 3G global wireless services. In addition to Compact HTML/iHTML, it supports WML1.3 and XHTML Basic Internet standards and displays HTML and WML-based Internet content seamlessly through a single browser.

Through its HTTP standard proxy server, Compact NetFront Plus enables operators to connect seamlessly to existing WML-based Internet content, portal sites or open CHTML/XHTML sites. As a result, operators are able to deploy Internet services with lower investment costs. Unlike a WAP gateway, which is only able to access WML content, the HTTP proxy server enables operators to directly access a wider range of Internet content through the standard TCP/IP Internet protocol.

Secure communication by SSL ensures end-to end security between mobile phones and content servers, making Compact NetFront Plus suitable for mobile commerce and banking services. Since the browser is based on the common HTML standard, users of mobile phones equipped with Compact NetFront Plus will be able to create their own personal homepage with a familiar interface.

Compact NetFront Plus enables mobile phone manufactures to support all Internet content through a single browser, while reducing memory requirements and shortening the software development time needed to introduce competitive devices into the global market.

ACCESS supports IPv6/IPv4v through its AVE^™-TCPTM for Wireless protocol and is a certified Sun Authorized Virtual Machine vendor, which guarantees 100% software compatibility with Java technology. ACCESS also provides OS middleware essential to the wireless Internet, like CLDC （Connected Limited Device Configuration） for J2ME by Sun Microsystems Inc.; JV-Lite^™TM2 Wireless Edition, a Java virtual machine for mobile phones that is completely compatible with MIDP （Mobile Information Device Profile）; and AVE-SSLTM, a secure communications protocol and encryption module.

About ACCESS Co. Ltd. and Overseas Subsidiaries
ACCESS Co., Ltd. （Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4813） is a global provider of integrated, next-generation mobile data platforms and mobile Internet access technologies for the mobile communications market. ACCESS develops and markets PCSS^™, an integrated platform that enables wireless network operators to rapidly deploy value-added data services on 2.5G and 3G networks. With PCSS, operators can generate revenue from premium branded third-party content such as graphical web pages, Java applications, ring-tones, screen-savers, premium MMS messages, and other push services. ACCESS’ embedded NetFront^™ and Compact NetFront^™ browsers power 191 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, almost 80 million ACCESS software licenses have shipped from more than 40 major vendors. ACCESS Co. Ltd. is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with ACCESS Systems America, its US subsidiary, in Fremont, California, ACCESS Systems Europe, its German subsidiary, in Oberhausen, Germany and with ACCESS （Beijing） Co.,Ltd, its Chinese subsidiary, in Beijing, China. More information is available at www.access.co.jp and www.access-us-inc.com.

ACCESS is a registered trademark in Japan. NetFront, Compact NetFront are registered trademarks of ACCESS Co., Ltd. in Japan. NetFront is a registered trademark of NetFront Communications, Inc. in the United States and is used under license. i-mode is a registered trademark of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

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