Press Releases

ACCESS Provides Browser and Multimedia Messaging Solution to China’s Second Largest Mobile Handset Maker

Beijing, China/ Tokyo, Japan/ – September 22, 2003 – ACCESS China Inc., a leading global provider of wireless data service solutions, announced today that it has licensed its NetFront^™v3.0 micro browser and multimedia messaging solution to TCL Mobile Communication Co., Ltd. for deployment in its wireless data service enabled CDMA 1X handset series. TCL is the second largest and most profitable domestic mobile handset vendor in China.

The first model deployed under this agreement, the TCL1888+, will deliver multimedia email functionality over the BREW platform using ACCESS mobile IMAP (M-IMAP), the dominant solution compliant with the U-Mail data service specifications from China Unicom. M-IMAP has been successfully deployed to over 10 million subscribers through the second largest mobile operator in Japan, KDDI. The TCL 1888+ will be launched in the fourth quarter of this year.

The second model deployed under this agreement, the TCL1699, is a high end CDMA handset that will be pre-integrated with both NetFront v3.0 and M-IMAP. NetFront v3.0 meets the advanced WAP 2.0 specifications and enables easy access to rich Internet content. It is the first micro browser to be deployed in 3G mobile networks. The TCL 1699 handset will also be equipped with an embedded camera and will be launched in the first quarter of 2004.

“ACCESS’ NetFront and messaging technology is widely recognized as among the best in the industry. Combining ACCESS’ proven technology with our own core handset technology enhances the user experience and will help us to further expand our market share in the mobile handset market.” Said Dr. Dai Jin, head of CDMA R&D Division of TCL Mobile Communication Co., Ltd.

“From our experience, browser and messaging applications are the most important features for data enabled handsets.” Pierre Suhandinata, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACCESS China Inc. said. ” TCL is one of the most successful players in the domestic mobile handset market and its GSM handset was just recognized as one of the Famous Brand of China. With this partnership, we will be able to leverage our industry leading technologies to help TCL greatly enhance the usability and functionality of their mobile phones while extending their wireless data service offering.”

About Mobile IMAP
ACCESS’ M-IMAP client solution is an optimized mobile messaging solution based on the most widely adopted Internet messaging protocol IMAP4/SMTP. The technology delivers powerful mail functionalities including an intuitive user interface, universal interoperability and advanced multimedia supports. It offers user familiar experiences similar to PC, and is easy to use. M-IMAP allows multiple attachments, added up to 100K.

About ACCESS NF3
NetFront v3.0 supports the WAP 2.0 specification as well as the latest W3C specifications, including support for HTML 4.01, XHTML (XHTML Mobile Profile), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and SSL v3.0 (Secure Socket Layer). NetFront v3.0 also provides unique features such as Smart-Fit^™ rendering, a display technology that intelligently renders Web pages to fit the narrow screen widths of mobile devices, eliminating the need for horizontal scrolling while enabling an uncompromised mobile browsing experience.

About ACCESS
ACCESS Co. Ltd. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4813) is a global technology leader in the development of Internet standards based enabling software solutions for non-PC devices. ACCESS China Inc. is a subsidiary of ACCESS, established in July 2002 in Beijing, focused on developing and delivering wireless date service solutions to the China market. With its local team managed by overseas Chinese and US returnees, ACCESS is dedicated to fully support the domestic market with its total client end data service solutions including micro browsers, multimedia messaging and J2ME products. Today, ACCESS China is a strategic partner of China Unicom, providing M-IMAP multimedia messaging solutions (U-Mail) to all Unicom related major CDMA 2000 1X network handset vendors.

About TCL
TCL Mobile Communication Co., Ltd. is a member of TCL communication industrial group which belongs to one of the largest producers of electronic devices in China – TCL Holdings Co., Ltd. TCL Mobile is a hi-tech joint venture committed to R & D, manufacturing and sales of mobile terminal products, and along with other Chinese mobile phone manufacturers, is greatly supported by the State Development Planning Commission and the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). “TCL” brand ranked the 5th most valuable domestic brand in China.

ACCESS is a registered trademark in Japan. NetFront is registered trademark 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 are the property of their respective owners.

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