Press Releases

ACCESS’ NetFront™ Micro-browser and TCP/IP Stack Selected for New Toshiba European i-mode Handset

Deployment Affirms NetFront as the Premier Browser for i-mode Services Worldwide

Tokyo, Japan / Fremont, USA / Oberhausen, Germany – March 17, 2004 – ACCESS (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4813), a global provider of mobile content delivery and Internet access technologies, today announced that its Compact NetFront Plus micro-browser and JV-Lite^™ 2 Wireless Edition, a Sun authorized JVM that complies with the J2ME^™ standard, have been selected by Panasonic for deployment in its first European i-mode^® handset, the P341i. Panasonic also selected ACCESS’ AVE^™-SSL encryption module for this deployment.

Panasonic’s decision to use Compact NetFront adds to the millions of i-mode devices that already rely on ACCESS browser technology to power their Internet functionality. This new European deployment further affirms NetFront as a premier browser used by the 42+ million i-mode subscribers throughout the world.

Compact NetFront Plus seamlessly supports formats like WML, HTML, and cHTML (Compact HTML). JV-Lite2 Wireless Edition supports JavaTM for i-mode (Version 1.5 Overseas Edition) under technology license from NTT DoCoMo. With Compact NetFront Plus and JV-Lite2 Wireless Edition, international i-mode users can download i-_ppli content such as execute Java games. Additionally AVE-SSL adds a standard secure protocol as well as encryption modules to protect confidential information for e-commerce and electronic transactions.

“We’re pleased that Panasonic has selected NetFront technology for its first European i-mode handset. As a long time DoCoMo partner, we’re fully committed to working with all i-mode partners to ensure the seamless expansion of i-mode services throughout the world.” said Toru Arakawa, president and CEO of ACCESS.”

About Compact Net Front 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.

About JV-Lite2
JV-Lite 2 is a Java virtual machine designed for embedded applications. It was developed from JV-Lite, a highly successful proprietary implementation of clean-room Java that has been licensed to over 14 OEMs and has shipped over two million copies. JV-Lite 2 is a Sun-authorized Java module that guarantees 100% compatibility with Embedded Java, Personal Java and J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition). It runs on real-time operating systems like Linux, VxWorks and ITRON, and has been optimized to realize the advantages that Java offers for application development, debugging and portability, even in systems with limited memory resources and CPU power. JV-Lite 2 also includes WAVE (Windows-based Abstract Virtual Environment), ACCESS’ simple window manager, for easy porting to various types of hardware platforms.

About AVE-SSL
VE-SSL provides a standard secure protocol as well as encryption modules to protect confidential information for e-commerce and electronic transactions. It enables convenient, safe electronic transactions via Web phones, mobile terminals, and other commonly used devices. The secure protocol module is compliant with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Ver2, Ver3, and TSL v1.0. The crypto modules required for SSL are based on the public key crypto system algorithm, symmetrical-key crypto system algorithm, and hash algorithm. AVE-SSL also supports the SSL client certificate request and acquisition (PKCS #7, #10, and #12).

About ACCESS
ACCESS Co. Ltd. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4813) is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with offices throughout the world including major centers in the U.S., Germany, and China. ACCESS is a leading global provider of mobile content delivery and Internet access technologies and consultation services for the beyond PC market. ACCESS’ NetFront browser technology powers 267 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’ NetFront browser technology is most widely deployed in mobile phones for NTT DoCoMo’s popular i-mode^® and FOMA^™ services. To date, over 100 million ACCESS software licenses have shipped from more than 90 major Internet device manufactures. ACCESS was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers market on February 26, 2001. More information is available at www.access.co.jp/english/ or www.access-us-inc.com.

ACCESS is a registered trademark in Japan. i-mode and FOMA are registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Inc. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

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