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Jan. 17 2005
Danger has announced that over 3 billion mobile
instant messages (IM) were sent and received on the company's hiptop(R) wireless
platform during 2004. This number is even more impressive when compared to the
22.8 billion total SMS messages sent across all United States wireless carriers
during the same period, according to recent data from Jupiter Research. Sold
through eight operators in six countries, each operator brands the hiptop device
as their own and sells it directly to consumers, such as the T-Mobile Sidekick
II, SunCom hiptop2 and Edge Wireless hiptop.
"Because of the hiptop's intuitive user-interface and overall ease-of-use,"
said Hank Nothhaft, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Danger Inc., "it has
become the premier mobile platform for instant messaging. IM has clearly become
a killer app for our users. And if our current growth trends continue, we will
support upwards of 10-15 billion mobile instant messages in 2005."
Danger's hiptop device is the ultimate communications gadget, combining a
mobile phone with push email, AOL(R) Instant Messenger(TM) (AIM(R)), Yahoo!(R)
Instant Messenger, HTML Web browser, text-messaging, calendar, address book, an
integrated digital camera and a catalog full of games, ringtones, and additional
applications and content. With a 65,000 color flip-up display, advanced sonic
and visual notifications and a keyboard, the hiptop device excels as a messaging
engine.
"Danger's hiptop devices have been popular with AOL members and AIM users
alike, who use the hiptop -- with their familiar Buddy List(TM) feature -- to
send more than 10 million mobile IMs everyday," said Himesh Bhise, vice
president of Strategic Development, AOL Mobile, for America Online, Inc. "The
hiptop's ability to mimic the desktop experience with a QWERTY keyboard and
support for multiple simultaneous chats makes it easy to connect with friends
and family on AIM anywhere, anytime."
"We continue to see strong growth in mobile messaging and we are excited to
offer the familiar Yahoo! Messenger experience to consumers on the go on
Danger's hiptop," said Thad White, director of Mobile product management Yahoo!
Inc. "Consumers want to stay connected to their friends whenever and wherever
they are and the combination of great devices like Danger's hiptop with leading
services like Yahoo! Messenger makes mobile messaging simple and fun."
"This compelling user data demonstrates that 'Everybody Needs a Sidekick!',"
said Ashley Glennon, director of Messaging, T-Mobile USA, Inc. "This is a
testament to the commitments made by Danger, the IM providers and T-Mobile to
create a first-class user experience. There's no better compliment than hearing
consumers rave about messaging on the T-Mobile Sidekick, and then use it to
extremes."
"This shows that Danger's hiptop platform is viable and continues to be a
product to watch," said Tim Bajarin, President of Creative Strategies, an
independent research firm. "It has clearly become a popular messaging engine for
mobile users of email, instant messaging and SMS."
Danger's impressive usage numbers are inline with larger industry trends, as
instant messaging continues to grow in popularity in both the wireline and
wireless environments. In September of 2004 the Pew Internet and American Life
Project estimated that about 53 million people used instant messaging. In
addition, the survey indicated that 15% of IM users had sent messages
wirelessly, and those who use the medium the most were much more likely to send
mobile instant messages. Within the 18 to 27 year old demographic, 25% specified
that they had used IM wirelessly.
Danger's hiptop wireless platform includes the development platform, backend
software and popular hiptop device designs. This client/server approach allows
the back-end service to push email, instant messages and other data to the
device in real-time. In addition, the service does the 'heavy-lifting' for the
device by optimizing and then delivering data such as Web pages, instant
messages and email in the appropriate manner. The hiptop platform is the only
mobile IM service that leverages this technology. The result is superior handset
performance for users and efficient use of network resources, to the benefit of
wireless operators.
About Danger, Inc.
Danger provides a complete solution that enables wireless carriers to offer
innovative and affordable voice and data products to consumers over
next-generation wireless networks. Today, this solution includes: the hiptop
Data Services Framework -- a back-end service delivery infrastructure; the
hiptop Development Platform -- a platform for the development of mobile
applications using industry standard development tools; and the hiptop Device
Design -- a hardware design for a wireless all-in-one device that may be
customized and branded by wireless operators. Founded in January 2000, Danger is
a privately held company backed by leading venture capital firms and corporate
investors. Danger is based in Palo Alto, Calif. Additional information about the
company is available at
www.danger.com.
Danger and hiptop are trademarks and/or service marks of Danger, Inc. in the
United States and in other countries. All other trademarks, service marks, and
product names are the property of their respective owners.
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