Apple Expands Breadth of Newton Solutions with Greater PC Integration and Enhanced Development Environment for Newton 2.0

Newton Developers Show a Range of New Business, Communications Solutions at Macworld

Cupertino, California -- January 8, 1996 -- Apple Computer, Inc. continues to enhance Newton 2.0, its latest version of the Newton operating system, with a suite of products that improves the integration of Newton PDAs with both Mac OS- and Windows-based personal computers. The company is also offering tools that provide a more powerful development environment for third-party developers. These enhancements expand the scope for the development of Newton solutions and are being announced at Macworld Exposition, being held at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, January 9-12.

Newton 2.0 is a major revision of the Newton operating system and is a response to more than two years of extensive customer feedback and user testing. It is designed to advance the Newton platform by providing improved organizational and communications capabilities, as well as the ability to integrate Newton PDAs with cross-platform desktop systems and enterprise environments.

Desktop Integration

Several new products from Apple will help simplify the process of exchanging information between a Newton PDA and a Mac OS- or Windows-based personal computer.

Newton Backup Utility (NBU)

Both the Mac and Windows version of the Newton Backup Utility are now available online (please refer to editor's note for online locations). NBU allows customers to back up and restore Newton 2.0 information to a personal computer and also installs software packages from a PC to a Newton PDA. NBU also allows owners of previous versions of the Newton OS to move their existing Newton data to the 2.0 platform. The online prerelease versions of NBU are available free of charge.

Newton Press

Because of the overwhelming interest in Newton Press, a new software application from Apple that provides a drag-and-drop method for the creation of electronic books for Newton PDAs from files on a personal computer, Apple is distributing a prerelease version to customers online. Newton Press for the Mac OS is available now and the prerelease Windows version is expected to be available early this year (please refer to editor's note for online locations). The online prerelease versions of Newton Press are also available free of charge.

Newton books are created by simply dropping text files onto the Newton Press icon, which automatically formats the read-only document so it can be easily viewed on a Newton PDA. Documents such as travel itineraries, meeting agendas, price lists, and maps are readily available to reference, annotate, fax or print.

Third-Party PC Integration Products

In addition to the integration products from Apple, the company has been working with its third-party developers to offer customers a wide variety of productivity solutions for the Newton platform, the following of which are being demonstrated in the Apple booth at Macworld (South Hall, Room 103).

• Business and Information Management
  ACT! for Newton from Symantec Corporation
  Pocket Quicken for Newton and Pocket Quicken Connect from Intuit Inc.
  Meeting Maker XP for Newton from ON Technology
  FileMaker Pro 3.0 Companion for Newton from Claris Corporation
  Now Synchronize v. 1.5 for Newton from Now Software
• Custom Forms Development
  Informed Designer from Shana Corporation
  FormLogic 1.1 from Wright Strategies
• Two-way Wireless Messaging and Internet Access
  Wireless messaging services using:
  -- the WyndMAIL service on the RAM network with the Megahertz AllPoints modem
  -- the RadioMail service on the ARDIS network with the Motorola Personal Messenger 100D card
  -- NetHopper from AllPen Software

Enhanced Development Environment

New developer tools and utilities enable a whole new range of solutions for customers to use with their Newton PDAs. A vital feature for customers is the ability to synchronize Newton data with a specific application on their personal computer or in an enterprise environment. This is made possible with a key technology called Desktop Integration Libraries (DILs), a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that developers use to create direct links between applications on Newton PDAs and PCs so that data can be synchronized seamlessly between them.

For example, customers with either a Mac OS- or Windows-based PC can now synchronize their personal schedule kept in ON Technology's Meeting Maker at the office, with the schedule on their Newton PDA, keeping their daily and weekly agenda close at hand throughout the day. If a change is made on the Newton PDA, the new information can then be directly synchronized back to the main calendar.

The following products incorporate DILs technology and will be shown in the Apple booth at Macworld.