Mobeam inc. (www.mobeam.com) announced today the company has added another $1.5 million on top of the $4.9 million Series A venture round announced in October 2011. The company adds new investor DFJ Athena, a Korea-focused venture fund affiliated with Draper Fisher Jurvetson, as well as new funds from existing investor and board chairman Ben DuPont. DFJ Athena’s founder and managing director, Perry Ha, also joins mobeam’s board of directors.

Today, couponing represents a growing $3.7 billion segment of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) market in North America, with more than 300 billion coupons distributed every year and redemption on the increase as consumers strive for greater value and savings. And while smartphones are supporting users and simplifying life in a host of new ways, until now, phone couponing has not been an option because barcodes displayed on mobile phone screens are invisible to commonly used in-store laser scanners.

The new funding follows the company’s announcement in December that it is partnering with Procter & Gamble to bring the first-ever fully mobile couponing system to market. The innovation makes electronic coupons presented on a phone or other mobile device scannable, so shoppers need only their phones/handhelds, not a stack of coupons, at checkout.

Mobeam’s patented technology overcomes the technical barrier preventing mobile phones from interacting with the laser scanners used at retail locations around the world. Funds from this multimillion dollar funding round will be used to establish mobeam’s light based communications (LBC) technology as a new industry standard allowing mobile phones to interact with point of sale (POS) technology. Mobeam is also using these new funds to accelerate business development efforts with major consumer and retail brands for mobile couponing and other broad mobile commerce initiatives.

“As is demonstrated by the partnership between mobeam and the world’s largest consumer packaged goods producer, P&G, coupons are the missing link in the mobile commerce value chain,” said Perry Ha, founder and managing director of DFJ Athena. “With a global retail infrastructure already in place that utilizes a very widely accepted standard for coupon scanning – one dimensional barcodes, or UPC symbols – what is necessary is for the mobile technology to embrace that infrastructure. The most elegant way to do that is through a software solution. With many handset makers in Korea, DFJ Athena believed investing in mobeam’s software based solution was an obvious choice.”

Due to the way mobile handset screens are constructed, even the most vibrantly displayed barcode cannot be read by the commonly used laser scanners found at point of sale in most retailers. Mobeam technology affordably adapts existing mobile technology to already deployed retail POS infrastructure, opening the door to a wide range of previously impossible mobile commerce programs and services.

Mobeam’s patented light based communication technology utilizes LED technology already present on the vast majority of handsets to transform barcodes into a beam of light that every laser scanner can read. This technology makes it possible, for the first time, for a phone to present a coupon that can be easily and conveniently scanned and redeemed, without the need for retailers to upgrade their technology. Beyond mobile couponing, mobeam’s technology brings applications such as mobile ticketing and other mobile content enabled services to the next level.

About mobeam

Mobeam, inc. is transforming mobile commerce with its unique and patented light based communications technology. Overcoming the technical barrier preventing mobile phones from interacting with laser scanners at checkout, mobeam’s technology provides universal access at point of sale (POS), enabling the transmission of coupons, gift cards, tickets and other barcode data at retailers worldwide. Mobeam’s technology powers new capabilities for existing mobile phone designs, and requires no changes to retailer POS infrastructure. Mobeam is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information visit www.mobeam.com.

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In its continuous effort to improve life for consumers, the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) (NYSE: PG) is partnering with mobeam inc. to bring the first-ever fully mobile couponing system to market. The innovation, created by mobeam of California, makes electronic coupons presented on a phone or other mobile device scannable, so shoppers need only their phones/handhelds, not a stack of coupons, at check out.

Today, couponing represents a growing $3.7 billion segment of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) market in North America, with more than 300 billion coupons distributed every year and redemption on the increase as consumers strive for greater value and savings. And while smartphones are supporting users and simplifying life in a host of new ways, until now, phone couponing has not been an option because barcodes displayed on mobile phone screens are invisible to commonly used in-store laser scanners.

Mobeam technology converts – or mobeams – the barcode data into a beam of light that can be read by barcode scanners already found at store checkout counters. No additional point of sale (POS) equipment is needed.

“As impossible as it seems, even to technologists in the mobile industry, a vividly displayed barcode cannot be read by the typical barcode scanner,” said Nick Holland, senior analyst with Yankee Group. “The inability for a red laser scanner to read information displayed on a smartphone is not a small problem. This limiting factor is stalling important innovation as the retail industry is stuck waiting for next generation mobile technology to go mainstream. The mobeam beaming solution eloquently fixes this problem, enabling current generation mobile devices to interface with legacy red laser barcode scanners.”

P&G, one of the world’s leading coupon distributors, developed a partnership with mobeam through P&G’s open innovation Connect+Develop program, designed to bring leading innovation into P&G and share P&G innovation with others.

The P&G and mobeam partnership is aimed at exploring and testing a new, highly efficient method for consumers to redeem – and retailers to accept – coupons at the point of sale.

“Our vision with P&G is for the mobeam technology to be used and leveraged broadly by many leading CPG companies, with P&G and other key consumer goods partners as first adopters,” said mobeam CEO Christopher Sellers.

The next step in the partnership is to work with the mobile communications industry to add the mobeam application into handheld phones and then to test the application and process with shoppers and selected retailers.

“We are excited about the potential for this new technology and our partnership with mobeam to make shopping simpler and faster for consumers. Couponing is a great way for shoppers to try new products or save on the trusted brands their families have come to love. If that can be easier, faster and less costly for shoppers and retailers, we want to help bring it to life,” said Jeff Weedman, vice president of P&G Global Business Development.

Mobeam is working with handset manufacturers to engineer its light based communications (LBC) technology into new lines of handsets. P&G, mobeam and other partners expect to test the technology in market in 2012.

A mobeam-enabled couponing service would provide significant benefit to key stakeholders:

CONSUMERS:

Consumers would be able to collect and manage coupons received electronically and redeem them from their phones at the point of sale. Up to now, coupons received electronically either had to be printed to be redeemed, downloaded to a loyalty card or a checkout clerk would have to manually key in a coupon code. Not only will a shopper using the mobeam technology benefit, so will all the shoppers standing behind her in line.

RETAILERS:

The service aims to enable North American retailers to accelerate adoption of mobile coupons without hardware changes at POS. Because coupons will be submitted digitally, mobile coupons would increase efficiency and reduce costs.

CPG COMPANIES:

Digital coupons provide substantially deeper analytic capabilities, allowing better measurement of campaign effectiveness, as well as efficiencies in distribution, purchase validation and processing.

About mobeam
Mobeam, inc. is transforming mobile commerce with its unique and patented light based communications technology. Overcoming the technical barrier preventing mobile phones from interacting with laser scanners at checkout, mobeam’s technology provides universal access at point of sale (POS), enabling the transmission of coupons, gift cards, tickets and other barcode data at retailers worldwide. Mobeam’s technology powers new capabilities for existing mobile phone designs, and requires no changes to retailer POS infrastructure. Mobeam is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information visit www.mobeam.com.

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HTML5 development powerhouse and open Web proponent, appMobi (www.appmobi.com), today released a software development kit (SDK) and detailed performance specs of its directCanvas technology. The directCanvas technology includes rendering acceleration, multiSound multichannel sound playback and directBox2D physics acceleration. appMobi created these technologies to eliminate performance and capability barriers that have hampered the growth of HTML5 and the open Web as the ultimate platform for mobile games.

The iOS version of directCanvas was released as open source in November, and today’s SDK release supports the use of directCanvas for HTML5 game development. In the first quarter of 2012, appMobi will release directCanvas for Android, which will speed HTML5 games on a multitude of popular new Android devices like Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet, Samsung Galaxy, Motorola Droid Razr and the HTC EVO 3D.

“We’ve switched all of our iOS games over to use appMobi’s technologies,” said Henrik Dalsgaard, CEO of TweenSoft, a leading HTML5 game developer. “directCanvas really does allow HTML5 games to perform like native games, even on older devices. The other advantage to us is that with HTML5 and appMobi, we can use the same code and build for iOS, Android and for the open mobile Web.”

directCanvas Delivers 10x Speed Improvement in Frame Rate for HTML5 Games

An accepted “rule of thumb” in the gaming industry is that animated games must refresh the screen at least 25 times (frames) per second to create the illusion of smooth motion. To accurately characterize directCanvas acceleration on iOS-based devices, appMobi ran a comprehensive battery of tests on a variety of devices and OS versions. The test results dramatically exceeded the company’s previous claims of a 5X speed improvement.

• Using iOS Version 5, directCanvas provided an average 1800% acceleration on an iPhone 3GS.
• On the iPhone 4, 1124% improvement was noted.
• The dual core iPad 2 and iPhone 4S experienced slightly less acceleration, 728% and 1032%, respectively.
• DirectCanvas – enhanced graphic rendering for 2D games
• On older iOS versions, directCanvas provided up to 2000% frame rate acceleration.

Importantly, without directCanvas, none of Apple’s devices were able to deliver 25 frames per second using the unaccelerated Safari WebKit browser.

With appMobi’s directCanvas acceleration, iPhone 4S and iPad2 delivered 35-40 frames per second, while displaying up to 70 animated entities. directCanvas allowed the older iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 to deliver over 25 frames per second while animating 50 entities. Full details of the tests and results are available at http://www.appmobi.com/directCanvasTest.

multiSound Provides Low Latency, Multichannel Sound for HTML5 Games

The HTML5 specification was not created as a game delivery platform, and it has a key limitation that has vexed mobile game developers – it can only play one sound at a time. appMobi’s multiSound API gives HTML5 game developers the ability to play as many simultaneous sounds as they wish, limited only by available memory. Designed for ultra-low latency, multiSound caches sound data in memory for instant, lag-free playback.

directBox2D Dramatically Accelerates Physics Calculations

Physics-based games perform many calculations to simulate gravity, inertia and perform collision detection. HTML5 games use JavaScript physics engines such as Box2D to perform these calculations. Because JavaScript is an interpreted language (rather than a compiled language), the extra interpretive processing slows frame rate and reduces the number of possible entities in a game. directBox2D accelerates these calculations 20X by using a high performance compiled physics engine in place of the interpreted one.

These three technologies work together to allow HTML5-based games to deliver the same immersive game experience that users expect from native apps: smooth physics animations, high frame rates and multichannel sound. To download the directCanvas iOS SDK or to get more information on high performance HTML5 game development, please visit http://www.appmobi.com/gamedev.

About appMobi

A bold proponent of the open Web, appMobi’s development tools and cloud-based services build on HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, creating a unified, open ecosystem that competes favorably with “walled gardens” offered by Apple and Google. In December, appMobi was named “Most Promising Tech Company for 2012” by ReadWriteWeb. appMobi’s technology allows mobile app developers to support HTML5 and native app platforms with just one code base, and to deploy and service their apps on multiple platforms, including the open Web. For more information visit http://www.appmobi.com.

Editors: High resolution graphics and charts comparing directCanvas acceleration vs. native Safari are available at www.appmobi.mobilitypr.com

appMobi is a registered trademark of appMobi Inc. iOS and related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Apple Computer Corp. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners including: Amazon, Adobe, Flash, Android, Google, Chrome, Samsung, Motorola, HTC, TweenSoft.

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appMobi^® (www.appmobi.com) today announced the immediate availability in the Google Chrome App Store of its “XDK” cross platform app development tool. For app developers, the XDK replaces numerous platform-specific development tools with a single HTML5-optimized development interface.

appMobi’s XDK combats “fragmentation” in the mobile development space by presenting users with a single, HTML5-based emulation, debugging and cross platform build environment for mobile apps. By making the XDK available on the Chrome App Store, appMobi expects to further its dominance of cross platform HTML5-based app development.

“Most developers want to create apps that can easily be deployed to different platforms with a minimum of rewriting,” said appMobi CTO, Sam Abadir. “We designed the appMobi XDK to make it very easy for a developer to check how their app will look and feel on diverse hardware platforms.”

The appMobi XDK debugging tools allow testing with on-screen emulation, local on-device and remotely anywhere in the world without requiring ad-hoc builds or security certificates.

XDK apps can of course be deployed to websites or the Chrome App Store. Where the XDK delivers an extra treat is the ability to build the same exact HTML5 code base into native apps for placement in the Apple App Store or the Android Market.

“It’s clear that HTML5 has become the unifying technology for the mobile space,” Abadir continued. “However, creating great HTML5 apps requires great HTML5 tools and that’s exactly what the XDK is. As a ‘Web app’ itself, the XDK can also be used to create the new breed of ‘hybrid’ Web apps that perform exactly like ‘native’ apps, but do not require the approval or financial revenue share of the App Stores.”

appMobi offers a number of cloud services that provide functions that are common in smartphone ecosystems, but are not part of HTML5. These services include user authentication, in-app payments, rich media push messaging, user analytics and live app updates. The XDK is fully compatible with the PhoneGap HTML5 cross platform development project, providing many features that are missing from the open source project. The XDK runs on either Mac or PC platforms. There is no charge for the XDK development tool, and it is available today in the Google Chrome Store (http://www.appmobi.com/XDKChrome).

About appMobi
appMobi® provides highly integrated cloud-based tools and services for supporting large-scale developer communities and creating and operating complete mobile application ecosystems. By leveraging commonly used Web programming languages HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, and the open Web, appMobi’s development tools allow app developers to “write once” and publish anywhere, either in native app stores or via the Web. appMobi’s turnkey, white label platform-as-a-service offering enables carriers, device manufacturers, and brands to create mobile app ecosystems under their own brand. For more information visit http://www.appmobi.com.

appMobi is a trademark of appMobi Inc. iOS, Safari and related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Apple Computer Corp. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners including: Google, Chrome.

appMobi^® (www.appmobi.com) today unveiled its secure cloudKey™ authentication technology, and announced cloudKey’s immediate integration into appMobi’s 1Touch “single touch” payment system. 1Touch with cloudKey is ready for use by Web and mobile app developers who seek to offer their users a highly secure and streamlined e-commerce experience. A 1Touch demonstration is available at http://www.appmobi.com/1Touch.

The cloudKey technology takes a fresh approach to secure online commerce in which the user’s credit card information is stored only on the user’s device, never in an online database. The private data are stored using 256 bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) – the same encryption level approved by the NSA, widely regarded as “unbreakable.” Using a “distributed key” topology, cloudKey stores in the cloud only the decryption keys – information that is valueless without the user’s device and password.

“appMobi’s engineers have long recognized that securing a centralized database is basically impossible – if it’s online, it’s vulnerable to break-in… there’s no way around it,” said Sam Abadir, appMobi’s CTO. “The real breakthrough of cloudKey is the “distributed key” data model – we don’t store anything of value in a centralized database, so there is nothing of value online for thieves to steal. With this advance, cloudKey has eliminated all the tempting targets for the bad guys; even if they could steal appMobi’s entire crypto key database and a user’s device, they’d then have to guess the user’s password, and at most they could get only 1 credit card number. It would be a huge expenditure of effort for very little gain. By keeping private data local on the device, cloudKey makes massive security losses like the recent 77 million account Sony PlayStation network breach impossible.”

In addition to eliminating online database security risks, the 1Touch payment system also offers users a streamlined way to transact mobile and online purchases with a single touch. As Amazon has proven with its 1Click patent, eliminating credit card re-entry is the best way to increase online sales conversions. With the rise of mobile shopping, ease and simplicity are even more important because credit card entry is much more tedious on a mobile device. appMobi’s 1Touch payment system leverages the cloudKey authentication system to provide a more secure, non-infringing alternative to the Amazon 1Click patent.

Abadir continued, “The Web has been at a severe disadvantage in comparison to native apps when it comes to consumers purchasing and making in-app payments – the buying experience on iPhones is so frictionless that consumers are spending like never before. 1Touch was designed to put the Web, whether mobile or desktop, on a level playing field with Apple’s in-app purchasing system when it comes to e-commerce. With all the talk of whether HTML5 provides developers the ability to create apps as good as native ones – it seems the world forgot that it doesn’t matter how good the app is when developers aren’t making money because consumers can’t spend it easily. 1Touch can be used for transactions involving digital or real goods and services, on any Web browser, and the transactions flow through the same shopping carts and payment gateways that are in daily use on millions of Web sites. With 1Touch, the days of the Web being a second-class e-commerce option are over.”

The 1Touch technology offers simple integration with any payment gateway such as PayPal, Authorize.net, and even direct carrier billing. 1Touch has been tested extensively and is compatible with all popular browsers, including Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 6.0 and later, and Safari. Like most cloud services, 1Touch is billed at a nominal fee per transaction, rather than a percentage of the transaction amount. Developers who wish to try the 1Touch system can visit the company’s website for full documentation, sample code, sample apps and instructional videos. (http://www.appmobi.com/1Touch).

About appMobi

appMobi® provides highly integrated cloud-based tools and services for supporting large-scale developer communities and creating and operating complete mobile application ecosystems. By leveraging commonly used Web programming languages HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, and the open Web, appMobi’s development tools allow app developers to “write once” and publish anywhere, either in native app stores or via the Web. appMobi’s turnkey, white label platform-as-a-service offering enables carriers, device manufacturers and brands to create mobile app ecosystems under their own brand. For more information visit http://www.appmobi.com.

appMobi, 1Touch and cloudKey are trademarks of appMobi Inc. iOS, Safari and related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Apple Computer Corp. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners including: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Opera, Firefox, Paypal and Authorize.net.

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Spendvision, a global provider of total transaction management solutions, today announced the availability of its new eMoney module, which allows businesses to capture, manage and report on purchases made using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.  The module will enable eMoney transactions to be integrated with all other types of spend, making it easier for staff to record all expenses, irrespective of the payment method used, ultimately affording businesses greater insight into what employees are spending.

Momentum is growing for services that enable consumers to purchase low value items by tapping their mobile phone or a pre-paid card against a reader at the checkout.  Indeed, Juniper Research recently predicted that global NFC mobile contactless payment transactions will reach nearly $50 billion worldwide by 2014.  However, as more employees start buying goods and services in this way, enterprises are faced with significant challenges as they attempt to incorporate digital cash into the overall picture of corporate spend.

“NFC is hugely topical at the moment, and our new eMoney module allows these transactions to be dealt with in exactly the same way as any other business expense that may traditionally have been made with credit card or cash,” said Shane Bruhns, COO of Spendvision.  “Employees can simply manage transactions from their pre-paid card or device alongside other expenses on a single platform that can be accessed anywhere and anytime.  This eliminates the need to manually enter details of the transaction, improving accuracy and making the process much quicker and easier for employees and finance teams.”

Spendvision’s new module is available worldwide, with the company expecting initial uptake to be most significant in Japan, where the use of NFC is more advanced.

“In Japan, eWallets and digital cash have been around for years and take up is high as a result of the integration with the travel network,” continued Bruhns.  “The convenience of simply tapping a device against a reader to make a payment is ideal, which is why a third of the population use emoney and transactions account for more than 1.25 trillion yen. Payments made with digital cash are commonly expensed by employees, and we believe this will soon be the case in other areas of the world.  As the only global provider of a solution capable of managing eMoney expenses across any currency, language and territory, we are well positioned to capitalise on our knowledge in managing these kinds of transactions and apply it elsewhere.”

The new eMoney module will also help businesses to manage the split between private and business spending.  With the line between work and personal spend blurring, having a single mobile device or eMoney card is becoming the norm and it is vital that businesses are able to easily identify who needs to pay for what.  Spendvision facilitates this by enabling employees to select which transactions are business-related on their card or device.

“As employees increasingly begin to use ‘wave and pay’ technology to pay for anything from transport fares to newspapers, from refreshments to stationary supplies, businesses will need to find a way of incorporating these payments into the expenses mix,” continued Bruhns.  “With so many low value transactions to be accounted for, the key to integrating them with other types of expense is to provide employees with a simple, quick way to log and manage all their payments, including eMoney. That’s exactly what our new module does.”

The eMoney module is available as an ‘opt-in’ upgrade to the Spendvision platform, a secure Software as a Service (SaaS) application, meaning that companies do not have to invest in, install or maintain any hardware or software.  The module can be configured to work with any processor of eMoney.

About Spendvision
Spendvision is a leading innovator of transaction management solutions. Through just one technology platform Spendvision delivers more effective purchasing that increases business profitability, improves decision making and delivers greater control and compliance. All this across the broadest range of transactions from simple cash, card, online travel bookings and telecoms right through to interactive coding, requisitions and dynamically funded accounts.

Spendvision is headquartered in the UK with offices in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Singapore and works with leading customers and partners around the world. The Spendvision solution is available direct to businesses and through partners across the banking, telecoms and travel sectors that provide the solution to their customers in their own brand. www.spendvision.com

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Just past 2 years since BOLT™ was first introduced, Bitstream Inc. (NASDAQ: BITS) announced today its renowned mobile browser now has been installed more than 20 million times in over 200 countries around the world. Launched at Mobile World Congress in February 2009, the BOLT mobile browser is the most advanced and fully featured mobile browser available for phones of all types.

BOLT has enjoyed consistent growth as people around the world flock to the acclaimed browser’s video streaming, tight integration with social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and a host of other features that deliver PC-style browsing to mobile phones of all types. BOLT’s users have streamed more than 130 million minutes of video, and viewed nearly 2.3 billion Web pages.

“BOLT is a mobile app that has gained popularity in every corner of the globe,” said Anna Magliocco-Chagnon, CEO of Bitstream. “Now that we’ve passed our 20 million milestone, we are literally counting BOLT users in every geographical region in the millions. It’s fascinating to see how people in markedly different cultures embrace the same types of features and Web destinations no matter where they are accessing the Internet from. Social networking and video streaming are as popular in Africa and Asia as they are in Europe and North America. Facebook continuously tops our list of most popular websites users visit around the world utilizing BOLT’s ability to stream Facebook videos.”

In addition to end user downloads, Bitstream is also seeing its OEM and wireless operator partners begin preloading BOLT onto mobile handsets around the world.

BOLT is a free download for people using mobile phones that run Java ME (also known as J2ME) applications – approximately 75 percent of the world’s estimated 4 billion mobile phones – as well as BlackBerry smartphones. Bitstream also offers a light version of the BOLT mobile browser, BOLT Lite. BOLT Lite contains all the essential features of the BOLT mobile browser, retaining BOLT’s feature-rich functionality, best-of-breed download speeds and desktop PC-style page layout in a smaller package optimized for entry-level devices.

BOLT 2.5 and BOLT Lite are available for free at http://boltbrowser.com. Consumers who have downloaded previous versions of BOLT will be prompted through the application to upgrade the browser.

About BOLT
The acclaimed BOLT mobile browser has the most faithful rendering of Web pages of any browser in its class. This fast mobile browser quickly and accurately displays Web pages on mobile phones just as they would appear on desktop computers. BOLT is the only browser for mobile phones of all types to support streaming video from popular media sharing sites such as YouTube and MySpace. Based on the same WebKit rendering engine used by the iPhone’s Safari and Android’s Chrome browsers, BOLT is compatible with the majority of the world’s 4 billion mobile phones. BOLT features a patented split-screen viewing mode, intuitive keystroke shortcuts and copy/paste functionality, and offers a user-friendly, feature-rich mobile browsing experience for even entry-level mobile phones. Download BOLT for free at http://boltbrowser.com – the mobile Internet has never looked this good on your phone.

About Bitstream
Bitstream Inc. develops software technologies and applications for the graphic art and mobile communications industries. Bitstream’s award-winning fonts and font technologies enable device manufacturers and application developers to render the highest quality text in any language, on any device, at any resolution. The company’s MyFonts brand is the world’s leading provider of fonts to consumers. Bitstream’s Pageflex brand enables marketers to easily produce customized communications in print, email and online. The company’s latest offering is the BOLT mobile browser, which has been installed by millions of users worldwide since its release in February 2009. For more information visit www.bitstream.com.

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Bitstream Inc. (NASDAQ: BITS) is a leading developer of software that meets the challenging and ever-changing needs of mobile operators, device manufacturers, mobile application developers and consumers worldwide. The company will be showcasing its mobile technologies at the upcoming CTIA WIRELESS in Orlando, Florida, March 22 to 24 in booth 1922. These mobile technologies include:

• BOLT™ – the only WebKit-based cloud-computing browser built for mobile phones of all types. Licensed by wireless operators and handset manufacturers worldwide, BOLT offers the highest quality page rendering and best over-the-air data compression ratio of any Java ME (also referred to as J2ME) browser, BOLT provides the most fully featured browsing experience to all levels of mobile devices. With streaming video, widget support, social networking integration, copy and paste and a host of other advanced features, BOLT offers a feature-rich, desktop-style browsing experience even on entry-level mobile phones. It is compatible with virtually any handset that supports Java ME including the BlackBerry platform; in other words BOLT works on lots of phones, from low-end handsets through high-end smartphones.
• BOLT SDK – Bitstream will be debuting a new toolkit and reference framework for mobile app developers and large media companies to build Java applications with perfect rendering of Web-based content without the need for users to open external browsers.

Bitstream will have important news at CTIA and is providing the following resources for media:

• A stand at Pepcom’s MobileFocus® media event – held Tuesday, March 22 from 7:00 to 10:00 P.M. at the Peabody Hotel, 9801 International Drive, near the Orlando Convention Center. Press registration information for MobileFocus is available at http://www.pepcom.com.
• Online press kit available at http://bitstream.mobilitypr.com.
• Media availability of Vice President of Research and Development Sampo Kaasila, Director of Product Management Ritu Varma, plus senior members of Bitstream’s BOLT Browser team.

The BOLT Mobile Browser was a Mobile Applications winner of the 2010 CTIA Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Awards.
To receive news under embargo or arrange meetings with Bitstream executives at CTIA WIRELESS, contact Bitstream media contacts:

• John Sidline: +1-503-989-5474 (mobile, can receive text messages)
• Holly Woolard (On site at CTIA): +1-503-360-7144 (mobile, can receive text messages)
• Melissa Burns (On site at CTIA): +1-208-850-5939 (mobile, can receive text messages)
• All Bitstream media contacts can be reached by email at bitstream@mobilitypr.com.

About Bitstream
Bitstream Inc. develops software technologies and applications for the graphic art and mobile communications industries. Bitstream’s award-winning fonts and font technologies enable device manufacturers and application developers to render the highest quality text in any language, on any device, at any resolution. The company’s MyFonts brand is the world’s leading provider of fonts to consumers. Bitstream’s Pageflex brand enables marketers to easily produce customized communications in print, email, and online. The company’s latest offering is the BOLT mobile browser, which has been installed by millions of users worldwide since its release in February 2009. For more information visit www.bitstream.com.

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Aicent (www.aicent.com) announced today that it has joined the Cisco Developer Network as a Solution Developer within the wireless technology category. In addition, Aicent’s Mobile Wi-Fi Roaming eXchange Service (http://www.aicent.com/wifi_cisco.html) has successfully completed interoperability testing with Cisco’s Next Generation Hotspot (http://www.cisco.com/go/spwifi).

Aicent and Cisco showcased interoperability between the Mobile Wi-Fi Roaming eXchange Service and Next Generation Hotspot at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2011 using SIM cards from Aicent’s mobile operators customers.

“Cisco’s Next Generation Hotspot technology provides a way to enhance roaming and facilitate mobile data offloading to WiFi networks in a seamless and automatic way” said Lynn Liu, President and CEO, Aicent Inc, ”Working together, we can provide a standard platform to allow seamless and secure authentication, to enhance international data roaming, improving customer experience and form the basis for the delivery of new products and services”

The Cisco Developer Network unites Cisco with third-party developers of hardware and software to deliver tested interoperable solutions to joint customers. As a Solution Developer, Aicent shares Cisco’s strong commitment to customer service and satisfaction, has completed interoperability verification testing based on criteria set forth by Cisco, and can provide their customers 24 hour, 7 days a week customer support. With offerings such as Mobile Wi-Fi Roaming eXchange Service, customers can more quickly deploy a broad range of Cisco Compatible business applications, devices, or services that can enhance the capabilities, performance, and management of their Cisco network. For more information on Mobile Wi-Fi Roaming eXchange Service interoperability with Next Generation Hotspot go to: (http://www.aicent.com/wifi_cisco.html).

About Aicent
Serving more than 3 billion mobile users around the world, Aicent, Inc. is a leading provider of data network services and solutions for global mobile operators. To enable interoperability between Aicent customers and other networks, Aicent operates one of the world’s largest GPRS and 3G network eXchanges, connecting to over 160 operators, including nine of the world’s ten largest. Through extensive peering arrangements, the Aicent network reaches nearly all GPRS/3G operators around the world. Aicent also operates integrated mobile messaging services, including one of the world’s first and largest multimedia messaging eXchanges, and offers other value-added services to help carriers maximize revenue opportunities. For more information, visit www.aicent.com.

* Interoperability testing is designed to simulate typical customer configurations, and does not replace the need for on-site testing in conjunction with actual implementation.

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Bitstream Inc. (NASDAQ: BITS) creators of the award winning BOLT™ mobile browser, announced today the release of BOLT 2.5, with new features sure to please the more than 18 million users who have already downloaded the popular app and OEMs who have made BOLT the default browser on their handsets. BOLT 2.5 brings Facebook video support, new sharing capabilities and a host of user interface enhancements to the popular mobile browser, making BOLT’s browsing experience even more enjoyable and easier to navigate on mobile phones of all types. OEMs globally will appreciate BOLT 2.5’s WebKit-based cloud computing infrastructure that integrates easily with carriers’ billing and OSS systems, and significantly reduces infrastructure costs with its best-in-class data compression.

Bitstream is showcasing its mobile browsing technologies, including the BOLT mobile browser and the BOLT SDK, in booth 2D23 at Mobile World Congress 2011 global conference and exposition held this week in Barcelona, February 14 to 17. To arrange a meeting with Bitstream at the show, contact boltsales@bitstream.com.

“Exactly 24 months ago we released BOLT to the public to show the mobile industry that every mobile phone has the potential to be a powerful and utilitarian Internet device,” said Anna Magliocco-Chagnon, CEO of Bitstream. “Today handset manufacturers and wireless operators around the world are preloading BOLT as the default browser on their mobile phones in an effort to deliver the best possible mobile Internet experience to their customers and subscribers. BOLT’s progression over the past 2 years not only validates Bitstream’s objective to engineer a best-in-class cloud computing browser that enables any type of handset, even entry level devices, to deliver a powerful Internet experience that far exceeds any phone’s native browsing and resource potential, but also illustrates our success in offering OEMs a mobile browser with a WebKit based cloud computing infrastructure that is easy to integrate and significantly reduces cost.”

World’s Most Fully Featured Mobile Browser, Gets Even Better

BOLT has earned a reputation as the most fully featured mobile browser available, and with the 2.5 release BOLT enhances its already robust mobile browsing capabilities:

• Geolocation Support – BOLT 2.5’s geolocation feature allows a user with a GPS enabled device to pass latitude and longitude information to location enabled websites through the browser.
• Facebook Videos Support – BOLT, which offers the broadest support for streaming video in a mobile browser, now supports Facebook videos in addition to its support for the most popular Flash based video sites and all HTML5 video sites.
• Widget Availability on Home page – BOLT widgets are now available on the BOLT browser home page making it easier for people using any type of mobile phone to take part in the mobile app revolution. BOLT 2.5’s widget gallery includes weather, Wikipedia, and dictionary widgets, along with a Twitter widget and a Facebook widget.
• New Advanced Desktop Features – Along with the ability to perfectly render Web pages as they were meant to be seen from a PC, BOLT also offers easily switchable tabbed browsing, password manager, advanced inline text entry and editing, and now copy and paste improvements and a better address and search dialog on all pages.
• Download manager upgrades - BOLT 2.5 also features an improved download manager, allowing users to maintain download history even after exiting the browser and resume last download after browser re-launch.
• Polished User Interface – BOLT 2.5 includes many improvements to the design and layout of the browser including changes to the masthead, improvements to favorites, history and feeds selection, character entry enhancements, clickable icons, improved menu structure and displaying of RSS lists.

Webkit 5 Enhances BOLT’s HTML5 Compliance

Already the only WebKit-based cloud computing browser, the 2.5 release of BOLT is upgraded to Webkit 5, giving it the best HTML5 compliance of any browser in its class. Some of the largest online content providers and Web technology companies such as Google and Apple are embracing the use of the HTML5 standard, eliminating the need for third party add-ons, plug-ins and separate media players that have created obstacles for viewing and listening to streaming media via the mobile Web. BOLT’s increased compliance with HTML5 allows handset manufacturers and mobile network operators to offer streaming media on the growing number of website designed for new mobile computing platforms such as the Apple iPad and Google Android tablets on the widest range of mobile devices.

For a full list of features or to download BOLT 2.5 for free visit www.boltbrowser.com.

About BOLT
Licensed by handset manufacturers and wireless operators around the world, the BOLT mobile browser delivers PC-style browsing with advanced features such as tabbed browsing, streaming audio and video, and integrated social networking in a relatively small application that is also the industry’s most feature rich mobile browser. BOLT is available for Java ME, BREW and BlackBerry devices and has already been installed on thousands of different handset models. BOLT’s WebKit based cloud computing infrastructure integrates easily with carriers’ billing and OSS systems, and significantly reduces infrastructure costs with its best-in-class data compression. The BOLT SDK allows any service provider the ability to create custom Web-enabled applications that run on the widest possible number of mobile phones. Wireless operators, handset OEMs and service providers should contact boltsales@bitstream.com to learn more about BOLT.

About Bitstream
Bitstream Inc. develops software technologies and applications for the graphic art and mobile communications industries. Bitstream’s award-winning fonts and font technologies enable device manufacturers and application developers to render the highest quality text in any language, on any device, at any resolution. The company’s MyFonts brand is the world’s leading provider of fonts to consumers. Bitstream’s Pageflex brand enables marketers to easily produce customized communications in print, email, and online. The company’s latest offering is the BOLT mobile browser, which has been installed by millions of users worldwide since its release in February 2009. For more information visit www.bitstream.com.

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