U.S.ROBOTICS ENHANCES SPORTSTER AND WORLDPORT PRODUCT LINES WITH FAX Fax Modem Users Have Desktop, Portable, PC-internal, Macintosh and Palmtop Options SKOKIE, Il. -- March 23, 1992 -- U.S.Robotics today announced the addition of ten new fax/data modems to its Sportster and WorldPort product lines. The first of these products to ship will be the WorldPort Palmtop Fax/Data modem (March) and the Sportster high-speed fax products (April). All of U.S.Robotics' fax/data modems, which include 9600 bps Group III fax and data speeds ranging from 2400 bps to 14,400 bps, will be shown in April during Spring COMDEX, Booth #W2347. "Adding fax/data modems to these popular product lines provides a strong one-vendor solution for any customer's data communications needs," said Marshall Toplansky, U.S.Robotics vice president of marketing. "Our new fax/data modem lineup gives U.S. Robotics resellers a product for every customer, including products for home office, entry-level, small business and portable use." The new Sportster and WorldPort fax products are designed for ease of use. The included fax software is intuitive and user-friendly, even for complex operations such as sending broadcast, or group faxes, performing background operations, and sending delayed faxes with a specific date and time for transmission. The fax products include these features, plus phone books to store frequently-used phone numbers and fax groups, logs that record both incoming and outgoing faxes, and "quick fax" or "express fax" capabilities for short faxes. What sets these fax modems apart from others is that they include U.S.Robotics-designed software, providing complete compatibility and allowing them to function seamlessly as integrated products. With the exception of the Sportster products for the Appler Macintosht, all the new fax products include fax software designed and developed by U.S. Robotics. "We've leveraged our hardware and software design expertise to produce hardware and software that functions as one product," added Toplansky. "We've made our easy-to-use data modems into easy-to-use fax/data products." Sportster Products The first fax products to ship in the Sportster product line, designed for entry-level, home-office and small business customers, will be high-speed fax/data modems. Sportster fax modems, with the exception of the products designed for the Apple Macintosh, will be available in external and internal form factors, and range in price from $229 to $599. The products will include 9600 bps Group III fax capabilities, BLAST FAX software, designed and developed by U.S.Robotics, and a choice of data speeds ranging from 2400 bps to 14,400 bps (V.22 bis, V.32 or V.32 bis data transmission). BLAST FAX software makes sending a fax as easy as printing a document. A document is selected with simple commands and sent via BLAST FAX's dialing directory, which allows users to pre-program frequently-used fax numbers. With BLAST FAX, What You See Is What You GetBLAST FAX performs advanced features not found in many fax software packages, including attribute retention, which permits users to fax a document and retain such attributes as bold type, italics, etc. Using attribute retention, users have "WYSIWYG" capabilities; the document they see onscreen will look exactly the same when faxed. Other important features of BLAST FAX software include: background operation; delayed send capabilities; and group broadcast capabilities. Background operation enables the sending and receiving of faxes in the background while working in other applications. Delayed send allows users to prepare documents in advance, specifying a time and date for transmission. This feature reduces fax costs by allowing the user to send faxes when phone line costs are lower. Group broadcast capabilities allow the sending of multiple faxes simultaneously, each with an automatically-generated custom cover sheet. Sportster high-speed fax modem products will ship in April; Sportster 2400 bps medium-speed fax modem products will ship in May. Macintosh Products U.S. Robotics' fax/data products designed for the Apple Macintosh include Macintosh-compatible FAXSTFt software from STF Technologies, Inc. The Sportster 14,400 Mac&Fax has 9600 bps Group III fax capability with a 14,400 bps CCITT V.32 bis data channel, and is scheduled to ship in April. The Sportster 2400 Mac&Fax has 9600 bps Group III fax capability with a 2400 bps data channel, and will ship in May. The bundled FAXSTF software includes features such as background operations, delayed send and group broadcast. The modems are priced at $599 and $329, respectively. WorldPort Products The WorldPort portable product line currently includes eight products, three of which have fax capabilities. The WorldPort products, widely known as the most complete portable modems, include features such as dual phone jacks, LEDs, speakers and an acoustic interface. The WorldPort brand, which includes the world's first portable V.32 modem, now scores another coup with the fully-featured WorldPort 9696, the first portable modem to combine V.32/9600 bps data capability with send-and-receive Group III fax capability and MNP 2-5 error control and data compression. The WorldPort 9696 features 9600 bps CCITT V.32 data transmission, and with MNP 5, has a maximum effective throughput of 19,200 bps. It includes WorldPort Fax Software, and will ship May 31 for a list price of $699. All WorldPort fax/data modems with WorldPort Fax Software include delayed send capabilities, allowing users to prepare documents in advance, specifying a time and date for transmission. WorldPort fax modem users can also send and receive faxes in the background while working in other applications, and can send group faxes, which allow the sending of multiple faxes simultaneously. WorldPort Palmtop: Only Palmtop Modem With ASCII Fax Capability In addition, the WorldPort line will include the new WorldPort Palmtop Fax/Data modem, a 9600 bps send-fax modem with 2400 bps data communications capabilities. Designed specifically for palmtop or hand-held computers, such as the Hewlett-Packard 95LX and the Sharp Wizard, the WorldPort Palmtop is the only palmtop modem in the world capable of sending ASCII text as a fax without using fax software. The product bypasses the need for software by automatically converting ASCII text into fax format for transmission. Its ability to fax documents without fax software saves the palmtop's valuable memory space for other applications. The WorldPort Palmtop Fax/Data modem will ship in March, at a suggested list price of $249. U.S.Robotics Fax Modems Provide Cost Savings Computer-based fax has several advantages over stand-alone fax machines, including cost-savings and increased time-efficiency. According to the International Computer Facsimile Association, it takes approximately 10 minutes to send a conventional document via fax (time includes printing a document, retrieving it from the printer, walking to the fax machine, feeding the document, and waiting for transmission to be completed). In contrast, sending a document via computer-based fax takes approximately one minute -- or one-tenth of the time. "Fax has complete acceptance in the business world," added U.S.Robotics' Toplansky. "Everyone takes advantage of the simplicity and convenience of faxing. Now U.S.Robotics modems provide the added convenience of an easy-to-use, fully-functional fax machine and a high- or medium-speed modem integrated in one piece of hardware." Higher Image Quality Via Computer-Based Fax Conventional fax machines scan documents, the primary cause of image distortion. Images sent via fax modem bypass the scanning process and are significantly clearer than traditionally-faxed documents. U.S.Robotics, Inc., (NASDAQ: USRX) is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of data communications hardware and software. Product lines include the Shared Access communications resource-sharing products; Total Control modem management system for central data sites; BLAST software products for terminal emulation, file transfer and remote control; Courier modems for corporate users; WorldPort portable modems for traveling professionals; and Sportster modems for small business, home office and entry-level users. Both corporate headquarters and manufacturing operations are based in Skokie, Ill. U.S.Robotics owns and operates Miracom Technology Ltd., Slough, England, and U.S.Robotics, s.a., Lille, France. The company markets its products to business, industry, government agencies and original equipment manufacturers. New Sportster and WorldPort Products: Product: Price: Ship Date: SPORTSTER FAX MODEM PRODUCTS* Sportster 14,400 Fax: Fax/data modem including $549 April 14,400 bps data capability and Group III fax. Sportster 14,400/PC Fax: Internal version of the $499 April Sportster 14,400 Fax for IBM PCs and compatibles. Sportster 9600 Fax: The Sportster 9600 V.32 modem, $439 April combined with Group III 9600 bps fax capability. Sportster 9600/PC Fax: Internal version of the $409 April Sportster 9600 Fax. Sportster 2400 Fax: A Group III 9600 bps fax modem $249 May with 2400 bps data capability. Sportster 2400/PC Fax: Internal version of the $229 May Sportster 2400 Fax. MACINTOSH FAX MODEM PRODUCTS* Sportster 14,400 Mac&Fax: A Group III fax modem $599 April combined with V.32 bis data capability, designed for the Apple Macintosh. Includes Mac-compatible fax software. Sportster 2400 Mac&Fax: A Group III fax modem $329 May combined with 2400 bps data capability, designed for the Apple Macintosh. Includes Mac-compatible fax software. *All new Sportster products include V.42 error control, V.42 bis data compression, MNP 2-4 error control and MNP 5 data compression. PORTABLE FAX/DATA PRODUCTS WorldPort 9696: A portable Group III fax modem $699 May withCCITT V.32 9600 bps data capability. WorldPort Palmtop Fax/Data Modem: A portable $249 March send-fax modem with a 2400 bps data channel, designed for palmtop computers. Converts ASCII text into fax format without fax software. *Please refer reader inquiries to U.S. Robotics, Inc., at 1-800-DIAL USR. *All product names mentioned are trademarks of their respective manufacturers.