Amazon.com Acquires Convergence Corporation and Ventures with Motorola and AvantGo
SEATTLE, Oct. 4 -- Leading online retailer Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) today launched Amazon.com Anywhere, wireless e-commerce that allows customers to securely shop and check the status of auction items at Amazon.com when they are away from their desktop computers. With the national launch of the new Palm VII™ organizer today, Amazon.com's vast selection of merchandise is now accessible to customers anywhere, at anytime.
"By untying customers from their desktops, we're empowering them to get things done and off their to-do lists--not just at anytime--but from anywhere," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com
To expand its wireless capabilities, Amazon.com has acquired Convergence Corporation in exchange for equity having an aggregate value of approximately $20 million. The privately held firm is known for creating software that provides Internet access for a variety of information appliances. The employees from the Atlanta firm will relocate to Seattle and support Amazon.com Anywhere.
Amazon.com Anywhere brings the convenience of secure 1-Click purchasing and product-searching capabilities to wireless appliances. The Palm VII organizer from Palm Computing, a 3Com company (NASDQ:COMS), is the first all-in-one, wireless, hand-held device to offer remote access to the Internet, allowing users to conveniently shop at Amazon.com from any location. Amazon.com customers can simply download a free application from Amazon.com at www.amazon.com/anywhere or from Palm at www.Palm.Net.
"Amazon.com Anywhere illustrates the Palm VII's power to provide e-commerce capabilities simply and instantly for people on the move," said Alan Kessler, president of Palm Computing. "We're thrilled to offer our users the option to shop at Amazon.com as we introduce our highly anticipated Palm VII organizer nationwide."
Amazon.com is committed to providing its customers the largest possible product selection across a broad spectrum of wireless platforms. To serve the emerging two-way Internet capability of a number of devices, Amazon.com Anywhere has entered into agreements with hand-set manufacturer Motorola and AvantGo.
To support global standards and promote the long-term growth of the wireless Internet industry, Amazon.com also announces today that is the first e-commerce retailer to join the Wireless Application Protocol Forum (WAPF). The role of the WAPF is to develop and maintain a global standard for wireless data and e-commerce transactions on the Internet.
About Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 video, and No. 1 book retailer, opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection with online auctions, toys, electronics, free electronic greeting cards, and more than 4.7 million book, music-CD, video, DVD, and computer-game titles. Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where people can find and discover anything they may want to buy online. As part of its efforts to provide the best shopping experience for customers, Amazon.com provides secure credit-card payment, personalized recommendations, streamlined ordering through 1-Click technology, and hassle-free auction bidding with Bid-Click.
Amazon.com operates two international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk in the United Kingdom and www.amazon.de in Germany. Amazon.com also operates PlanetAll (www.planetall.com), a Web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 150,000 movies and entertainment programs and 500,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to the present. Amazon.com also operates LiveBid.com (www.livebid.com), the sole provider of live-event auctions on the Internet.
In addition, Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient: drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for health, beauty, wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the online leader for pet products, expert information, and services, at www.pets.com; HomeGrocer.com, the first fully integrated Internet grocery-shopping and home-delivery service, with operations in Seattle and Portland, Oregon, at www.homegrocer.com; and Gear.com, which offers brand-name sporting goods at prices from 20% to 90% off retail, at www.gear.com.
About 3Com
3Com and Palm Computing are registered trademarks. Palm VII is a trademark and Palm.Net is a service mark of 3Com Corporation or its subsidiaries.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, risks related to auction services, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, and strategic alliances. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 1999 and June 30, 1999.