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Innogear Q&A


Wed Feb 9, 2000 - 9:30 AM EST - By James Hromadka

Two-way pager?

VC: Any plans for a two-way pager down the line?

Fullerton: We have a wireless product roadmap that includes a two-way. As with all InnoGear product designs, the goal is always multifunction at a low cost point. We are also strategically aligned with other wireless service providers and software companies.

VC: I see that there will be four different memory configurations (0/8/16/32) for the MiniJam. Has final pricing been set for the MiniJam and the SixPak?

Fullerton: MiniJam basically is a "zero memory" based product. We have two MMC slots and no on-board memory chips. MMC is available in 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and soon 64 meg capacities. With MiniJam you can always have two slots, so these capacities can double if you use both slots. InnoGear will be selling only the larger capacity sizes (32 meg initially then the 64 meg) and we are not going to guess at what the price of these cards will be when we start shipping, but the base module (no memory) should be under $100. By the way, many new MP3 players coming out also use MMC.

Why do we sell a zero memory module? We are finding many uses for MiniJam out there and some uses do not require huge memory storage, so users and other partners can purchase the smaller capacity sizes from several existing sources. Also, as MMC proliferates the market this year, some end users might have cards from their digital camera or other portable device. Our objective is to not force our end users to buy 64 megs (or more) of memory if they already have memory cards, or if they really only need, say 16 megs!

VC: What cellular compatibility will the SixPak have? Will there be a universal connector for all cell phones, or will only a specific model work? Will it work with CDMA or GSM?

Fullerton: I am going to cheat a little here and answer your question right from our new InnoGear FAQ page which your readers can access by going to http://www.innogear.com/faq.htm

"The SixPak Cellular Modem will support both AMPS and Multimode Digital based cellular phones. Innogear will be posting a list of supported cell phone models as soon as each phone is fully tested and approved. We will be starting with the Motorola StarTAC and MicroTAC series. Other manufacturers will follow including Nokia."

VC: Thank you for your time. We look forward to the release of your products. I know that they will be in high demand.

Fullerton: Thank you James.