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SYMBOL ANNOUNCES INFOPEN TO
REVOLUTIONIZE HOME SHOPPING
Symbol's InfoPen and HighPoint's Software Allow Consumers
to Scan Items In Home and Transmit Orders to Supermarkets
HOLTSVILLE, N.Y. -- May 4, 1998 – Symbol Technologies, Inc., a world leader in
mobile computing systems for
more than 20 years, today introduced the
InfoPen, a combination bar code scanner and writing instrument that allows consumers
to capture and transmit bar code data printed on products or in catalogs.
Symbol also announced a partnership with software developer HighPoint Systems Inc., of
Cambridge, Massachusetts. HighPoint's software facilitates the customer order entry
process and integrates with a retailer's information system, allowing orders to be quickly
and accurately processed and delivered.
How InfoPen Works
The InfoPen system includes a standard ink pen with integrated bar code scanning wand and
decoder, and the InfoWell docking station, where the wand is placed to upload data to a PC
and where it is stored when not in use.
The InfoPen makes the process of product ordering as simple as sweeping the scanner tip
over a printed bar code. The captured information is then uploaded through the InfoWell to
either a PC or screen phone. The data can then be further manipulated before being
transmitted over telephone lines or the Internet to retailers for order fulfillment. To
simplify transaction tracking, each pen has a unique electronic identification code.
The pen was developed by Symbol and A.T. Cross, renowned manufacturer of luxury writing
instruments. Each pen can be refilled with a standard ballpoint cartridge.
HighPoint Partnership
Symbol and HighPoint have joined forces to offer a unique system consisting of Symbol's scanner technology and
HighPoint's patented HPX™ transaction software. The system allows
consumers to order groceries from their kitchens by simply scanning product bar codes with
the InfoPen.
"Our partnership with HighPoint enables consumers who either don't have the time
or the ability to shop in the store the convenience and simplicity of ordering their items
using a simple, error-free method," said Michel Jacobeus, vice president of Symbol's
Scanner Products Division.
The InfoPen also makes product selection simple. One of the difficulties with home
shopping has been that information had to be called in by telephone and then input by
keyboard, or transmitted via some other time-consuming or labor-intensive alternative.
With the InfoPen, bar codes can be scanned and stored in a matter of seconds and
transmitted to retailers at the touch of a button.
"Experts predict that home shopping will increase in the next decade, capturing 15
percent to 20 percent of the U.S. grocery market," said Bob Kniffin, vice president
of marketing of HighPoint. "The scan-enabled kitchen will be the next wave in
electronic commerce, forever changing how consumers shop for groceries."
About Symbol
Symbol Technologies is the world leader in bar code-driven mobile computing systems with
an installed base of more than six million scanners and hand-held computers, and more than
30,000 wireless local area networks. The company designs, manufactures and markets bar
code scanning equipment, application-specific hand-held computers and wireless
communications products and systems that are used as strategic building blocks in
solutions for retail, package and parcel delivery, manufacturing, warehousing and
distribution, health care and other industries. Customer information is available from
Symbol Technologies at 1-800-SCAN-234.
About HighPoint
HighPoint Systems, Inc. based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a software technology
innovator in the emerging home grocery shopping market. The company has developed a
breakthrough system architecture integrating bar code scanners with
"intelligent" databases for electronic commerce. HighPoint enables a full
spectrum of order-entry information appliances for home shopping, and licenses its
patented technology to food retailers worldwide.
Photographs are available upon request.
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