Siemens joins AU-System, Sony Ericsson and Nokia in approach for global interoperability of MMS

Siemens joins AU-System, Sony Ericsson and Nokia in approach for global interoperability of MMS Industry unites to guarantee the swift and comprehensive development of MMS. Stockholm, Sweden - 8 February 2002 - Siemens has teamed-up with AU- System, Sony Ericsson and Nokia to ensure the quick global development of MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) interoperability. This initiative will provide compatibility of MMS applications on terminals and servers from different manufacturers. Within the framework of this collaboration, AU-System develops a suite of test tools and services for interoperability testing of MMS. "Our ultimate aim is to ensure the fast introduction of MMS technology with high user adoption from the beginning. SMS was a groundbreaking success and we expect MMS to follow in its footsteps as it will be just as easy-to-use and convenient, but even more fun." said Peter Zapf, President of Mobile Phones within the Information and Communication Mobile Group at Siemens. MMS goes beyond its predecessor Short Message Services (SMS), which only displays text limited to 160-characters. MMS is a global standard used to deliver messages containing text, audio, graphics, photographic images, and even video clips between mobile devices. The first MMS enabled products are expected to be commercially available this year. "The fact that Siemens now joins Sony Ericsson and Nokia in the initiative emphasises the strong industry commitment for MMS to become a mass market service. Ensuring that MMS equipment from different manufacturers work seamlessly together will help speed up the introduction of MMS services with high quality, says Christer Björk, business area manager at AU-System." MMS-enabled phones will feature a built-in media editor that allows users to easily create and edit the content of their multimedia messages. Users can generate personal postcards via a digital camera. They can add text and attach audio clips to the photograph before sending it directly to another MMS-capable phone or to a recipient's email address. MMS uses the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) powered by the transmission technology of GSM, GPRS and UMTS. MMS is approved as a standard by the WAP Forum and the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Media Contacts: Eric Ljungberg Sandra Grohmann Business Unit Manager Press Office AU-System AB Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Tel: +46-70 594 4444 Tel: +49-89 722 32431 About AU-System AU-System is a leading mobile Internet consultancy. The company also provides integrated marketing communications services through its subsidiary SandbergTrygg. Large customers include Ericsson, Comneon, Telia, Volvo, Nordea and Motorola. AU-System was founded in 1974 and employs about 1,000 people located in Sweden, United Kingdom, Italy, United States, Thailand and Singapore. AU-System is quoted on the Attract40 list of Stockholmsbörsen under the symbol AUS. For more information please visit www.ausystem.com. About Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group The Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group (IC Mobile) offers the complete range of mobile solutions including mobile devices, infrastructure and applications. Devices include mobile phones, wireless modules, mobile organizers and cordless phones as well as products for wireless home networks. The infrastructure portfolio includes GSM, GPRS and 3G mobile network technologies from base stations and switching systems to intelligent networks, e.g. for prepaid services. Mobile Applications cover end-to-end solutions for Messaging, Location Based Services or Mobile Payment. For the fiscal year 2001 (September 30), IC Mobile recorded sales of EUR 11.3 billion and employed 30,730 people worldwide. You can access further information about Siemens IC Mobile on the Internet at http://www.siemens-mobile.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/02/08/20020208BIT01020/bit0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/02/08/20020208BIT01020/bit0001.pdf