Danger's Hiptop Platform Carries Over Three Billion Mobile Instant Messages in 2004
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Danger's Hiptop Platform Carries Over Three Billion Mobile Instant Messages In 2004 The Mobile Instant Messaging Trend Goes Mainstream Palo Alto, CA -- January 12, 2005 -- Danger, Inc. announced today that over 3 billion mobile instant messages (IM) were sent and received on the company's hiptop® wireless platform during 2004. This number is even more impressive when compared to the 22.8 billion total SMS messages sent across all United States wireless carriers during the same period, according to recent data from Jupiter Research. Sold through eight operators in six countries, each operator brands the hiptop device as their own and sells it directly to consumers, such as the T-Mobile Sidekick II, SunCom hiptop2 and Edge Wireless hiptop. "Because of the hiptop's intuitive user-interface and overall ease-of-use," said Hank Nothhaft, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Danger Inc., "it has become the premier mobile platform for instant messaging. IM has clearly become a killer app for our users. And if our current growth trends continue, we will support upwards of 10-15 billion mobile instant messages in 2005." Danger's hiptop device is the ultimate communications gadget, combining a mobile phone with push email, AOL® Instant Messenger™ (AIM®), Yahoo!® Instant Messenger, HTML Web browser, text-messaging, calendar, address book, an integrated digital camera and a catalog full of games, ringtones, and additional applications and content. With a 65,000 color flip-up display, advanced sonic and visual notifications and a keyboard, the hiptop device excels as a messaging engine. "Danger's hiptop devices have been popular with AOL members and AIM users alike, who use the hiptop -- with their familiar Buddy List™ feature -- to send more than 10 million mobile IMs everyday," said Himesh Bhise, vice president of Strategic Development, AOL Mobile, for America Online, Inc. "The hiptop's ability to mimic the desktop experience with a QWERTY keyboard and support for multiple simultaneous chats makes it easy to connect with friends and family on AIM anywhere, anytime." "We continue to see strong growth in mobile messaging and we are excited to offer the familiar Yahoo! Messenger experience to consumers on the go on Danger's hiptop," said Thad White, director of Mobile product management Yahoo! Inc. "Consumers want to stay connected to their friends whenever and wherever they are and the combination of great devices like Danger's hiptop with leading services like Yahoo! Messenger makes mobile messaging simple and fun." "This compelling user data demonstrates that 'Everybody Needs a Sidekick!'," said Ashley Glennon, director of Messaging, T-Mobile USA, Inc. "This is a testament to the commitments made by Danger, the IM providers and T-Mobile to create a first-class user experience. There's no better compliment than hearing consumers rave about messaging on the T-Mobile Sidekick, and then use it to extremes." "This shows that Danger's hiptop platform is viable and continues to be a product to watch," said Tim Bajarin, President of Creative Strategies, an independent research firm. "It has clearly become a popular messaging engine for mobile users of email, instant messaging and SMS." Danger's impressive usage numbers are inline with larger industry trends, as instant messaging continues to grow in popularity in both the wireline and wireless environments. In September of 2004 the Pew Internet and American Life Project estimated that about 53 million people used instant messaging. In addition, the survey indicated that 15% of IM users had sent messages wirelessly, and those who use the medium the most were much more likely to send mobile instant messages. Within the 18 to 27 year old demographic, 25% specified that they had used IM wirelessly. Danger's hiptop wireless platform includes the development platform, backend software and popular hiptop device designs. This client/server approach allows the back-end service to push email, instant messages and other data to the device in real-time. In addition, the service does the 'heavy-lifting' for the device by optimizing and then delivering data such as Web pages, instant messages and email in the appropriate manner. The hiptop platform is the only mobile IM service that leverages this technology. The result is superior handset performance for users and efficient use of network resources, to the benefit of wireless operators. About Danger, Inc. Danger provides a complete solution that enables wireless carriers to offer innovative and affordable voice and data products to consumers over next-generation wireless networks. Today, this solution includes: the hiptop Data Services Framework -- a back-end service delivery infrastructure; the hiptop Development Platform -- a platform for the development of mobile applications using industry standard development tools; and the hiptop Device Design -- a hardware design for a wireless all-in-one device that may be customized and branded by wireless operators. Founded in January 2000, Danger is a privately held company backed by leading venture capital firms and corporate investors. Danger is based in Palo Alto, Calif. Additional information about the company is available at www.danger.com. About Yahoo! Yahoo! Inc. is a leading provider of comprehensive online products and services to consumers and businesses worldwide. Yahoo! is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and the most trafficked Internet destination worldwide. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo!'s global network includes 25 world properties and is available in 13 languages. Contact: Danger, Inc. Matthew Flegal, 650-289-6675 [email protected] # # #.