REDMOND, Wash., June 26, 1998 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the Expedia
™
Spring Drive Value Pack, a combination of its street-level mapping title and
trip-planning travel guide and road atlas. The package, which brings together the Microsoft® Expedia Streets 98 and the Microsoft Expedia Trip Planner 98 travel series, offers users more than $90 of valuable software for just $39*, plus a $25 rebate**.
“We’re delighted to offer this valuable combination of products at a low price,”
said Ian Mercer, business unit manager at Microsoft.
“Now consumers everywhere can get a one-stop solution to plan their trips, whether they are going across town to an unfamiliar address or clear across North America to visit one of the more than 63,000 attractions and points of interest we’ve included in this package.”
The combination trip-planning and street-finding CD-ROM package is a complete travel solution that enables consumers to get anywhere they want to go across the city or across the country. Consumers can quickly locate addresses in the United States with Expedia Streets 98, which takes the guesswork out of finding addresses. Expedia Streets 98 was found to be the most accurate street-level mapping software of three products in a Burke study. And, for the second consecutive year, Microsoft mapping software scored as the preferred product in the Burke study.
Microsoft Expedia Streets 98 is preferred 2-to-1 over Rand McNally StreetFinder Deluxe 1998 and DeLorme Street Atlas USA 5.0, according to a nationwide study of professionals whose jobs depend on finding addresses. The study, conducted by the independent market research firm Burke Inc., found Expedia Streets 98 superior in eight of the most critical product attributes, including accuracy, ease in finding an address within the product, easy-to-read maps and overall preference.
“This study proves that consumers whose businesses depend on getting accurate and complete address information prefer Expedia Streets 98,”
Mercer said.
“Burke surveyed more than 100 people who must find addresses every day for their jobs. We knew that if this highly critical audience found Expedia Streets 98 to be the most accurate and easiest-to-use mapping program, then anyone who travels and needs to find addresses, restaurants and hotels could achieve the same results.”
Participants in the study included such small businesses as florists, restaurants, car services and couriers. Participants were first asked to rate the importance of the benefits delivered by a mapping product. Their No. 1 criterion was
“complete and accurate information.”
Released in August 1997, Microsoft Expedia Streets 98 titles help home users and small businesses throughout the United States find street addresses, cities and towns. The software can also locate thousands of points of interest, including restaurants, hotels, libraries, police stations, schools and much more. Expedia Streets 98 combines the power of comprehensive CD-ROM street mapping with the ease of online travel booking through links to the Expedia.com travel service, an excellent tool for business travelers. In addition, Expedia Streets 98 includes the
Pocket Expedia Streets 98 feature, allowing users to create portable maps for Handheld PCs running the Windows® CE operating system.
Microsoft Expedia Trip Planner 98 is a travel guide and road atlas that helps consumers plan road trips throughout North America simply and accurately. It takes travel planning to the next level by combining detailed maps with a complete travel guide, including comprehensive travel articles from Moon Publications, ZAGATSURVEY® Restaurant Reviews, the Expedia Hotel Guide and Internet extensions such as Expedia.com online travel services.
The Microsoft Expedia family of products and services also includes Microsoft Expedia.com free online travel-planning service (connect-time charges may apply), available on the World Wide Web at http://expedia.com/ . For more information, visit http://www.microsoft.com/expedia/ .
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
*Reflects estimated retail prices
**Rebates for both products included in the packaged set expire 9/30/98. Offer valid in the 50 United States, District of Columbia and Canada only.
Microsoft, Expedia and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Zagat and ZAGATSURVEY are registered trademarks of Zagat Survey LLC.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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