REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 25, 1997 — Handheld computers are about to get a lot handier – they’ll help you get around town. Starting today, Microsoft Corp. will offer its new Microsoft® Pocket Automap® Streets travel series software free for downloading to anyone using the new Windows® CE operating system (connect-time charges apply). Pocket Automap Streets and maps of 40 major metropolitan areas are available at http://www.microsoft.com/automap/pstreets/ or http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce/products/hpc/ .
“The handheld PC is poised for tremendous growth with the development of the new operating system,” said Ian Mercer, geography product unit manager at Microsoft. “The handheld PC is the perfect platform for a product like Automap Streets, because it puts most everything Automap Streets offers in the palm of your hand.”
Pocket Automap Streets will also be included on three top manufacturers’ handheld units. Handheld PCs from Hewlett-Packard Co., Philips Mobile Computing Group and LG Electronics will include Pocket Automap Streets and more than 40 select metropolitan maps when their products ship this spring.
Based on the award-winning Automap Streets Plus desktop product, Pocket Automap Streets allows users to locate addresses, streets, restaurants, hotels and other points of interest in seconds. The maps are rich in detail and easy to read for painless navigation. Users can view the maps in a variety of ways with zoom and panning buttons. The zoom buttons on the toolbar adjust the map scale and level of detail to suit any need, while panning buttons allow precise positioning on any map. Pocket Automap Streets provides the additional convenience of the handheld PC’s compact size with Automap’s renowned accuracy.
Pocket Automap Streets will be free on the Internet until August 1997, after which it will be integrated with the next version of Microsoft Automap Streets Plus. This integrated version will allow customers to share data between their desktop and handheld PC, providing even more options for creating and customizing maps. The desktop version allows users to choose from any of the 6 million miles of streets and roads, and over 150,000 cities, towns and villages in Automap Streets Plus, all of which can be pulled onto Pocket Automap Streets for portable use.
To use Pocket Automap Streets, users need a handheld PC with 2 MB of memory, the Windows CE operating system and a docking cradle or serial port connection to a desktop PC.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
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Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
For online product information:
Microsoft Automap Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/automap/
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