Press Release: April 30, 2007FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CoPilot Live, HTC and T-Mobile to Provide Mobile Navigation London -- 25 April 2007 -- ALK Technologies Ltd, High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) and T-Mobile announced today that they have once again teamed-up to equip drivers in this year’s Gumball 3000, “The World’s most glamorous Rally”, with mobile-phone-based satellite navigation and tracking. Starting at Pall Mall in Central London on 29 April 2007, drivers, including Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay, Star Wars’ Hayden Christensen, MTV’s Xzibit, Caprice, Danny Dyer and The Fun Lovin' Criminals, will make their way to Frankfurt via Amsterdam, at which point all vehicles will be loaded onto enormous Antanov cargo planes and flown to Istanbul. The rally then heads back from Asia across Europe in less than a week, passing through Athens, Tirana (Albania), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Bratislava and Berlin before driving back to the finish line by Big Ben in London on 5 May 2007. Drivers will be able to complete the 3000-mile rally with ease using HTC-designed T-Mobile MDA Compact III smartphones equipped with ALK’s new CoPilot Live 7 voice-guided mobile phone navigation system. Detailed maps for the entire route, including Western Europe, Turkey, Greece, Slovakia, and Albania, will be preloaded onto each driver’s device. Gumball fans around the world will be able to check the progress of the rally in real time throughout the week at www.alk.com/gumball thanks to CoPilot Live’s in-built FleetCenter location tracking and T-Mobile’s seamless European mobile data roaming. With a built-in GPS receiver, the HTC-designed MDA Compact III provides dedicated navigation performance on a phone when purchased with CoPilot Live. Based on the Windows Mobile operating system, this powerful mobile device offers a full range of PDA features, allowing users to keep up to date with emails, and read and edit attachments and other documents on the move. The camera and Windows Media player also make it ideal for spare time entertainment. Two-dimensional and 3D maps are easy to view using HTC’s RollRTM (Trackball and Track Wheel) and optimised 2.8-inch sharp colour screen, making it the ideal solution for people to combine their phone, e-mail, PDA and navigation system into a single personal device. The HTC-designed MDA Compact III is web‘n’walk-enabled, providing customers with simple, open Internet access. The device is pre-installed with a web browser that enables users to view web pages as they could on their PC. Customers that have CoPilot installed can use the T-Mobile Internet connection to send back location information which allows them to be tracked and directed over the web. All Gumball 3000 drivers will receive a special edition of ALK’s new CoPilot Live 7 navigation system, incorporating an exclusive Gumball 3000 colour scheme and customised menus. Driver safety is the priority, with 2D or 3D maps only displayed when participants are close to a turn or junction to avoid distraction. A database of European safety camera locations is also preloaded onto each device, with on-screen warnings being displayed on the approach to each one. Drivers can also use a ‘request assistance’ button that will enable them to immediately contact a member of the dedicated CoPilot Live rally support team. Michael Kornhauser, Managing Director at ALK, said, “2007 marks the third year of our partnership with the Gumball 3000. Once again we are delighted to be working with HTC and T-Mobile to equip each car in the rally with the most advanced mobile navigation and tracking technology available. We view the Gumball 3000 as being all about the fun and enjoyment of driving, a spirit which is reflected in our latest navigation system.” Florian Seiche, Vice President at HTC Europe, said, “This is the first device we have launched to cater specifically for the navigation market, so we’re really excited to see it has been selected for Gumball 3000. This award-winning device has been one of our most popular products so far this year, so there’s no doubt that it’s up to the task.” Derek Williamson, Head of Market Development at T-Mobile UK, said, “It’s great for a T-Mobile flagship device to be a central part of the Gumball 3000 for the third year running. The rally not only highlights the capabilities of the MDA Compact III as a great sat nav device but with web ‘n’ walk sending back location information allowing tracking of all 120 entrants, it also demonstrates the business benefits of using it to manage and track a small fleet of vehicles.” Maximillion Cooper, Founder & CEO Gumball 3000 commented: "We're excited to be working with technology partners at the forefront of the mobile navigation and telecommunications industry. Organising an event on this scale involves constantly travelling the world, making communication and navigation the key ingredients to ensure the operation is successfully carried out. Without these partners - we'd literally be lost!" Offering incredible value to customers, the MDA Compact III with CoPilot Live navigation is available from FREE when purchased with a monthly contract from T-Mobile stores nationwide and online at www.t-mobile.co.uk About ALK Technologies ALK’s CoPilot® mobile GPS navigation solutions are available in Europe, North America and Australia as retail-branded products and as the basis for leading OEM navigation systems, while the Company’s PC*MILER® routing, mapping and fleet management solutions are used by over 23,000 transportation, logistics and manufacturing companies Worldwide. ALK is a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner and received the 2005 Microsoft Partner of the Year award for Mobility Solutions Sales and Marketing. The Company’s innovative FleetCenter™ integrated navigation, location-tracking and fleet management application won the 2006 Global LBS Challenge. Visit www.alk.com/eu for more information or contact: About HTC Since its establishment, HTC has developed strong R&D capabilities, pioneered many new designs and product innovations, and launched state-of-the-art PDA Phones and Smartphones for mobile operators and distributors in Europe, the US, and Asia. These machines are available as HTC devices and as products individually customized for operator and device partners. HTC is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile device market. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com To view details of HTC’s involvement in Gumball, please see www.gumball.htc.com Or, contact: Emma Turner/Richard George About T-Mobile UK T-Mobile has a range of innovative products and services such as Flext, a unique tariff with flexible pricing; U-Fix, a tariff that combines pay-as-you-go and a monthly contract and web'n'walk, which enables customers to surf websites on the move. T-Mobile's network coverage is among the best in the UK (over 99% of the UK population) with one of the lowest dropped call rates. It offers the largest worldwide Wi-Fi network, with over 1,000 HotSpots in business-friendly locations in the UK and 21,000 worldwide, and offers the fastest 3G network across the UK with speeds of up to 1.8mb per second. T-Mobile customers in the UK will be able to view special Gumball content by going to www.t-zones.co.uk/gumball on their phone. This includes wallpapers, ringtones and video clips, plus the chance to win a variety of prizes including a Lotus sports car. # # # The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
For more details, visit www.alk.com or www.alk.eu.com
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