SmartDisk Corporation Names Hatim A. Tyabji To Its Board of Directors

Business Wire, Sept 23, 1999

NAPLES, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 1999--

SmartDisk Corporation, a company focused on providing simple, innovative solutions that advance and enhance the use of miniature storage media and smart cards, today announced that it has named Hatim A. Tyabji to its board of directors. Mr. Tyabji is currently chairman and CEO of Saraide, a world leader in the delivery of Internet-based services to wireless devices, and serves on the board of directors of Ariba, Best Buy, Deluxe Corporation, Novatel Wireless and PubliCARD Inc.

"Hatim possesses more than 30 years of corporate leadership experience including senior management positions at VeriFone, Inc. and Sperry Corporation," said Addison M. Fischer, Chairman, SmartDisk Corporation. "He brings to SmartDisk an invaluable, well-rounded understanding of the information technology industry."

Mr. Tyabji has served as chairman and CEO of Saraide since the company's launch in February 1999. In this short time period, the company has successfully positioned itself as an industry leader in the wireless data services market. Under Mr. Tyabji's direction, Saraide has attracted significant investment from industry leaders such as Nortel, Microcell, Omnipoint, GSM Capital and Ericsson. The company has also executed the acquisition of wireless data pioneer, GSM Information Network B.V. (GIN), the Netherlands.

From 1986 to 1998, Mr. Tyabji was president and CEO of VeriFone, Inc. and a member of the company's board of directors. He also served as chairman from 1992 to 1998. Under his direction, VeriFone's annual revenues grew to $600 million, and the company evolved into a global provider of comprehensive system solutions.

Prior to his appointment at VeriFone, Mr. Tyabji spent 13 years in management positions at Sperry Corporation.

Mr. Tyabji holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from the College of Engineering in Poona, India, and a M.S. in electrical engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Mr. Tyabji also has an MBA in international business from Syracuse University and is a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program. In addition, he serves on the Dean's Council at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and is a member of the advisory board of the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University.

About SmartDisk Corporation

SmartDisk Corporation designs, develops and markets products that simplify the digital lifestyle. Its patented product solutions enable the easy transfer of images, music, voice and data among personal computers, the Internet and various types of digital appliances that use flash memory cards and/or smart cards. SmartDisk's objective is to utilize its proprietary technology to capitalize on the growing demand for digital appliances and increased usage of the Internet. The market for SmartDisk's solutions includes users of the ubiquitous and resilient 3.5-inch floppy disk drive, found worldwide on most personal computers. SmartDisk's investors include Toshiba Corporation, Fischer, Hitachi, NEC, SanDisk, SCM Microsystems and others. For more information, go to www.smartdisk.com.