i2Go.com Offers Portable Interactive MP3 Player With IBM Microdrive, the World's Smallest Hard Disk Drive

Business Wire, April 20, 2000

Business Editors & Technology Writers

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2000

i2Go.com, a pioneer and premier provider in delivering personalized Internet audio to mobile internet appliances for businesses and consumers, has announced a $499 bundle that combines the IBM 340 megabyte (MB) Microdrive(TM) with i2Go.com's eGo(TM), the world's first portable, interactive MP3 player designed specifically for the car. By combining the world's smallest hard disk drive with the eGo(TM), consumers can purchase almost five times the available memory of comparable storage products, making the bundle an exceptional value. This package is shipping today and can be purchased from i2Go.com at our Web site.

The 340 MB Microdrive has a disk platter the size of a large coin and weighs less than a single AA battery. The new device can hold up to: six hours of near CD-quality audio; 1,000 digital photographs compressed; 300 hefty novels; or the equivalent of more than 200 standard-size floppy disks. IBM Microdrive uses high-performance, time-proven hard disk drive technology to store information. The drive has a much lower cost-per-megabyte and holds more content than alternate small-format storage technologies. With its small size and industry-standard removable format, IBM's Microdrive is considered an ideal storage solution for pervasive or "go-anywhere" digital audio devices such as the eGo.

The eGo represents the next generation of digital interactive technology that brings the Internet to the auto, transforming the car stereo into an entertainment, information and e-commerce tool. About 100 million Americans spend an average of 37 minutes commuting every day and 40 million workers spend more than 20% of their business day "behind the wheel." With eGo, unstructured commuting time can be transformed into an enjoyable and productive personalized listening experience.

"This bundled package represents a significant step in portable Internet appliances because storage capacity is no longer a limitation," said Sam Johnson, Chief Executive Officer and Founder for i2Go.com, Inc. "IBM's Microdrive not only offers an unprecedented amount of capacity for today's applications, but IBM's ability to innovate to meet tomorrow's needs fits right in line with the enhanced applications that i2Go.com intend to deliver to mobile internet appliances such as the eGo. Today's Microdrive offers additional capacity with significantly lower cost-per-megabyte than alternative small-format storage technologies, and i2Go.com knows that as IBM continues to innovate, this value gap will only widen."

The eGo is the only Interactive Digital Audio player on the market today that can use up to two Microdrives at the same time. As technology expands, so will the eGo. The eGo interactive digital audio player from i2Go.com, which debuted in October 1999, provides the latest digital audio technology available to the tech-savvy generation of users. The eGo transforms the car stereo into an Internet appliance; bringing rich media content such news, sports, weather, information and entertainment from the Internet to the car. The eGo is also the first MP3 player offering flash firmware upgrades via the Internet.

Player capabilities already reach far beyond the ability to manage and listen to music play lists. Unique interactive features include e-mail, which allows users to convert e-mails into audio and record responses or notes as MP3 files. Consumers can purchase the eGo at www.i2Go.com, from online retailers such as Amazon.com or specialty electronic retailers such as Electronic Boutique.

About IBM Hard Disk Drives

IBM server, desktop and mobile hard disk drives won more than 40 awards and honors in 1999. The Microdrive received several of these including PC Magazine's Technical Excellence Award, November, 1999, and Mobile Insights, Inc., Mobility Awards for Technology Achievement of the Year and winner, Mobile Storage Products category, March 1999. Mobile Insights also gave Mobility Awards to both the Microdrive and IBM's Travelstar 25-gigabyte notebook hard drive in March of 2000. IBM invented and shipped the first hard disk drive in 1956. For more information about IBM hard drives, visit www.ibm.com/harddrive.> About i2Go.com

i2Go.com, the pioneer of interactive digital audio and the premier provider of Internet audio to the car, was founded in May 1999 in Atlanta, Georgia. i2Go.com enables users to select and customize from a broad array of rich audio content that is delivered to interactive Internet appliances, such as MP3 players. The company's patent pending solution includes three major components: an audio portal (www.i2Go.com) designed from the ground up to support wireless and e-commerce applications, a desktop media manager [MP3Agent(TM)], and the eGo, the world's first portable, interactive MP3 player designed specifically for the car.

Each component can be used separately to provide a specific value proposition or in combination to deliver true end-to-end Internet-to-go. i2Go.com enables consumers to use digital audio technology to transform their driving time into a personalized and productive listening experience. On March 1, 2000, PTEKVentures, the strategic investment arm of PTEK Holding Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEK; www.ptek.com) announced that it lead a $10 million investment round of i2Go.com.