Maxis chooses NewBay Software to Provide Mobile Blogging to Over 7 Million Customers; NewBay FoneBlog Set to Accelerate Picture Messaging and Data Traffic for Maxis

Business Wire, Feb 13, 2006

BARCELONA, Spain -- NewBay Software, a leader in mobile community applications, today announced that Maxis Communications, Malaysia's leading mobile service provider, has deployed its award winning mobile blogging technology, FoneBlog. In partnership with Acian Technologies in Malaysia, NewBay FoneBlog has enabled over 7.1 million Maxis customers to take pictures and instantly post them to their own personal website directly from their mobile phone.

Maxis' mobile blogging service, branded as Maxis mBlog, was launched in July 2005 as one of their hottest 3G services and is available to customers at http://www.mblog.com.my. Interest in Maxis mBlog has surpassed all expectations receiving on average 2 million hits per day from December 2005 to January 2006.

Commenting on the new album and blog offering, Maxis' Head of Product and New Businesses, Dr. Nikolai Dobberstein said, "We are constantly seeking new, exciting applications that will add value to our customers, enabling them to use the latest innovations in wireless to complement our 3G offering. mBlog is a perfect application for picture messaging and supports our customer philosophy in providing easy to use, fun and affordable services. What sets Maxis' mBlog apart from other blogging services was that all the blogging features are also available over WAP, in particular on our new 3G devices. We strongly believe that this application will accelerate traffic of picture messaging and data traffic."

With FoneBlog, Maxis customers can now easily create and run their own personal websites direct from their mobile phone by simply sending SMS or MMS to 22564 (2BLOG) short code. Mobile phone users can post pictures, text, audio and even video directly to their personal websites where they can categorize them according to interest in an album or save them chronologically in their blog. FoneBlog allows users to share their pictures and stories directly with friends and family all over the world.

"We are delighted to partner with NewBay to provide a mobile blogging service for Maxis in Malaysia. Following detailed reviews of mobile blogging solutions, we found FoneBlog to be the most feature rich, user friendly solution on the market that is both easy to deploy with proven scalability. We look forward to working with NewBay on future FoneBlog deployments across the region," said Ann Wan Kuan, CEO at Acian Technologies.

FoneBlog is a server based mobile blogging system that integrates with operator messaging, portal and billing systems. For Maxis, FoneBlog will be hosted by Acian Technologies to provide local service and support. FoneBlog's advanced architecture supports all mobile networks and the full range of multimedia standards and handset capabilities.

"Mobile Operators are looking for solutions to generate return on investment in new data networks and to drive picture messaging traffic while building customer loyalty. Maxis are completely focused on providing added value data services to subscribers, and FoneBlog is a perfect addition to their 3G services. It gives their subscribers a reason to own a 3G camera phone" said Paddy Holahan, CEO at NewBay Software.

Maxis mBlog MMS posts are charged at 20 cents per post to short code 22564. Maxis GPRS charges applies.

NewBay will be showcasing its latest developments in mobile blogging services at 3GSM 2006 on Stand C56, Hall 1. A demonstration service of FoneBlog is available for Mobile Operators at http://www.tryfoneblog.com.

About NewBay Software

NewBay Software develops products and services to create dynamic communities based on new mobile media technologies. NewBay's mobile applications include the award winning FoneBlog, mobile blogging and multimedia album solution; FoneShare, for legal mobile content superdistribution; and FonePIM, carrier grade mobile synchronization. NewBay sells to mobile operators worldwide enabling them to increase messaging, data and content revenue, strengthen customer loyalty and build viral, fun mobile communities. Customers include T-Mobile USA, O2, Maxis and SETAR NV. NewBay Software is based in Dublin, Ireland and Bellevue, USA. NewBay was founded in 2002 and is privately held. Investors include Benchmark Capital. For more information visit http://www.newbay.com.