Danger's hiptop® mobile Internet platform carries 6 percent of U.S. mobile messaging traffic during fourth quarter of 2004

Mobile Internet, The, July, 2005

Mobile industry continues to see strong growth in instant messaging usage

Danger Inc. announced that the hiptop mobile Internet platform carried 6 percent of the total U.S. messaging traffic during the fourth quarter of 2004. Although they represent less than 1 percent of U.S. mobile users, Danger's subscribers generate a staggering percentage of mobile messages. This conclusion was drawn from comparing Danger's messaging data with figures recently announced by International Data Corporation. IDC's figures, which include instant messages, SMS messages, and MMS messages, indicate that 16 billion messages were sent by U.S. mobile users during the fourth quarter of last year.

"It's clear to us that users of our mobile Internet platform send and receive 20 to 40 times more messages than the average US messaging-enabled mobile phone owner. This demonstrates the incredible popularity of our service as a messaging engine," said Hank Nothhaft, chairman and CEO of Danger, Inc. "We expect to see further growth as we expand distribution in Europe and further enhance the market-proven mobile Internet experience that we provide."

Danger believes that there are three components that are primarily responsible for the impressive messaging numbers on the hiptop platform. First, the hiptop device delivers an engaging user experience. It works right out of the box, and the data applications are easy to use. Second, operators typically offer unlimited data pricing for the hiptop service (combined with standard voice plans), which encourages customers to use the messaging applications more often. And third, Danger's client/ server architecture makes all of this possible. Danger's Service Delivery Platform (SDP) compresses data before sending it over the network to the handset, improving performance for the end-user and efficiently using the network to save costs for Danger's operator partners.

"Mobile messaging is driving data usage for the wireless industry, and will continue to grow impressively for the foreseeable future," said Tim Bajarin, President of Creative Strategies, an independent research firm. "Danger continues to show leadership in delivering a rich mobile Internet messaging experience."

Danger's hiptop mobile Internet platform is the software and services infrastructure that powers hiptop devices, including the T-Mobile(R) Sidekick(R).

The client/server system manages the secure transmission of data between the network and the device, speeds Web-page downloads, handles email attachments on the device, and delivers a set of tightly coupled applications that operate simultaneously. This system also enables Danger to improve the software and services for users in the field automatically, with over-the-air (OTA) updates, so that features and capabilities improve over time. Later this year Danger will begin an OTA update that will make hiptop-enabled devices compatible with the J2ME standard, in addition to a series of additional enhancements.

Features and applications on hiptop devices include a mobile phone, push email, instant messaging, HTML Web browser, text messaging, calendar, address book, an integrated digital camera, and a catalog with downloadable applications and content. Further leveraging the network, each user receives access to a Web-based account to manage all of his or her data from a desktop computer.