Fossil Announces First Ever Palm Powered Wrist Devices

Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- COMDEX -- Fossil, Inc. (NASDAQ:FOSL), a leader and innovator in watch design, development and fashion accessories; and PalmSource, Inc., provider of the world's leading operating system for handhelds and smart phones; today announced that Fossil has licensed the Palm operating system. Through the agreement, Fossil will introduce the world's first Palm Powered watch called the WRIST PDA with Palm OS. Fossil will showcase prototypes of the WRIST PDA with Palm OS this week at COMDEX at Booth #5242 in the Digital Lifestyles exhibition area of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Fossil's WRIST PDA is the first truly wearable Palm Powered device that provides consumers convenient access to information while on-the-go, in a sleek and compact form factor. The WRIST PDA is fully compatible with the Palm OS platform and will run all Palm OS applications. The lightweight and compact WRIST PDA is a perfect stand-alone or secondary device for Palm Powered consumers.

The Palm OS is known for the power and flexibility of its sophisticated, easy-to-use interface. As the foundation for more than 24 million mobile devices, the Palm OS platform is designed to meet user needs with an open, modular architecture that allows licensees and developers to create innovative new products in a variety of sizes and form factors for both individual or enterprise consumers.

"The flexibility of the Palm OS enables licensees to develop innovative and differentiated products," said David Nagel, president and chief executive officer for PalmSource, Inc. "Fossil's strong reputation in the watch and consumer product markets as well as its strong brand will extend the reach of Palm Powered products to new customers in new markets."

"We believe consumers want the functionality of a handheld with the style and portability of a wrist watch," said Donald R. Brewer, vice president of technology for Fossil. "The Palm OS enables Fossil to provide customers with a fashionable wrist-worn device that is incredibly useful, yet lightweight, small, and powerful."

Fossil also teamed with Flextronics (NASDAQ:FLEX), the leading Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider to assist in the development and manufacturing of the WRIST PDA. In addition to being the manufacturer, Flextronics has been a critical partner throughout the development process and has performed the full-turnkey embedded design.

"We are excited to be working on this revolutionary consumer device with Fossil," said Ron Snyder, president of Flextronics Design. "Our strategic relationship will allow Fossil to leverage Flextronics' design capabilities and global manufacturing infrastructure while enhancing their commitment to provide quality, fashionable and innovative products to customers around the world."

The WRIST PDA with Palm OS from Fossil also features an illuminated touch screen with a stylus integrated into the band for Graffiti input, 2MB internal memory, Rocker switch user interface, infrared port to support beaming between all Palm Powered devices, rechargeable battery, and loaded applications including: Address Book, Date Book, Memo Pad, Calculator and To Do List.

Fossil will launch the WRIST PDA with Palm OS under two brands, FOSSIL and ABACUS, a new tech brand that targets the electronics distribution. Both versions of the new WRIST PDA are scheduled to be available in stores in the United States and internationally by mid-2003.

More information about PalmSource, Inc., is available at http://www.palmsource.com/ . Information about Palm, Inc. is available at www.palm.com .

For more information on Fossil visit www.fossil.com .

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Source: Fossil, Inc.; PalmSource, Inc.