Novita Announces Beta of Java Based Novita Mail

          Java-Enabled, Media Rich Consumer E-Mail To Go Beta in March 

LOS ANGELES, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Novita Communications will announce tomorrow at Internet World (Booth #4372) here that its Novita Mail product is nearing final development and is on schedule for first customer shipments in Q2, with a beta version in March. Novita Mail is a consumer-focused Java-based e-mail package which allows users to incorporate audio, graphics, live links and Java applets in the body of an e-mail message.

"The many digital devices now being marketed to consumers -- scanners, digital cameras, color printers -- leave a crucial link uncompleted, and that link is what we call digital mail," said Julien Nguyen, Novita chairman and ceo. "Digital mail brings all this rich content together and allows it to be spontaneously communicated directly without adding another complicated step like setting up a website. Novita Mail will give consumers the power not just to create and send messages but to communicate real emotions and feelings."

The company sees applications for its product in the areas of personalized greeting cards, interactive maps & financial portfolios, photo albums, and others. The growth of digital cameras as a consumer product is key to many of these applications: according to Dataquest the worldwide digital camera market will increase from unit shipments of just over 1 million units in 1996 to almost 7 million in 2000.

According to IntelliQuest Information Group analysis, 22 million Americans accessed the Internet from home in the last quarter. These "connected households" are the target market for Novita Mail. The product will be available through OEM relationships as well as directly online from Novita at www.novitacom.com. Users can sign up for trial from today.

About Novita

Novita Communications, a privately held company based in Sunnyvale, CA, is the first company to deliver Java-based software applications for both PCs and internet appliances. The company's first product, Novita Mail, offers rich e-mail in a very small memory footprint and supports all emerging multimedia and Internet standards. More information at http://www.novitacom.com.

NOTE: Novita, Novita Mail and the Novita logo are registered trademarks of Novita Communications. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders

SOURCE

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/CONTACT: Frank O'Mahony of Liffey Communications, 415-493-0244, or frank@liffey.com, for Novita/

CO: Novita Communications ST: California IN: CPR MLM SU: PDT

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