If recent performance testing of Spyglass Inc.'s (Nasdaq: SPYG) Prism content conversion product with PC Magazine's Top 100 Web sites is any indication of the product's capabilities, then Spyglass Prism may be the "killer app" for devices just as the original Spyglass Mosaic was for PCs and the Web itself. The reason? Prism helps to overcome the most significant problems plaguing the acceptance of Internet- enabled devices by general consumers -- slow display times and a lack of content optimized for their device.

When testing Prism with PC Magazine's prestigious list of Web sites, Spyglass experienced content displaying up to four times faster than the same device was capable of without Prism. Spyglass did the testing last week in its Prism quality assurance lab here with two Windows/CE-based devices, the Philips Velo handheld personal computer and the Casio Cassiopeia handheld personal computer, using Microsoft Corp.'s Pocket Internet Explorer browser. Spyglass Prism works with any browser, and requires no special software on the device itself.

The significant performance gains offered by Prism benefit not only the users of these devices, but also the companies that manufacture and sell them, as the enhanced usability translates into increased sales. In addition, the faster download times help Internet Service Providers (ISPs) by reducing the amount of time a user must be connected to access content. This reduces their cost per user, and allows more users to be connected at one time.

The benefits of Spyglass Prism are even more important considering International Data Corp. (IDC) forecasts that by the year 2001 some 374 million end user devices worldwide will be connected to the Internet/intranet, ranging from PCs to televisions to handheld devices. IDC expects over one-third of these to be non-PC devices.

"Products which take standard Internet content and automatically reformat it for use on any Internet access device will play a critical role in the growth of the Internet," said Sean Kaldor of IDC. "Products such as Prism will appeal to a wide range of customers, from ISPs to content providers to large telcos, who are looking for ways to improve the Web experience for consumers and expand the number of devices which can effortlessly access Internet content."

"Spyglass shows great work in Prism," said Chris Shipley, editor and publisher of DemoLetter, a leading industry newsletter. "The product's content conversion capabilities are impressive, and as importantly, Prism shows smart thinking from Spyglass in its approach to connected devices. Without consideration for the supporting infrastructure, bringing millions of devices online is a 'congested' pipe dream. Spyglass is leading the charge to overcome the device performance and display issues that would otherwise turn a lot of consumers off."

Spyglass Prism 1.0 is a proxy-based dynamic content conversion solution designed to optimize content delivery to Internet-enabled devices. It takes standard Web content originally formatted for PCs and adapts it to various displays found on PDAs, TVs, phones, pagers and other devices. Geoworks, a leader in the telephony market, and GTE Telephone Operations, one of the country's major telecommunications service providers, have licensed the product. A number of communications companies in the United States and Europe are evaluating Prism for use with their products or services.

"There's an enormous amount of information on the Web which would benefit mobile users, but it's formatted for a desktop computer, not the small screen found on cellular phones," said Grover Righter, vice president of the Wireless Content and Services group at Geoworks. "The Prism technology from Spyglass provides the core technology that is enabling Geoworks to provide a complete wireless Web filtering solution to cellular operators. The resulting product enables wireless telcos to provide Web access to wireless users without relying on content providers to create special versions of their Web pages." Examples of sites that were tested and their associated performance gains are as follows:

"We think Prism has a lot to offer to a number of companies dependent on the Internet for the success of their products and services," said Dan Johnson, Prism product marketing manager. "If content providers, ISPs device makers can improve the experience for consumers, the market for Internet devices will grow dramatically. Prism is the key 'hidden' element in making devices work with the Web."

About Spyglass Inc.

Spyglass (Nasdaq: SPYG) is the leading provider of software and services to make non-PC devices work with the Web. Market leading device manufacturers that have licensed products and consulting services from Spyglass, include Xerox Corp. for a new line of copiers; IBM Corp. for their line of network computers (NCs); and Thomson Consumer Electronics (owners of the RCA, ProScan and GE brands) for a new generation of RCA television set-top boxes.

Spyglass headquarters are located at 1240 East Diehl Road, Naperville, Illinois 60563; telephone: 630-245-6500; fax: 630-245-6693; press email inquiries: rpitzer@spyglass.com