GEOS-SC ported to Itron

GEOWORKS PORTS GRAPHICAL OS AND BROWSER UTILIZING JAVA TO ITRON KERNEL

ITRON-based Devices Can Now Scale to Next-Generation Technology

ALAMEDA, Calif. (August 25, 1998) - Geoworks Corporation (NASDAQ: GWRX), a leading provider of smart phone solutions, has ported its wireless communications operating system, GEOS-SC, to ITRON, the de facto standard for embedded system specifications in Japan. This allows manufacturers to easily migrate to a more advanced, fully graphical and library-rich operating system while still utilizing their existing ITRON technological investment.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that make ITRON-based wireless communications and non-communications devices will now be able to use GEOS-SC to add rich graphical capabilities to their products. Using just a single CPU, GEOS-SC enables OEMs to quickly bring to market a new generation of smart phones, digital cameras, PDAs and car navigation systems.

ITRON is a set of concepts and standards, originally introduced as a free, open standard to facilitate advances in the Japanese market. It is supported and heavily favored by the embedded system industry of Japan - more than one-third of products using embedded systems software made in Japan utilize the ITRON specifications.

GEOS-SC ported to ITRON also provides OEMs with a flexible graphical user interface (GUI) and advanced communications. This is important because Geoworks' GUI allows OEMs to determine their own look and feel for their devices, while GEOS-SC's extensive communications capabilities pave the way for devices with paging, Web browsing, email, wireless service delivery and other telephony functions.

Geoworks' support of ITRON solves a growing Japanese market concern. Many devices that use ITRON kernels have small memory footprints and are not able to support next-generation technology due to the size of the code base. GEOS-SC brings to ITRON a complete, compact graphics and windowing system featuring a GUI in 256 KB, a rich set of libraries including synchronizing PIM database, IrOBEX, Internet communications and e-mail support in 768 KB, and a full-featured HTML 3.2 Web browser in 384 KB.

GEOS-SC already supports Sun Microsystems' PersonalJava and runs in as little as 12 MIPS of processing power and 512 KB of RAM. This means OEMs can use GEOS-SC to create a Java aftermarket for their resource-constrained devices.

"Supporting the ITRON standard is critical for the Japanese market," said Rob Hayes, Geoworks product manager. "Geoworks knows what Japanese manufacturers want for their devices and so we've further enhanced our operating system to support ITRON, which should greatly benefit manufacturers ready to take their enhanced devices to a new level of technological sophistication."

Japanese developers sell and work with device code writers and OEMs around the world. An estimated 35 percent of 16-bit RISC and 32 percent of 32-bit RISC chips operate with ITRON specifications. Valued for its easy adaptation, high performance, and small footprint, ITRON has been adopted in audio/visual equipment, home appliances, entertainment systems, personal organizers, cellular phones, satellites, broadcast equipment, plant control devices and medical equipment.

About Geoworks
Based in Alameda, Calif., with international operations in the United Kingdom and Japan, Geoworks Corporation is a leading provider of end-to-end software solutions for the wireless communications industry. The Company creates operating system software, applications and actionable services for a variety of wireless devices, ranging from enhanced phones to high-end, all-in-one smart communicators. For additional information on Geoworks, contact the Company on the World Wide Web at http://www.geoworks.com.

In keeping with U.S. law, Geoworks notes that this press release includes forward-looking statements, including the ability for OEMs to use GEOS-SC to develop wireless communications capabilities with a minimal time to market. Actual results may vary significantly due to various risks and uncertainties. Those include, but are not limited to, new technologies are inherently subject to development, timing and consumer acceptance risks. Additional information is available in the Risk Factors and Business discussions in the Company's Forms 10-K, 10-Q and other filings available from the Company or from the Securities and Exchange Commission.