Home Director, ProSyst and Echelon to Conduct Pilot of Innovative Home Networking TechnologyInternet Access to Homes Creates New Opportunities for Manufacturers and Service Providers and Unparalleled Benefits to Homeowners(MORRISVILLE, NC., SUNNYVALE, Calif. and ATLANTA, Ga.- May 9, 2001) - Home Director Inc., ProSyst and Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) announced today that the companies are collaborating on a pilot program to deploy the next generation of Internet-based home networking software applications and services using open-standards service gateways. More than 100 homes across the United States will participate in the 90-day pilot program beginning May 15. The program will demonstrate how manufacturers and service providers can offer a wide range of Internet-based home services and software applications, as well as the benefits for homeowners with Internet access to devices and information in the home. Designed to be fully compliant with the Open Services Gateway Initiative (OSGi) specification, Home Director's ControlPoint™ software and residential gateway enable homeowners to easily control a home's systems and devices from the ControlPoint "home page" portal - controlled from any Web-enabled device, including personal computers, wireless Web pads, handheld computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones. The home page may also be controlled from any television in the home. OSGi is an independent, non-profit organization working with more than 85 member companies including service providers, network operators and device manufacturers to define and promote open specifications for the delivery of multiple services over wide-area networks to local networks and devices. Home Director's software applications for the pilot program will be showcased at CONNECTIONS™ 2001 in Seattle on May 9-11. ProSyst and Echelon will also showcase their technologies at the conference. Home Director's applications include:
Parks Associates, a Dallas-based market analysis firm for emerging technologies, expects the market for residential gateways to more than triple over the next five years, growing from 8.6 million units in 2001 to more than 33 million units in 2005 with a market value of approximately $3 billion. "This kind of pilot is exactly what is necessary to increase consumer awareness of the benefits surrounding home control. As the media show these types of demonstrations, the consumer learns," says Tricia Parks, president of Parks Associates. "We look forward to seeing the coverage of this and hope there are ongoing pilots of this type. That will accelerate market desire." During the pilot program, Home Director will operate the head-end server to deliver and automatically configure home networking applications and services over the Internet to ControlPoint residential gateways located in each home. "This pilot project will give us valuable real-world knowledge of how to best meet the needs of homeowners," said Home Director's research and development director Tom King. "These innovative applications give homeowners the convenience of unparalleled access and control of their homes and personal information. Combining our software applications with technology from companies including Prosyst and Echelon give Home Director the ingredients to build a successful service delivery business." Home Director is using ProSyst's mBedded Serverä technology and Echelon's LonWorks® platform to enable electrical devices such as appliances, light switches, thermostats, air conditioners, electric meters, water heaters, and security systems to communicate with each other and across the Internet. "We believe that service-driven networks like the one Home Director is deploying represent one of the driving forces in the home networking market," said Damian Inglin, Echelon's product manager for OSGi products. "They will not only improve and simplify the lives of consumers but also create new opportunities for service providers to attract new customers, build customer loyalty, and generate new revenue streams." Thomas Hott, chief executive officer of ProSyst Software, said, "This pilot project is focusing on a market that has a tremendous value for all parties - the end-user, the gateway operator, and external service providers. While the homeowner benefits from the control mechanism as well as from new services, the manufacturer and service providers are able to offer new profitable services that are automatically customized to meet the specific needs of their customers." Home Director's ControlPoint software is available now for use by manufacturers and service providers. ControlPoint and its related products will be integrated into Home Director's home networking systems later this year. About Home Director Home Director is based in California's Silicon Valley and North Carolina's Research Triangle Park region. Its products are available throughout the United States and Canada. To learn more about Home Director, visit www.homedirector.com or call toll free 1-800-426-7144. About Prosyst ProSyst was founded in 1997 and has over 200 employees, including 150
experienced Java developers and staff consultants. The corporate headquarter
is located in Cologne, Germany, with subsidiaries in Atlanta/GA, USA,
and Sofia, Bulgaria. The company is privately held with investment partners
that include SAP and LBB Capital Fund. For further information please
visit http://www.prosyst.com. About Echelon Corporation Echelon is based in Sunnyvale, California with international offices in China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Further information can be found at http://www.echelon.com. From October 23-24, Echelon and Messe Frankfurt GmbH are holding LonWorld™ 2001, the world's premier event devoted solely to LonWorks industry, in Frankfurt, Germany. LonWorld 2001 promises to be the largest-ever gathering of LonWorks developers, integrators, end-users, and other participants in the LonWorks industry. Interested parties should visit http://www.LonWorldexpo.com for further details. ### ProSyst mBedded Server, mBedded Server logo are registered trademarks of ProSyst AG. © 2001. Home Director, Inc. All rights reserved. Home Director, ControlPoint, AudioPoint and SecurePoint are trademarks of Home Director, Inc. Echelon, LonWorks, LonMark, the LonMark logo, and the Echelon logo are trademarks of Echelon Corporation registered in the United States and other countries. Bringing the Internet to Life is a trademark of Echelon Corporation. Other marks belong to their respective holders. This press release may contain statements
relating to future plans, events or performance. Such statements may involve
risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties
pertaining to the timing and level of customer orders, demand for products
and services, development of markets for Echelon's products and services,
and other risks identified in Echelon's SEC filings. Actual results, events
and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date hereof. Echelon undertakes no obligation to release publicly
the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may
be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Contact Information
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