FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Jason Patterson, Conduits Technologies, Inc.
(850) 523-0426
email: patters@conduits.com


TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA, May 9, 2000 -- Conduits Technologies Inc. 
released Pocket Launcher 1.0 today for Pocket PC and Palm-size PC.
Pocket Launcher is a customizable application launcher.

On the Pocket PC, Pocket Launcher improves upon the built-in program
launcher with a tab-based categorization system that is 
expandable to a user's needs, and customizable to a user's tastes.

Pocket Launcher integrates a collection of large, icon-based 
lists of the applications that are installed on a device.
Icons represent their respective applications, and when tapped
once, the application is launched.  The list of icon shortcuts and 
categories is initially taken from the user's current layout of the 
Start and Programs menus, and then copied to another place so 
that Pocket Launcher can use it.

The tabs in Pocket Launcher represent categories for the
applications, such as "Games," "Music," "Utilities," etc., 
and are completely customizable.  The user may add new tabs,
delete or rename old ones, and configure settings on a per-tab
basis.  The lists for each tab may also have a background
image (such as a playing card for a "Games" tab) which are
provided by the user.

Pocket Launcher provides a rich sense of user-friendliness.  To
change the order of tabs, simply drag the tab to the 
new location.  To move an icon to another tab, simply tap 
and drag it onto the new tab.  Pocket Launcher is currently
the only application for Pocket PC (at press time) 
supporting such drag and drop ease-of-use.  The user
does not have to tinker with File Explorers or other
setup screens to achieve the desired layout.

Pocket Launcher contains advanced features that 
power users will want to take advantage of.  By
binding Pocket Launcher to a hardware button, tapping the
button will advance to the next tab.  Tab navigation may also
be done by using the up-down button (or the cursor pad if
the device has one).  Individual tabs may also contain
all items that appear on the Settings screens for the device.

Pocket Launcher features "smart scrollbars" which 
scrolls the list of icons (if there are too many for
one page) one item row at a time while the user 
drags the scrollbar, in contrast with the standard 
method of scrolling of one pixel at a time (which 
can lead to counterintuitive results, such as showing 
a row of icons that are cut off at the bottom).

With all of these features, Pocket Launcher suffers no
drop in performance. Backgrounds do not slow it down,
and neither does having too many items on a tab or too
many tabs.  The "smart scrollbars" feature actually leads
to higher redrawing performance (since everything is not
redrawn on each tick of the pixel).

If desired, Pocket Launcher can integrate itself
with the Pocket PC shell.  By integrating with the
Start Menu, tapping the taskbar (the Start name or icon)
will bring up Pocket Launcher.  When integrated with
the Programs menu, Pocket Launcher is activated by
tapping the "Programs" item on the Start Menu.

Pocket Launcher adds an icon to the taskbar that conveys 
the battery life remaining as well as a sliding chart of 
storage and program memory usage that is currently in 
effect on the device.

Pocket Launcher 1.0 is available as a commercial demo from 
http://www.conduits.com/ce/, where the user can download and evaluate 
it unabridged for 20 days.  Pocket Launcher 1.0 is available for an 
introductory price of $10.00. More information, including tutorials, 
example backgrounds, and a full list of features, can be found at the 
Pocket Launcher website at http://www.conduits.com/ce/launcher/.  

Conduits develops several commercial applications for Pocket PC,
including Peacemaker (for infrared business card transfer to other 
devices) and Pocket Artist (a drawing and manipulation program for 
Pocket PC).  Conduits also has many applications for Palm-size PC
and Handheld PC.


SOURCE: Conduits Technologies Inc.
CONTACT: Jason Patterson at 850-523-0426 or email patters@conduits.com

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