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CimQuest - INGEAR's pocketPC OPC Servers Help Bring HMI Mobility Directly to the Shop Floor

OPC Servers Ported to Microsoft’s Pocket PC Operating System has Major Benefits

PHOENIXVILLE, Penn.: March 15th, 2003 — INGEAR Products Group has done it again – this time releasing their pocketPC™ brand of full-featured OPC servers each build-upon their wildly successful, field-proven, Windows CE™ OPC server brethrens. Drawing from the rich feature and benefit strengths of their existing OPC products, INGEAR pocketPC™ OPC servers have been re-compiled to support Intel’s high-performance, X-ScaleTM processor.

At the worldwide launch of Pocket PC two years ago, Steve Ballmer – president and CEO of Microsoft stated: “It's an amazing time in mobile computing and we're just getting started". "Technology is innovating at a rapid pace and the Pocket PC is a great example of how today, we are bringing the productivity, performance and power of a PC in a pocket-sized device to enable true any-time, anywhere access to information".

Several ‘paradigm shifts’ have occurred since Pocket PC’s inaugural event which makes the timing now perfect for introducing INGEAR’s pocketPC™ OPC servers to the Industrial Automation marketplace:

· The migration of PLC communications towards open standards like Ethernet and TCP/IP protocol
· The commercialization of ‘Wi-Fi’, IEEE 802.11x Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technology
· Falling prices for next generation handheld Mobile Devices (i.e.: Tablet and Pocket PCs)

An INGEAR pocketPC™ OPC server running on a next generation Pocket PC, when used in conjunction with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS), ancillary WLAN connectivity devices, can provide untethered freedom to HMI end-users who chose to utilize this new and very exciting mobile computing platform.

"Using handheld PCs and WLAN technology will empower system operators, technicians and engineers with unheralded mobility, especially considering that you can now purchase mobile devices and HMI software for under $550” according to Charles Karwoski - president of INGEAR. "Within a few short years Pocket PCs will be as common place and indispensable as the digital multimeter is today”.

One of the greatest benefits to end users of INGEAR OPC servers is that each INGEAR product is cross-platform compatible meaning you can create one configuration file one time and use it across all their supported OS platforms such as: Windows XP/2000/NT 4.0/98 S.E./CE v3.0 and Pocket PC 2002. No other leading OPC server vendor has this breathe of Windows OS support which enables end-users to design, build and test server configurations from the convenience of their desktop PC, then ‘target’ and deploy across their secure, Ethernet based LAN/VPN to nearly every Windows enabled PC used remotely throughout the plant/factory.

pocketPC™ OPC servers are currently available for Allen-Bradley, Modicon and GE Fanuc.

INGEAR Products Group is a division of CimQuest, Inc., a privately held corporation based in Newark, Del. INGEAR is the world's leading independent brand of cross-platform OPC server software and its mission is to continually provide innovative and extremely reliable PLC communication solutions and tools for programmers and end-users of ‘shrink-wrapped’ HMI software. INGEAR was the industry’s first Independent Software Vendor (ISV) to innovate PLC data access connectivity for MS-Visual Basic by means of ActiveX® controls (e.g.: 16-bit VBXs and 32-bit OCXs) back in 1993-96. INGEAR today provides feature rich, economical software solutions intended for interfacing MS-Windows-based client applications to PLCs that are used in factory automation; SCADA systems for remote data acquisition and control; manufacturing operations for performance improvement/analysis and shop floor maintenance scheduling. For more specific information about INGEAR, or to download demo versions of (or to purchase) their automation software products, please go to URL: www.plcdriver.com.

In order to enhance awareness of INGEAR Products Group as the Industrial Automation’s pioneer ISV developing software that meets both the mobility and economical needs of its customers, INGEAR also offers free OPC ActiveX® controls for MS-Visual Basic.NET™ and embedded MS-Visual C++ software programmers. These royalty free products can be utilized in creating private, license-free, custom Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) targeted for use on either Desktop, Embedded, Tablet or Pocket PCs. For more specific information, please go to URL: www.plcdriver.com/opcactivex.htm

Automation.com Real-time Information for the Automation Professional May. 23, 2012

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