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"MILFORD, Conn., April 3, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- At a press conference on
Tuesday, Panasonic revealed major changes in its telecommunications and
high definition television divisions. New low-voltage plasma technology,
partly sourced from AbleComm, Inc., is uniting the two divisions in new
product initiatives, including plasma video displays for cell phones to use
with AT&T's recently announced Mobile TV service."

The service will provide full-length television content and sporting
events from CBS, Comedy Central, ESPN, FOX, MTV, NBC and Nickelodeon. It
will be available in May.

Panasonic Communications and Networking Division Vice President Hiroshi
Mitsukoshi told of a leadership shift in business phone systems, and Robert
A. Perry provided a look at the future of Panasonic's HDTV business.

Larry White, who had been National Marketing Manager of the
Communication Systems Group, has left the company. White will be replaced
by Mark Balsama, who had been Group Manager of the Communications Systems
Division until his retirement last summer.

Mitsukoshi told reporters gathered at AbleComm headquarters in Milford,
CT, "I am extremely pleased that we have been able to convince the beloved
Mark-san to come out of retirement and return to his desk. He worked at
Panasonic for nearly 35 years and has an unmatched reputation and a special
relationship with our dealers and distributors, and he will be a vital part
of preparing the division for the future."

"We have defined our future as the dominant seller of plasma
televisions, even though other display types have taken away percentage
points in some screen sizes. We know that plasma is still the magic word
that excites most buyers, and recent decisions by Pioneer and Fujitsu to
exit the plasma display panel business offer us the opportunity to gain
market share."

Mark Balsama then addressed the group and revealed plans to incorporate
newly developed, miniature plasma displays in telephone products. "This is
my first official day back at work, and I have a very exciting announcement
to make. For nearly a decade, Panasonic's engineers have been secretly
working on a thin, lightweight low-voltage compact plasma display. We have
recently reached a licensing agreement for some key technology with product
developer AbleComm, Inc. -- the same company that conceived our very
successful KX-TVS50 voicemail system over 10 years ago. We will be able to
incorporate miniature plasma displays into both consumer and business
telephone products starting this fall. They will rival OLED displays for
brightness, contrast and thinness, and can be manufactured for much less
money."

AbleComm president Michael N. Marcus said, "This is an unexpected and
happy coincidence for all of us. Our company has had a long relationship
with Panasonic. Several years ago we developed a family of high-efficiency
headsets for use with Panasonic business phones, and it turned out that a
proprietary component used in those headsets was exactly what Panasonic
needed to complete the development of their low-voltage miniaturized plasma
displays."

Balsama continued, "Many of our new phones will have vibrant color
plasma screens that can run on just 1.5 volts and won't require any
additional wiring or special power supplies. We'll be able to put plasma in
cell phones, business phones, consumer phones, corded phones, cordless
phones, and even door intercom monitors and fax machines. We will
revolutionize the consumer electronics business, as Panasonic has done many
times before."

Robert A. Perry, the new Senior Vice President of Panasonic Consumer
Electronics Company who is responsible for marketing plasma and LCD HDTVs,
also addressed the meeting. He said, "Our plasma expertise and our large-
scale, efficient manufacturing will allow these new small Panasonic plasma
screens to replace LCDs in many applications -- gasoline pumps, automated
teller machines, camera viewfinders, MP3 players, vending machines,
automotive displays, digital photo frames, appliance touch screens and even
the little pop-up screens on printers. In fact, I am pleased to announce
that we will be supplying mini plasma screens to HP for an exclusive
two-year period for use in their printers. We view our thin low-voltage PDP
technology as a pre- emptive strike against OLED technology."

He pointed out that despite Panasonic's strong belief in the
superiority of plasma displays, "We can't afford to ignore the growing
demand for LCD HDTVs. At the same time that we are OEM-ing plasma for
Pioneer, we will be quickly adding many models of LCD TVs to our line,
buying OEM LCD display panels from Sharp, our good neighbor in Osaka."

"This strategy," Perry concluded, "will position Panasonic as the world
leader in television sales among first-tier brands, capitalize on the
economy of scale and cost savings of both LCD and plasma technologies from
our new business partners, minimize future production risks and stabilize
long-term profitability in a chaotic market."

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi[....]y/04-03-2008/0004785780&EDATE=

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Posted: 2008-04-04 00:40:56
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