Global Consulting Touch Ibca and Bluegiga sign R&D collaboration agreement; Bluetooth technology integrated with location systems

Global Consulting Touch Ibca (GCT), a Spanish company specialized in mobile and location technologies, and Bluegiga Technologies, a Finnish company dedicated to the development of Bluetooth technology, today announced an R&D collaboration agreement. Joint R&D activities are focused on bringing appealing new features to wireless terminals through the integration of location-awareness with Bluetooth connectivity.

Madrid June 17, 2004 -- The Bluegiga Bluetooth module has already been integrated in Global Consulting Touch automobile location products, creating the first automobile devices on the market featuring positioning and communication capacities that allow seamless integration with other Bluetooth-enabled devices.

GCT automobile devices are used for applications such as the supervision and route planning of transport company vehicles. The solutions incorporate the latest advances in mobility: GPS localization, GPRS data communication, event recording and picture transmission from the actual trucks. A continuous connection between company offices and the vehicles provides significant improvements in efficiency and security.

Synergies between Global Consulting Touch and Bluegiga have resulted in the creation of a perfect tandem. Both Bluegiga and Global Consulting Touch have a considerable staff devoted to research, and both are companies that are clearly focused on technological innovation in our markets, says General Manager Tom Nordman from Bluegiga.

The R&D collaboration agreement aims to integrate GCT location systems and Bluegiga Bluetooth technology in order to provide personal wireless terminals with new features and to allow Bluetooth devices to exchange information with GCT location devices. The R&D work focuses on the development of protocols for GCT applications and on their interoperability with Bluetooth, starting from the module designed by Bluegiga.

The joint research and development effort made by Global Consulting Touch and Bluegiga is pioneering in Europe in the challenge of turning Bluetooth technology into a communication bridge without barriers, states Mercedes Urios, Global Consulting Touch Technology Manager. Traffic optimization according to its properties and management of the channel capacity offered by the Bluegiga module are decisive factors to achieve this goal.

About Global Consulting Touch
GCT IBERICA (GCT) is a leading provider of location services provided to users in ASP mode over the internet and by its own devices. GCT devices, which make simultaneous use of positioning information systems, wireless interfaces and communication networks, enable to offer solutions and customized applications to a wide range of needs.

GCT location service covers Europe and the company is recently initiating commercial launch in Brazil, Chile, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

GCT is a Spanish company that was founded in July 2002 with private capital. In less than two years it has grown dramatically from 5 to nearly 80 employees and has reached a annual turnover of US$ 8 Million in 2003. The forecasts for Q3 2004 indicate an improvement of last year's results. For further information, please visit www.gctiberica.com.

About Bluegiga Technologies
Bluegiga Technologies provides wireless local area networks and M2M communications systems based on Bluetooth technology. Bluegiga WRAP Access Servers integrate Bluetooth-enabled devices as part of a corporate network. Bluegiga WRAP THOR Bluetooth modules are robust, lightweight and flexibly embeddable. Software-configurable for versatile integration, Bluegiga products are ideally suited to enterprise proximity access, telemetry, remote monitoring and cable replacement applications. Founded in 2000, Bluegiga is based in Espoo, Finland and privately held. Bluegiga products are globally available via a network of qualified distributors, original design manufacturers and system integrators. For further information, please visit www.bluegiga.com.

Further information:
Bluegiga Company Contact:           
Mr. Tom Nordman, General Manager
Email: e-mail protected from spam bots
Tel. +358 9 4124 0450

GCT Company Contact
Ms. Mercedes Urios, Operations Deputy Head
Email: e-mail protected from spam bots
Tel. +34 91 443 02 76

Ms. Virginia Caballero, Marketing-Comunication Manager
Email: e-mail protected from spam bots
Tel. +34 91 443 02 76

Bluegiga Agency Contact:
Mr. Ile Ken, Netprofile Finland
Email: e-mail protected from spam bots
Tel. +358 9 6812 080