New Splashtop OS Now Available for Consumer Download Instant-on leader signs search distribution agreement with Microsoft, provides instant Bing search to users

November 30, 2010 — San Jose, CA — Splashtop Inc, the worldwide leader in instant-access computing, today announced the immediate availability of SplashtopR OS (beta), a lightweight, web-centric operating system optimized for notebooks and netbooks. Splashtop OS is a browser-based “companion OS” that can co-exist with the Windows operating system. The company also announced a new worldwide search distribution agreement with Microsoft Corp., through which Bing will become the default search engine across the Splashtop family of products. The new product, coupled with Bing technology, will make the promise of Instant Search available to millions of consumers worldwide.

Splashtop OS is designed for people who “live on the web” and need fast, reliable access to their favorite sites and web-based applications, as well as a traditional Windows-based desktop environment. In addition to prominently featuring Bing as the default web search provider, Splashtop OS delivers a simple yet familiar environment based on Chromium, the open source project behind the Google Chrome browser.

“We’re experts in getting you what you want – and fast!” said Mark Lee, CEO and co-founder of Splashtop Inc. “Through our OEM-branded instant-on products, we’ve already got millions of PC users hooked on Splashtop speed. With our downloadable product, we’re aiming to reach the rest of the population. And now, together with Microsoft, we’re going to put some zing into web search.”

Unlike previous Splashtop products that have been white labeled, pre-installed and distributed on tens of millions of PCs from major OEMs like Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and LG, the new product will be Splashtop-branded and available directly to end users via download from the company’s web site. Splashtop OS is streamlined: it will include no native applications beyond the Chromium-based browser, and will boot directly to a Bing-powered search box in just seconds.

“We are excited to be working with Splashtop on giving our mutual customers easy access to Bing’s powerful tools that help customers make more informed decisions,” said Jon Tinter, General Manager at Bing. “Our two companies share a vision for instantly-available, search-centric computing experiences. We think Bing is a natural addition to the Splashtop OS providing the perfect way for users to more quickly find the information they need to complete complex tasks and make better decisions.”

An instant-on, browser-centric OS allows users to quickly get to the content that matters to them. Users can do a quick search, find an address, check email or update their status on Facebook or Twitter without having to boot into Windows and launch a web browser. In contrast to Google’s Chrome OS, expected to reach the market before the end of the year, Splashtop OS is intended to complement – not replace – Windows as the primary desktop operating system.

Key benefits include:

Fast — less than 5 seconds to start
Easy — Instant Search, a pre-browser Bing-powered search box for faster queries
Safe — features a locked-down Linux core running a Chromium-based browser
Convenient — includes all the core plug-ins, such as Adobe Flash, pre-installed so there is nothing more to configure
Smart — automatically imports critical settings such as region, language, time/date, Wi-Fi networks and browser bookmarks from Windows for streamlined set-up

Availability
Splashtop OS (beta) has been optimized to install and run on several popular platforms from HP, including Mini netbooks and Pavilion notebooks. Platforms from other PC makers that have bundled Splashtop will also be supported. Support for additional Splashtop-based platforms will be made available in the coming months.

About Splashtop
Splashtop Inc. (formerly known as DeviceVM, Inc.) was founded in 2006 with the goal of optimizing the computing experience so that people everywhere can quickly get to what matters to them. The flagship Splashtop OS product, first introduced in 2007, is an award-winning instant-on platform that allows users to get online, access e-mail, and chat with friends seconds after turning on their PCs. The expanded family of products includes Splashtop Remote, which allows users to enjoy the full Windows experience from their iPad or other mobile device, while away from their Windows PC.

Today, Splashtop-based products are available on more than 40 million PCs from leading manufacturers including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG and Sony. Splashtop has received numerous awards, including the prestigious “Most Innovative Product” award from PC World, the “Best of What’s New” award from Popular Science, and “Best of 2010 CES” award from Laptop Magazine. Splashtop Inc. is headquartered in San Jose with offices in Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Taipei. For more information, visit https://www.splashtop.com

Media contact:
Splashtop PR Team

Useful links:
Splashtop home: https://www.splashtop.com