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[March 22, 2004] SmartServ Announces Partnership with Merit Industries; Self-Serve Mobile Content Vending Machines to Be Launched in Stores Nationwide PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., March 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SmartServ Online, Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: SSRV) announced today that its subsidiary nReach, a leading provider of mobile ringtones, graphics, games and applications, has entered into a partnership with Merit Industries, the worldwide leader in touchscreen entertainment devices, to introduce the first self-serve mobile content vending machine at locations nationwide.nReach vending machines will feature licensed content, including ringtones from American Idol, The Matrix, Eminem, Britney Spears, 50 Cent, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, 2Pac, Snoop Dogg and Frank Sinatra; images from MAXIM and Corbis, and games, such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, NHL Power Shot Hockey, Spiderman, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Charlie's Angels, Q*Bert, and Rayman. Personalizing mobile phones was previously only available through a phone handset or the Web, which limited opportunities for consumers and content owners, said Mike Stemple, nReach's President and Founder. nReach vending machines will create new revenue opportunities for content owners -- movie distributors, record companies, and game developers -- by reaching customers with ringtones, graphics and games who would not otherwise be exposed to such content. This clearly represents the future of mobile content distribution, said Brian Fitzpatrick, Merit's Senior VP, Business Development. We're introducing an entirely new platform that is as easy to use as an ATM or a soda machine. nReach mobile content vending machines feature smart, touchscreen technology that lets mobile phone customers sample and purchase content. Once the customer has completed the purchase, the product is sent instantly, over- the-air, to their mobile phone. Vending machines are available as freestanding or countertop units. With an installed base of over 170,000 touch-screen games garnering nearly 4.5 billion plays per year, Merit Industries is the worldwide leader in touch- screen entertainment devices. nReach mobile content vending machines will be on display at the CTIA Wireless 2004 Show (booth 1775) in the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA, from March 22-24. About SmartServ SmartServ (BULLETIN BOARD: SSRV) has a complete suite of wireless applications and the technologies to bring them to market, spanning the entire mobile phone industry from the consumer to the enterprise. SmartServ's customer and distribution relationships include wireless carriers, strategic partners, and a major financial institution. Our applications can be delivered via Java(TM) 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME(TM)), QUALCOMM's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless(TM) (BREW(TM)) solution, WAP and SMS, as well as RIM Blackberry and Pocket PC devices. For more information, please visit http://www.smartserv.com/. About nReach nReach, a SmartServ company, provides the retail, marketing and entertainment industries with a comprehensive technology platform to capitalize on the growing market for mobile phone content. Its private label solutions consist of online ecommerce, retail packaged goods/PIN card sales and the industry's first Mobile Content Vending Machine for unattended sales. nReach's solution also provides the largest selection of content, as well as, carrier and mobile phone support. For more information, please visit http://www.nreach.com/. About Merit Industries Merit Industries is the worldwide leader in touchscreen entertainment devices. Merit Industries' products appear globally in a wide array of venues and appeal to an almost limitless demographic. Merit continues to expand its position in the industry with ever-increasing entertainment, content, and new games. The company maintains a Web site with all the latest information at http://www.meritind.com/. Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this document and those made from time-to-time by the Company are made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward- looking statements concerning future plans or results are necessarily only estimates and actual results could differ materially from expectations. Certain factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, and are not limited to, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, the size and timing of awards and performances on contracts, dependence on large contracts and a limited number of customers, dependence on wireless and/or internet networks of third-parties for certain products and services, lengthy sales and implementation cycles, changes in management estimates incident to accounting for contracts, availability and cost of key components, market acceptance of new or enhanced products and services, proprietary technology and changing technology, competitive conditions, system performance, management of growth, the risk that the Company's current and future products and services may contain errors or be affected by technical problems that would be difficult and costly to detect and correct, dependence on key personnel and general economic and political conditions and other factors affecting spending by customers, and other risks described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SmartServ Online, Inc. CONTACT: Investors, Robert Pons, Chief Executive Officer of SmartServOnline, Inc., +1-610-397-0689, Ext. 202, or [email protected]; or Media,Neil Vineberg of Vineberg Communications, +1-631-288-6933, +1-631-235-8963, [email protected], for SmartServ Online, Inc. Web site: http://www.smartserv.com/http://www.nreach.com/http://www.meritind.com/ |