Handheld Group Wins Large Public Transportation Tender for Rugged PDAs

Handheld Will Supply Netherlands Railways (NS) With More Than 10,000 Rugged Handhelds for Ticket Control, Travel Information and Support of Workflow Processes.

LIDKOPING, Sweden, April 12, 2011 - The Handheld Group (www.handheldgroup.com/) has been awarded the
contract to supply the Netherlands Railways (Nederlandse Spoorwegen, NS) with
more than 10,000 rugged Nautiz handhelds, 6,000 of which will be the Nautiz
eTicket Pro(R) (www.nautiz.com/eticketpro/facts.asp), containing an
Arcontia RFID module.

(Photo:
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(Photo:
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The NS European tender was the largest tender in the world for rugged
PDAs in the public transportation sector during the past 12 months and one of
the largest projects in the world for rugged handheld devices for all
business verticals. Consisting of a technical and commercial evaluation,
competition included all the major global suppliers of rugged handheld
devices. The Nautiz eTicket Pro was among the top of the evaluated units,
with the e-ticketing knowledge of Handheld's RFID partner Arcontia
(www.arcontia.se/ ) and the attractive pricing playing a key role in
Handheld being awarded the contract.

"The Nautiz eTicket Pro provided the best of two worlds for us; a
powerful PDA platform integrated with the latest generation Arcontia RFID
module," said Jasper van Zanten, NS Business consultant. "The combination met
all the mandatory requirements in the tender and the commercial offer
completed the package. Therefore, the complete picture suited our situation
best."

The contract was won by a consortium, HS Mobility, formed by Handheld
Group together with the Dutch software partner company Sigmax B.V.
(www.sigmax.nl/gb/content/5/0/0/home.aspx). Sigmax is a supplier of
mobility software for the public transportation market and they contribute
the third-line support to the project. The contract to supply more than
10,000 rugged PDAs extends over five years with the majority being deployed
during 2011.

"We are extremely proud to have been awarded the contract to supply
rugged handhelds for the Netherlands Railways," said Jerker Hellstrom, CEO of
the Handheld Group. "The tender and selection process has been very thorough
and the competition for the contract has been fierce. This makes it
especially rewarding to be declared the winner."

The final round of the tender consisted of NS first-line personnel
evaluating the devices that had been selected from the contenders. In a
direct comparison, an overwhelming choice for the excellent ergonomics of the
Handheld Nautiz PDA ensured tremendous initial user acceptance for the new
Railpocket devices. All first line personnel will be issued their own
personal device which they will use to support their daily activities like
ticket control and travel information.

"The Nautiz eTicket Pro from Handheld was selected by the personnel that
will actually be using the device, after we determined it met the
requirements set in the tender," said Jasper van Zanten of Netherlands
Railways. "Especially at this scale, consulting the end users during the
tender process is a pro-active way to create a solid base of user
acceptance."

The Nautiz eTicket Pro rugged PDA, designed specifically for payment
transactions and validations within the public transportation market, was
developed in collaboration with Arcontia, a leading supplier of smart card
readers for public transportation applications.

The integrated smart card reader supports near field communication (NFC)
for mobile applications, smart posters and tickets, including both passive
reader mode and active peer-to-peer (P2P) mode. The built-in reader complies
with all the latest e-ticketing requirements in public transportation,
supporting a broad range of contactless standards, including the entire
MiFare family.

The Nautiz eTicket Pro comes with an 806 MHz processor and advanced
features such as an integrated 3-megapixel camera with autofocus, an
integrated 2-D imager, WLAN, Bluetooth, 3G cellular capabilities and GPS. The
operating system is Windows Mobile 6.1, and the device offers 256 MB of RAM
and 512 MB of built-in Flash storage. It includes three integrated SAM
(Secure Access Model) slots, which can work in parallel independently of each
other for extended performance. The rechargeable 4400 mAh Li-ion battery
provides more than a full day's work on a single charge. The transflective
VGA color display and touch screen provide sharp and clear resolution even
while working outdoors.

"Contracts and orders of this magnitude strengthen our position in the
public transportation market in particular, but also in all industry
verticals. Winning the single largest contract for PDAs in Europe is
something we're elated to have achieved," says Jerker Hellstrom.

Deliveries to NS will begin soon. The Nautiz eTicket Pro will also be
shown at the UITP (www.uitpdubai2011.org/exhibition/welcome/) Public
Transportation Conference and Exhibition in Dubai this week.

About Handheld:

The Handheld Group is a worldwide supplier of rugged mobile computers and
PDAs. Handheld and its partners deliver complete mobility solutions to
businesses in industries such as logistics, forestry, public transportation,
construction, military and security. The Handheld Group of Sweden has local
offices in Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Australia and the USA. For more
information, please see www.handheldgroup.com

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Media Contact: Sofia Lofblad, Marketing Director, Handheld Group AB, s.lofblad at handheldgroup.com , +46-510-54-71-70.