News release

HP and Woosh! Enter Relationship to Create e-Services Infrastructure for Small Businesses, Portals and Wireless Networks

PALO ALTO, Calif., and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 23, 2000

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HWP) and Woosh! Inc., an Internet technology and infrastructure company, today announced their intention to work together on the development of an innovative e-services infrastructure. As an initial step, HP has agreed to provide Woosh! with up to $20 million in debt financing to help fund the creation of a Web-accessible always-on e-services infrastructure.

A wide range of organizations from small businesses, to online portals of any size, to massive wireless network providers, will be able to access Woosh!'s e-services infrastructure via the Web to provide new services to their customers, generate new revenue streams and operate more efficiently. Woosh! is constructing this open infrastructure, which is based on a software discovery made by former Stanford University students, on HP enterprise systems. HP's open-sourced e-speak platform is also a key component in the Woosh! solution, allowing virtually any Internet-connected organization to conduct real-time service discovery and interaction, while providing the ability to work with new standards and networks as they emerge.

"Woosh! is breaking new ground with its business model, technology and culture, and there are strong synergies between our visions of how the Internet can be made to work for everyone -- including smaller and independent businesses that may still be daunted by the prospect of going online," said Rich Raimondi, vice president and general manager, HP E-Services.Solutions. "We expect the relationship with Woosh! to be a vehicle for future revenue growth across many of our business units."

In addition to their funding relationship, Woosh! and HP are also exploring a broader relationship as Woosh! nears the deployment of its infrastructure in 2001. The expanded relationship could include the two companies working together to co-develop, co-market and co-distribute the Woosh! solution to industries across the Internet.

"Our infrastructure and deployment requirements made it clear that we needed more than a top-tier enterprise hardware vendor," said Ralph Garvin, Jr., Woosh! president and chief executive officer. "We spoke to a number of impressive technology firms, but HP won both our business and our trust. We share a common vision of where the Internet is headed and what needs to be done to give organizations of all types access to the prosperity the Internet has to offer."

About Woosh!

Woosh! is a cool Internet technology company founded in 1999 to construct an open, always on infrastructure that supplies plug-and-play support to the Internet for commerce activities. The Woosh! infrastructure enables organizations ranging from wireless providers, online portals and vertical marketplaces, to small or independent businesses to plug in and dynamically create new services and access new markets. Based on a computer science discovery made by classmates while attending Stanford University, Woosh! shares the Silicon Valley student-entrepreneur legacy pioneered by HP. Today, the fast-growing Woosh! team is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., and is dedicated to creating a fun, energizing environment among the world's best while, more importantly, building a culture of sincere care, friendship and loyalty. For more information about Woosh!, please visit www.woosh.com or email jobs@woosh.com.

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services -- is focused on making technology and its benefits accessible to individuals and businesses through simple appliances, useful e-services and an Internet infrastructure that's always on.

HP has 86,000 employees worldwide and had total revenue from continuing operations of $42.4 billion in its 1999 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.