News release

HP Opens Top Technology Producers Contest to Recognize Tech-savvy Real Estate Professionals

Recipients will be honored during the 2005 National Association of Realtors Conference

HP today announced the launch of its second annual Top Technology Producers contest, which recognizes real estate professionals who use technology to be more efficient, improve customer service, enhance marketing tactics, generate more listings and improve overall sales revenue.

The contest runs through Aug. 31, 2005, and applications are available online at http://www.hp.com/go/techpro

Technology is essential to the operations and success of small businesses, according to a recent small business survey released by HP and conducted by Harris Interactive®.⁽¹⁾ In fact, 81 percent of respondents plan to increase technology spending in a variety of ways (for example, technology overall, company websites, online services and weblogs) over the next two to three years. Small businesses that plan to increase overall technology spending anticipate doing so by 20 percent on average.

As small businesses and real estate professionals expand their technology investments, HP's Smart Office initiative will continue to provide a simple, easy-to-understand approach to technology, so customers can spend less time worrying about technology and more time focused on their core business.

"HP understands the unique needs of real estate entrepreneurs and is committed to helping them sustain a winning advantage through HP's Smart Office program by providing proven, reliable, high-quality products and solutions designed specifically for them; local and specialized expertise; and a simplified experience with technology," said Lisa Hopkins, manager, real estate market, Small and Medium Business, HP. "This contest recognizes real estate professionals who demonstrate the significant impact the right technology can make on their business."

One example of such technology, HP's Real Estate Marketing Assistant software, is designed specifically for real estate professionals who want to create custom, professional-grade marketing materials so that they are better able to market their businesses and properties.

2005 HP Top Technology Producers contest details

A panel of industry and technology experts in the fields of real estate, technology, digital imaging and photography, printing, small business and marketing communications will review and evaluate all the entries for the 2005 HP Top Technology Producers contest. The panel will select the winners and runner-ups, who will be announced during the annual National Association of Realtors Conference in San Francisco.

Contest winners will receive a variety of HP technology solutions including:

• Grand Prize: A choice of a HP Compaq Tablet PC tc4200 or HP Compaq Tablet PC tc1100 and $180 worth of HP professional brochure paper;



• Second Prize: Choice of an HP iPAQ Pocket PC or an HP Officejet multifunction printer and $180 worth of HP professional brochure paper;



• Third Prize: Choice of an HP Deskjet 450wbt mobile printer or an HP Photosmart Digital Camera (up to $349) and $180 worth of HP professional brochure paper.

Five runner-ups will receive the HP Real Estate Marketing Assistant software for creating comprehensive marketing tools.

More information about HP's real estate solutions is available at http://www.hp.com/go/realestate.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended April 30, 2005, HP revenue totaled $83.3 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

⁽¹⁾ Survey methodology: Harris Interactive conducted the HP Small Business Survey between March 3-15, 2005, by telephone in the United States among 399 small business owners or senior-level employees age 25-64 at companies with 1-99 employees. Data are unweighted and therefore only representative of the sample interviewed. In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results for the overall sample have a sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. Sampling error for those planning to invest in technology over the next two to three years (242) is plus or minus 6 percentage points.