Denver, October 12, 1998 -- NS BASIC Corporation announced today the immediate availability of NS Basic/CE, a complete programming environment that runs on the following operating systems from Microsoft Corp.: Windows CE for the Handheld PC (the third-generation software from Microsoft for the Handheld PC), and Windows CE, Handheld PC Professional Edition.

NS Basic/CE brings BASIC, the most widely used programming language in the world, onto devices running these two versions of Windows CE. All development is done directly on the unit itself. NS Basic/CE features extensions providing visual objects (such as boxes and buttons), serial and WINSOCK communications, financial functions, file I/O and more. It supports ActiveX objects as well as the ADO database for Windows CE, which is also used by Pocket Access.

"A Handheld PC is a surprisingly good environment for development," said George Henne, President of NS BASIC. "The performance is great, and there's nothing like getting immediate results when you're programming. It's even better on devices using the Handheld PC Pro Edition software."

The product includes a powerful development and debugging envronment, allowing programmers to test and modify variables and code interactively. It is designed to take full advantage of the capabilities of Windows CE and the handheld computer environment.

"The announcement of NS Basic/CE – which supports Windows CE for the Handheld PC and the Handheld PC Pro Edition – is praised by Microsoft," said Jonathan Roberts, general manager, Consumer Appliances Group, Microsoft. "NS Basic/CE helps open the Windows CE platform to many more developers, further establishing the operating system as a leading open and expandable mobile computing platform and allowing mobile professionals to stay connected and to be instantly productive."

NS Basic/CE runs on all current devices using Windows CE for Handheld PCs, as well devices announced today by a number of manufacturers that use the new Handheld PC Pro Edition software. The price is $99.95 USD, and includes a 175 page pocket sized Handbook.

NS BASIC is the leader in creating development tools for use on handheld systems. Since 1993, it has created easy to use programming environments for Newton MessagePads, eMates, ExpertPads and others. NS BASIC has customers in over 40 countries, in virtually every business and educational segment.

For further information on NS Basic/CE please visit the web site at http://www.nsbasic.com or call 416 264-5999. For orders, call 1 888 NS BASIC (24 hours).

NOTE TO EDITORS: For a technical overview of the newly released product and screen shots, please visit the Web site at http://www.nsbasic.com or contact

George Henne

NS BASIC Corporation

(416) 264-5999

press@nsbasic.com

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