<PAGE>


THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NEITHER AN OFFER TO PURCHASE NOR A SOLICITATION OF AN
OFFER TO SELL SHARES. THE OFFER IS MADE SOLELY BY THE OFFER TO PURCHASE DATED
AUGUST 19, 2002 AND THE RELATED LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AND ANY AMENDMENTS OR
SUPPLEMENTS THERETO AND IS BEING MADE TO ALL HOLDERS OF SHARES. THE PURCHASER
IS NOT AWARE OF ANY STATE OR JURISDICTION WHERE THE MAKING OF THE OFFER OR THE
ACCEPTANCE OF SHARES IS PROHIBITED BY ANY APPLICABLE LAW. IF THE PURCHASER
BECOMES AWARE OF ANY STATE OR JURISDICTION WHERE THE MAKING OF THE OFFER OR THE
ACCEPTANCE OF SHARES IS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH ANY APPLICABLE LAW, THE
PURCHASER WILL MAKE A GOOD FAITH EFFORT TO COMPLY WITH SUCH LAW. IF, AFTER SUCH
GOOD FAITH EFFORT, THE PURCHASER CANNOT COMPLY WITH SUCH LAW, THE OFFER WILL
NOT BE MADE TO (NOR WILL TENDERS BE ACCEPTED FROM OR ON BEHALF OF) THE HOLDERS
OF SHARES IN SUCH STATE OR JURISDICTION. IN ANY STATE OR JURISDICTION WHERE THE
SECURITIES, BLUE SKY OR OTHER LAWS REQUIRE THE OFFER TO BE MADE BY A LICENSED
BROKER OR DEALER, THE OFFER SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE MADE ON BEHALF OF THE
PURCHASER BY ONE OR MORE REGISTERED BROKERS OR DEALERS LICENSED UNDER THE LAWS
OF SUCH STATE OR JURISDICTION.


                     NOTICE OF OFFER TO PURCHASE FOR CASH
                 ALL OF THE OUTSTANDING SHARES OF COMMON STOCK
                                       OF


                                @POS.COM, INC.
                                      AT
                              $0.46 NET PER SHARE
                                      BY


                           SYMBOL ACQUISITION CORP.
                         A WHOLLY-OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF
                           SYMBOL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

     Symbol Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation (the "Purchaser") and a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Symbol Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation
("Parent"), is offering to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of
common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the "Shares"), of @pos.com, Inc., a
Delaware corporation (the "Company"), at a price of $0.46 per Share, net to the
seller in cash, without interest thereon (the "Offer Price"), upon the terms
and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase dated August
19, 2002 (the "Offer to Purchase") and in the related Letter of Transmittal
(which, as they may be amended and supplemented from time to time, together
constitute the "Offer").

THE OFFER AND WITHDRAWAL RIGHTS WILL EXPIRE AT 12:00 MIDNIGHT, NEW YORK CITY
TIME, ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2002, UNLESS THE OFFER IS EXTENDED. THE OFFER IS
CONDITIONED UPON THERE BEING VALIDLY TENDERED AND NOT WITHDRAWN PURSUANT TO THE
OFFER PRIOR TO THE EXPIRATION OF THE OFFER SUCH NUMBER OF SHARES WHICH WOULD
CONSTITUTE AT LEAST A MAJORITY OF THE OUTSTANDING SHARES ON A FULLY DILUTED
BASIS ON THE DATE OF PURCHASE (THE "MINIMUM CONDITION"). THE OFFER IS ALSO
CONDITIONED UPON THE SATISFACTION OF CERTAIN OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS
DESCRIBED IN SECTION 14 OF THE OFFER TO PURCHASE.

     The Offer is being made pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated
as of August 12, 2002 (the "Merger Agreement"), by and among Parent, the
Purchaser and the Company. The Merger Agreement provides for, among other
things, the making of the Offer by the Purchaser and that, subject to the terms
and conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, and in accordance with the
General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the "DGCL"), the Purchaser
will be merged with and into the Company (the "Merger") at the effective time
of the Merger (the "Effective Time"), with the Company continuing as the
surviving corporation. At the Effective Time, except for (i) Shares which are
held by the Company or by Parent or any other subsidiary of Parent, all of
which will automatically be canceled and will cease to exist, without any cash
<PAGE>

or other consideration being delivered or deliverable in exchange therefor, and
(ii) Shares, if any, held by holders (the "Holders") who have not voted such
Shares in favor of the Merger and have perfected their appraisal rights under
the DGCL, each Share issued and outstanding will, by virtue of the Merger and
without any action by the Holders thereof, be converted into the right to
receive an amount in cash equal to $0.46, without interest. The Merger
Agreement is more fully described in Section 11 of the Offer to Purchase. Under
Delaware law, if the Purchaser acquires, pursuant to the Offer or otherwise, at
least 90% of the issued and outstanding Shares, the Purchaser will be able to
approve and effect the Merger without a vote of the Company's stockholders. If,
however, the Purchaser does not acquire at least 90% of the issued and
outstanding Shares, pursuant to the Offer or otherwise, a vote of the Company's
stockholders to effect the Merger is required under Delaware law and a longer
period of time will be required to effect the Merger as described in Section 11
of the Offer to Purchase. As of the date hereof, following the expiration of
the Offer, the Purchaser does not intend to make available a subsequent
offering period for the Shares.

     THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COMPANY HAS UNANIMOUSLY (i) DETERMINED THAT
THE TERMS OF THE OFFER AND THE MERGER ARE FAIR TO AND IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF
THE HOLDERS, (ii) APPROVED THE MERGER AGREEMENT AND THE TRANSACTIONS
CONTEMPLATED THEREBY, INCLUDING THE OFFER AND THE MERGER AND (iii) DECLARED THE
ADVISABILITY OF THE MERGER AGREEMENT AND RECOMMENDED THAT THE HOLDERS ACCEPT
THE OFFER, TENDER THEIR SHARES PURSUANT TO THE OFFER AND (IF REQUIRED BY
APPLICABLE LAW) ADOPT THE MERGER AGREEMENT.

     Tendering Holders whose Shares are registered in their own name and who
tender directly to U.S. Stock Transfer Corporation, as depositary (the
"Depositary"), will not be obligated to pay brokerage fees or commissions or,
except as set forth in Instruction 6 of the Letter of Transmittal, transfer
taxes on the Shares accepted for payment pursuant to the Offer. The Purchaser
will pay all charges and expenses of the Depositary and Georgeson Shareholder
Communications, Inc., as Information Agent, in each case incurred in connection
with the Offer. In order for Shares to be validly tendered pursuant to the
Offer, a Holder must, prior to the Expiration Date (as defined below), (i)
deliver to the Depositary at the address set forth on the back cover of the
Offer to Purchase (a) a properly completed and duly executed Letter of
Transmittal (or a copy thereof) with any required signature guarantees, (b) the
certificates for Shares to be tendered and (c) any other documents required to
be included with the Letter of Transmittal under the terms and subject to the
conditions thereof and of the Offer to Purchase, (ii) cause such Holder's
broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or custodian to tender
applicable Shares pursuant to the procedures for book-entry transfer described
in Section 3 of the Offer to Purchase or (iii) comply with the guaranteed
delivery procedures described in Section 3 of the Offer to Purchase.

     For purposes of the Offer, the Purchaser will be deemed to have accepted
for payment (and thereby purchased) Shares validly tendered and not properly
withdrawn if, as and when the Purchaser gives oral or written notice to the
Depositary of the Purchaser's acceptance for payment of such Shares. Upon the
terms and subject to the conditions of the Offer, payment for Shares accepted
pursuant to the Offer will be made by deposit of the purchase price therefor
with the Depositary, which will act as agent for tendering Holders for the
purpose of receiving payments from the Purchaser and transmitting payments to
Holders whose Shares have been accepted for payment. In all cases, payment for
Shares purchased pursuant to the Offer will be made only after timely receipt
by the Depositary of (i) the certificates evidencing such Shares, or timely
confirmation of a book-entry transfer of such Shares into the Depositary's
account at the Book-Entry Transfer Facility (as defined in Section 2 of the
Offer to Purchase), (ii) the Letter of Transmittal (or a copy thereof),
properly completed and duly executed together with any required signature
guarantees (or, in the case of a book entry transfer, an Agent's Message (as
defined in Section 2 of the Offer to Purchase)) and (iii) any other documents
required by the Letter of Transmittal. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL INTEREST ON
THE PURCHASE PRICE FOR SHARES BE PAID BY THE PURCHASER, REGARDLESS OF ANY DELAY
IN MAKING SUCH PAYMENT OR EXTENSION OF THE EXPIRATION DATE (AS DEFINED BELOW).

     The term "Expiration Date" shall mean 12:00 midnight, New York City time,
on Monday, September 16, 2002, unless and until the Purchaser (subject to the
terms of the Merger Agreement), shall have extended the period of time during
which the Offer is open, in which event the term "Expiration Date" shall mean
the latest


                                       2
<PAGE>

time and date at which the Offer, as so extended by the Purchaser, shall
expire. Subject to the provisions of the Merger Agreement, the applicable rules
and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission")
and applicable law, the Purchaser expressly reserves the right, at any time or
from time to time, to extend the period of time during which the Offer is open,
including upon the occurrence of any of the events specified in Section 14 of
the Offer to Purchase, by giving notice of such extension to the Depositary and
by making a public announcement thereof not later than 9:00 a.m., New York City
time, on the next business day after the day on which the Offer was scheduled
to expire. Subject to applicable law (including, but not limited to, Rule
14d-4(d) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange
Act"), which requires that material changes be promptly disseminated to Holders
in a manner reasonably designed to inform them of such changes) and without
limiting the manner in which the Purchaser may choose to make any public
announcement, the Purchaser will have no obligation to publish, advertise or
otherwise communicate any such public announcement other than by issuing a
press release to the Dow Jones News Service or as otherwise may be required by
applicable law. During any such extension, all Shares previously tendered and
not properly withdrawn will remain subject to the Offer, subject to the right
of a tendering Holder to withdraw its Shares.

     Subject to the provisions of the Merger Agreement, the applicable rules
and regulations of the Commission and applicable law, the Purchaser also
expressly reserves the right, in its sole discretion, at any time and from time
to time, (i) to delay acceptance for payment of, or, regardless of whether such
Shares were theretofore accepted for payment, payment for, any Shares in order
to comply in whole or in part with applicable law, (ii) to terminate the Offer
on any scheduled expiration date and not accept for payment any Shares if any
of the conditions referred to in Section 14 of the Offer to Purchase are not
satisfied or any of the events specified in Section 14 of the Offer to Purchase
have occurred and (iii) to waive any condition or otherwise amend the Offer in
any respect by giving oral or written notice of such delay, termination, waiver
or amendment to the Depositary and by making a public announcement thereof.
Subject to the terms of the Merger Agreement, the applicable rules and
regulations of the Commission and applicable law, the Purchaser reserves the
right to amend or modify the terms of the Offer including, without limitation,
except as provided below, the right to extend the Offer beyond any scheduled
expiration date, but in no event later than October 31, 2002 (the "Termination
Date"), provided that, without the prior written consent of the Company, the
Purchaser will not (i) change the Minimum Condition, (ii) decrease the Offer
Price, (iii) change the form of consideration payable in the Offer (other than
by adding consideration), (iv) reduce the maximum number of Shares to be
purchased pursuant to the Offer, (v) amend the terms or the conditions of the
Offer in a manner which is adverse to the Holders, or which imposes conditions
or terms to the Offer in addition to those set forth in the Merger Agreement, or
(vi) extend the expiration date of the Offer beyond the twentieth business day
after commencement of the Offer, except (A) as required by applicable law, (B)
that in certain circumstances where, on any expiration date of the Offer, less
than 90% of the Shares have been tendered, Purchaser may extend the Offer for
one or more periods not to exceed an aggregate of ten business days,
notwithstanding that all conditions to the Offer are satisfied as of such
expiration date of the Offer or (C) that if any condition to the Offer has not
been satisfied or waived, the Purchaser may extend the expiration date of the
Offer from time to time for one or more periods but in no event later than the
Termination Date; provided that the Offer may be extended in connection with an
increase in the consideration to be paid pursuant to the Offer so as to comply
with applicable rules and regulations of the Commission.

     Tenders of Shares made pursuant to the Offer are irrevocable except that
such Shares may be withdrawn at any time prior to the Expiration Date and,
unless theretofore accepted for payment by the Purchaser pursuant to the Offer,
may also be withdrawn at any time after October 17, 2002. For a withdrawal to
be effective, a written or facsimile transmission notice of withdrawal must be
timely received by the Depositary at its address or the facsimile number set
forth on the back cover of the Offer to Purchase. Any such notice of withdrawal
must specify the name of the person who tendered the Shares to be withdrawn,
the number of Shares to be withdrawn, and the name of the registered holder of
the Shares, if different from that of the person who tendered such Shares. If
certificates evidencing Shares to be withdrawn have been delivered or otherwise
identified to the Depositary, then, prior to the physical release of such
certificates, the serial numbers shown on such certificates must be submitted
to the Depositary and the signature(s) on the notice of withdrawal must be
guaranteed by an Eligible Institution (as defined in Section 3 of the Offer to
Purchase), unless such Shares have been tendered for the account of an Eligible
Institution. Shares tendered pursuant to the procedure for book-entry transfer
set forth in Section 3 of the Offer to Purchase may be withdrawn only by means
of the


                                       3
<PAGE>

withdrawal procedures made available by the Book-Entry Transfer Facility, must
specify the name and number of the account at the Book-Entry Transfer Facility
to be credited with the withdrawn Shares and must otherwise comply with the
Book-Entry Transfer Facility's procedures.

     Withdrawals of tendered Shares may not be rescinded without the
Purchaser's consent, and any Shares properly withdrawn will thereafter be
deemed not validly tendered for purposes of the Offer. All questions as to the
form and validity (including time of receipt) of notices of withdrawal will be
determined by the Purchaser, in its sole discretion, which determination will
be final and binding. None of Parent, the Purchaser, the Company, the
Depositary, the Information Agent or any other person will be under any duty to
give notification of any defects or irregularities in any notice of withdrawal
or incur any liability for failure to give any such notification. Any Shares
properly withdrawn may be re-tendered at any time prior to the Expiration Date
by following any of the procedures described in Section 3 of the Offer to
Purchase.

     The information required to be disclosed by paragraph (d)(1) of Rule 14d-6
under the Exchange Act is contained in the Offer to Purchase and is
incorporated herein by reference.

     The Company has provided the Purchaser with the Company's stockholder
lists and security position listings in respect of the Shares for the purpose
of disseminating the Offer to Purchase, the Letter of Transmittal and other
materials relevant to Holders. The Offer to Purchase, the Letter of Transmittal
and any other relevant materials will be mailed to holders of record of Shares
whose names appear on the Company's list of holders of the Shares and will be
furnished, for subsequent transmittal to beneficial owners of Shares, to
brokers, dealers, commercial banks, trust companies and similar persons whose
names, or the names of whose nominees, appear on the Company's list of holders
of the Shares or, where applicable, who are listed as participants in the
security position listing of the Depository Trust Company.

     THE OFFER TO PURCHASE AND THE RELATED LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL CONTAIN
IMPORTANT INFORMATION WHICH SHOULD BE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE ANY DECISION IS
MADE WITH RESPECT TO THE OFFER.

     Additional copies of the Offer to Purchase, the related Letter of
Transmittal and other related tender offer materials may be obtained from the
Information Agent or from brokers, dealers, commercial banks or trust
companies. Questions and requests for assistance may be directed to the
Information Agent at the address and telephone number as set forth below.


                    THE INFORMATION AGENT FOR THE OFFER IS:


                               [GRAPHIC OMITTED]

                   GEORGESON SHAREHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS INC.




                          17 State Street, 10th Floor
                           New York, New York 10004

                       Banks and Brokers: (212) 440-9800
                   All Others Call Toll Free: (800) 249-1014

August 19, 2002


                                       4



