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Santa
Clara, Calif., June 5, 2000 -- PortalPlayer Inc., a supplier
of end-to-end solutions for delivering open and secure digital
media via the Internet, today announced a broad ranging manufacturing
and technology development agreement with Oki Semiconductor.
Oki, a leading provider of custom integrated circuits, will
handle all aspects of production for PortalPlayer-designed
ICs, including the PP5001 single-chip solution for portable
digital audio playback and recording devices, which was introduced
today. The two companies also will collaborate in development
of intellectual property to further enhance PortalPlayer's
technology position.
The
manufacturing partnership assures availability of PortalPlayer
IC products in the quantities required by consumer electronics
companies, the principal market for the company's digital
media platforms. As PortalPlayer broadens its product line
its collaboration with Oki will provide access to a wide range
of high-value Intellectual Property (IP) and proven core technologies
for integration. "With one of the world's leading IC firms
as our manufacturing partner, we are well-positioned to meet
production requirements of leading consumer electronics OEMs,"
said John Mallard, president and CEO of PortalPlayer, Inc.
"Oki is known for its innovation, quality and service, which
are values we share here at PortalPlayer. It's our plan to
bring to market innovative platform technologies well ahead
of our competition, and Oki's commitment to PortalPlayer and
our customers is a major step toward delivering on this goal."
"The management team at PortalPlayer understands that OEM
companies look for a full solution, and that innovative chip
design is just the first step in creating market leadership,"
said Shusaku Sumida, president and COO of the Silicon Solutions
Division, Oki Semiconductor. "We are committed to supporting
the company's ramp-up to volume manufacturing of its first
products, and to helping PortalPlayer leverage the strengths
within Oki to address the needs for its next generation products."
About
the PP5001
The
PP5001 is a high-integration, system-on-a-chip IC, designed
for playback and recording of digital audio content in compact,
battery-powered systems supporting a variety of decoding,
encoding and encryption technologies, and multiple types of
storage media and displays. It is the hardware portion of
a fully integrated platform solution that includes on-chip
firmware and a complete Windows Media Management application.
Oki
Semiconductor's expertise in large-scale integration (LSI),
low-power design and quality manufacturing of high-volume
products provides significant benefits to PortalPlayer. In
particular, support for the ARM™ processor core architectures
used in the PP5001, extensive experience in peripheral integration
and long-term relationships with leading OEMs strengthens
the ability of PortalPlayer to secure and maintain market
leadership.
About
Oki Semiconductor
Founded
in 1977, Oki Semiconductor manufactures a broad line of advanced
integrated circuits for use in computers, EDP, automotive,
telecommunications and consumer products. A leader in CMOS
memories, gate arrays and ASICs, Oki's product lines also
include speech synthesis, microcontrollers and advanced communications
devices for wired, wireless and fiber optic applications.
As a certified vendor of Universal Serial Bus (USB), the company's
ASIC technology offers PCs a plug-and-play connection to a
fast-growing list of new peripherals. The company is also
a leader in packaging technology, providing sophisticated
options to its customers. With U.S headquarters in Sunnyvale,
Calif., Oki Semiconductor has manufacturing facilities in
Japan and Thailand. All manufacturing facilities are ISO 9001-certified.
Oki Semiconductor is a division of OKI America Inc., a subsidiary
of Oki Electric Industry Co, Ltd. For more information, the
company's home page on the World Wide Web is located at http://www.okisemi.com.
PortalPlayer,
Inc.
PortalPlayer,
Inc. supplies consumer electronics manufacturers with complete
platform solutions for open and secure delivery and management
of digital media via the Internet. The company develops and
markets advanced systems for digital audio recording and playback,
using MP3 and other popular digital compression technologies,
tightly integrated with e-commerce and digital rights management.
Founded
in June 1999, PortalPlayer is headquartered in Santa Clara,
California, with major operations in Seattle, Washington,
and Hyderabad, India. The company has received two rounds
of venture funding from Chase Capital, Techfund Capital, FlatIron
Partners, MP3.com, and individual investors. More information
on PortalPlayer, Inc., and its products is available on the
company's Web site, www.portalplayer.com.
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