PortalPlayer, Inc.--News & Events

Finger Print Sensors And Touch Scrolling Seamlessly Integrate With PortalPlayer's New Preface™ Personal Media Display Platform

San Jose, Calif., Jan. 4, 2006 - PortalPlayer Inc. (Nasdaq: PLAY), a leading supplier of semiconductors, firmware and software for the personal media player market, today announced during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2006, that it has joined with three of the leading user interface development companies-Atrua, AuthenTec and Synaptics (Nasdaq: SYNA)-to give notebook and consumer electronics manufacturers access to user interface components that will seamlessly integrate with PortalPlayer's new Preface technology platform (see release issued today, "PortalPlayer Introduces Preface Personal Media Display Technology Supporting Microsoft Windows Sideshow in Notebook Computers"). This integration will give notebook and consumer electronics manufacturers that are creating personal media display and Windows Vista SideShow solutions the flexibility to choose a user interface technology that best meets their unique design and market requirements.

Connecting the finger print sensor to an "always on" subsystem allows the device to quickly identify and authenticate the user before it wakes up the rest of the components on the notebook, therefore saving valuable battery power and allowing quick interaction with the device. Several examples of personal media display implementations that use these technologies are on display this week at CES.

"PortalPlayer's Preface technology platform and Atrua's Intelligent Touch Controls™ complement each other to provide instant and easy access to information and media by blending simple, intuitive finger movements and highly accurate fingerprint recognition," said Carl Temme, vice president of marketing at Atrua Technologies, Inc. "We are pleased that PortalPlayer chose Atrua's touch controls as a featured solution on display during CES this week. Atrua and PortalPlayer have worked closely to provide notebook OEMs with an integrated solution that ensures a significant time-to-market advantage."

"AuthenTec is pleased to have been chosen by PortalPlayer to showcase our unique Power of Touch™ based technology at CES enabling convenient security, personalization and easy navigation through data and content on a personal media display with the simple swipe of a finger," said Art Stewart, vice president of business development for AuthenTec. "Ensuring that our products are compatible with PortalPlayer's Preface technology platform will help us establish ourselves in the new personal media display marketplace."

"Synaptics' capacitive ScrollStrip™ solution allows users to quickly navigate through the array of menus and content available on the personal media display," said Clark Foy, vice president of marketing for Synaptics. "By working closely with PortalPlayer, we are positioning ourselves for a new opportunity in the notebook market for personal media displays by providing OEMs the ability to offer an intuitive interface solution."

"PortalPlayer is very pleased to add Atrua, Authentec and Synaptics to our growing ecosystem of technology suppliers that support our core technologies in the personal media display market," said Arman Toorians, vice president of marketing for PortalPlayer's Personal Media Display division. "Providing notebook OEMs and consumer electronics manufacturers with multiple user interface options will help them quickly and easily create unique and compelling products that enhance the consumer's digital media experience and allow additional product differentiation."

PortalPlayer worked with Atrua, AuthenTec and Synaptics to ensure that PortalPlayer's Preface applications processors, firmware and software fully supported each vendor's respective technology. All of the necessary hardware interfaces, drivers and APIs are incorporated into the Preface platform to make it straightforward for OEMs and ODMs to design and implement personal media display-based devices using these technologies. Support for these technologies is available in the Preface Firmware Development Kit planned for Q1 2006.

PortalPlayer develops semiconductor, firmware and software platforms for personal multimedia products such as personal media players and secondary display enabled notebook computers. PortalPlayer products empower consumers to quickly and easily manage, enjoy and have access to multimedia content and other forms of information. PortalPlayer is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with offices in Kirkland, Wash., Taipei, Taiwan, and Hyderabad, India.

PortalPlayer, the PortalPlayer logo, and Preface are trademarks of PortalPlayer, Inc. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

Atrua Technologies, Inc. is the industry's leading provider of intelligent touch controls, a new class of user input device that improves ease of use and convenience for advanced applications and services on today's mobile phones, handheld games and other personal electronic devices. Supported by world-class strategic partners and blue chip investors, the company has created Atrua Wings™, a family of products that utilize Atrua's touch processing technology to convert finger movements into user commands. Designed for mobile devices, Atrua Wings enables one-touch commands that increase gaming excitement, accelerate access to mobile data services, secure financial transactions through fingerprint recognition, and improve navigation. The company's backers include Blue Run Ventures, (formerly Nokia Venture Partners), Ericsson Venture Partners, Acer Technology Ventures, NeoCarta Ventures and Intel Capital. For more information please visit http://www.atrua.com

With more than six million sensors in use worldwide, AuthenTec is the world leader in fingerprint sensor security, innovation and sales to the PC, wireless, and access control markets. AuthenTec's award-winning FingerLoc® and EntréPad® sensors take full advantage of The Power of Touch™ by utilizing the company's patented TruePrint® technology to deliver the most convenient, reliable and cost-effective means available for enabling touch-powered features that extend beyond user authentication. The company's network of partners, solution providers and customers include: Analog Devices, APC, Compal, Cherry, Fujitsu Computer, Computer Associates, HP, IBM, LGE, Microsoft, Motion Computing, NEC Packard Bell, Pantech, PortalPlayer, Quanta, Samsung, Tatung, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, and Wistron, among others. Visit www.authentec.com.

Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA) is a leading developer of interface solutions for the mobile computing, communications and entertainment industries. The company creates interface solutions for a variety of devices including notebook PCs, PC peripherals, digital music players, and mobile phones. The TouchPad™, Synaptics' flagship product, is integrated into more than 50 percent of today's notebook computers. Consumer electronics and computing manufacturers use Synaptics' solutions to enrich the interaction between humans and intelligent devices through improved usability, functionality and industrial design. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California. www.synaptics.com

Kristine Mozes
Investor Relations
Mozes Communications LLC
(781) 652-8875
kristine@mozescomm.com

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the integration of interface components with the PortalPlayer Preface technology platform, the availability of Windows Vista and Windows SideShow, the availability of notebook computers with the PortalPlayer Preface technology platform functionality, the timing of the availability of the Preface Firmware Development Kit, ,and the anticipated performance of implementations of the PortalPlayer Preface technology platform and its integration with the products of Atrua, AuthenTec and Synaptics are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expect," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," "designed to," "forward" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, the market for notebook computers with PMD Platform capabilities, manufacturing and supply risks, the timing and introduction of Windows Vista and Windows SideShow products, the acceptance of PortalPlayer's Preface PMD Platform by notebook computer manufacturers, and other risks and uncertainties detailed in PortalPlayer's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2005 and from time to time in PortalPlayer's SEC filings. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. PortalPlayer does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

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