AUSTIN, Texas, September 16, 2003 - Motorola Inc.
(NYSE:MOT), a global leader in integrated communications, today celebrated the
production of its 50 millionth applications processor for portable multimedia
devices. The company's Semiconductor Products Sector has manufactured
applications processors for handheld devices since 1995. The company continues
to lead the mobile device market with its family of processors with
market-leading customers that include Palm, Sony, and Handspring as well as
innovative companies like Tapwave and Garmin.
Motorola's i.MX21 processor, the most recent
addition to the i.MX family that combines sophisticated video, display,
connectivity and security features for mobile multimedia devices was unveiled
today in a separate announcement.
The advanced
i.MX family represents a quantum leap in performance in an unprecedented low
power system design, offering the advantages of "smart speed" technology. For
example, the i.MXL processor personal digital assistant (PDA) is engineered to
enable more than six hours of movie play time using a 1000m AH battery, and
offers a standby time of between 50 to 70
days.
"The i.MX family is Motorola's
sixth-generation applications processor in eight years. As a company that has
both wireless and semiconductor expertise, we have been charting the course with
our rich portfolio of applications processors, pushing wireless performance
limits from simple to ever more complex multimedia applications," said Franz
Fink, vice president and general manager, Wireless and Mobile Systems Group,
Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector. "With i.MX, we have achieved the
ultimate combination - performance and endurance. The chip is designed to
support a broad range of demanding applications in the mobile environment with
improved battery life."
Motorola's i.MX family
of processors are based on ARM9® core technology and are designed to provide
developers with a comprehensive platform solution. i.MX processors feature an
integrated suite of software and reference designs that accelerates the creation
of next-generation mobile communications products.
As part of Motorola's Innovative
Convergence™ portfolio, the i.MX family allows manufacturers to develop
cost-effective, wireless-enabled, smart handhelds with a wide range of
capabilities, such as digital image capture, file sharing, wireless
connectivity, m-commerce using smartcards, multimedia entertainment and more -
with a small number of components, long battery life, and extra performance for
additional applications and features.
Milestones and Hallmark of Standards
Combining the support of a suite of software
and reference designs, the i.MX and the DragonBall™ name are synonymous
with industry-leading handheld wireless products. In addition to recognition
from customers, it has also won prestigious awards from the industry and many
industry firsts and bests.
- 1995 - Motorola
supported Palm to build and launch the world's first PDA. The DragonBall
processor was the original processor used in Palm PDAs and received the EDN Asia
1st Component Design Award
- 1996 - Received
the Federation of Hong Kong Industries Consumer Product Design Awards
- 1998 - Red Dragon (DragonBall EZ processor),
its second generation member won the organizer award in Consumer Product Design
in the Hong Kong Awards of Industry
- 1999 -
Launched DragonBall VZ processor, which doubled the performance of any system
using a 16 MHz DragonBall processor and added color LCD support to the family's
feature-set
- 2001 - Reached the 30 Million
applications processors shipped milestone
-
2001 June - Launched MX1, the first ARM® core-based DragonBall product with
speeds up to 200MHz. It is also the first on-chip Bluetooth® ready
applications processor announced from a major worldwide semiconductor company.
- 2002 - The i.250 Innovative Convergence
platform with the i.MX processor won the Hong Kong Award for Industry -
Technological Achievement.
- 2002 - i.MX1 was
the first processor meeting certification standards for the Palm OS 5
platform.
2002 - Garmin International chose
i.MXL for its family of GPS-enabled products.
-
2003 - Moving to speed the development of next-generation 2.5G and 3G smart
phones, i.MX1 microprocessor was ported to all versions of the Symbian operating
system. (OS)
- 2003 - The i.MX processor,
combined with the latest versions of Windows CE™.NET, offers developers a
rich array of integrated multimedia and communications features, requiring short
development time.
- 2003 - Tapwave, Inc,
selected i.MX for its new category of handheld
products.
- 2003 - i.MX21 processor announced
with sophisticated video, display, connectivity and security features for mobile
devices
About
DragonBall/i.MXThe i.MX family builds on the
best-selling DragonBall family of applications processors and is designed to
quickly integrate applications into existing or new designs for rich featured,
cost-effective, multimedia-based solutions.
Features such as multimedia support and
wireless Internet connectivity consume significant battery power, leading to
less productivity and entertainment time and more time spent recharging
batteries. With Motorola's Smart Speed technology, the low power consumption of
the i.MX processors is designed to provide wireless device users with extended
run times as a result of an advanced power management architecture and deliver
high performance applications.
Design and
manufacturing techniques used in i.MX processors, such as system bus
architecture and "doze" and "sleep" modes, translate to less power consumption
even for advanced PDA applications. In addition, other integrated features of
the i.MX processors, such as the multimedia extensions and video port, help
enable original design manufacturers (ODMs) and original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs) to use fewer components in their wireless devices, thus reducing system
costs. For more information, visit
www.motorola.com/imx.
About
Motorola's Semiconductor Products SectorAs the
world's #1 producer of embedded processors, Motorola's Semiconductor Products
Sector creates DigitalDNA™ system-on-chip solutions for a connected world.
Our strong focus on wireless communications and networking enables customers to
develop smarter, simpler, safer and synchronized products for the person, work
team, home and automobile. Motorola's worldwide semiconductor sales were $5.0
billion (USD) in 2002. For more information please visit
www.motorola.com/semiconductors\.
About
Motorola, Inc.Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) is a
global leader in wireless, automotive and broadband communications. Sales in
2002 were $27.3 billion. Motorola is a global corporate citizen dedicated to
ethical business practices and pioneering important innovations that make things
smarter and life better, honored traditions that began when the company was
founded 75 years ago this year. For more information, please visit
www.motorola.com.
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Media
ContactsNorth
America
Andrea
Crocker
Motorola
+1
(512)
895-7714
andrea.crocker@motorola.comEurope,
Middle East and Africa
Regina
Cirmonova
Motorola
+41
22 799 1258
office
Regina.Cirmonova@motorola.comAsia-Pacific
Gloria
Shiu (Hong
Kong)
Motorola
+852-2666-8237
gloria.shiu@motorola.comKoichi
Yoshimura (Japan)
Motorola
+81-3-3280-8672
office
koichi.yoshimura@motorola.comMOTOROLA
and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the U.S. Patent & Trademark
Office. All other product or service names are the property of their respective
owners. The ARM920T architecture is the trademark of ARM Limited. Windows CE is
a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. The Bluetooth trademarks are
owned by their proprietor and used by Motorola, Inc. under license. ©
Motorola, Inc. 2003. All rights reserved.