Memorex, Deploying Microtune's Wireless Silicon Technology, Awarded Industry's First Bluetooth Certification for Cordless Phone
PLANO, Texas--Feb. 18, 2002--Microtune's wireless solution enables cordless phone users to share
both voice and data with other Bluetooth-enabled devices
Microtune(TM), Inc. today announced that Memcorp Inc., the company that produces the Memorex brand of consumer electronics, has achieved Bluetooth(TM) 1.1 certification for its new cordless phone based on Microtune's wireless silicon technology. Reaching an industry milestone, the Memorex phone, marketed by Meridian Concepts LLC, is the first consumer cordless phone to win certification from the Bluetooth Qualification Board (BQB) in North America.
This award reinforces the relationship between Microtune and Memcorp, as evidenced by the two companies' Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement under the terms of which Memcorp plans to integrate Microtune's wireless silicon solutions into a variety of Memorex original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and consumer products. Microtune shipped initial production orders in Q4, 2001 and plans to ramp into mass production in Q1, 2002.
"Memorex is a recognized brand name in consumer electronics worldwide, and Microtune is pleased to be the wireless IC supplier for Memcorp," said Douglas J. Bartek, Chairman and CEO of Microtune. "The Bluetooth qualification of the Memorex cordless phone is a significant achievement for the industry, establishing a new feature-set and performance standard for the North American market. This design win reinforces not only the technology leadership of our wireless solutions, but also demonstrates the accelerating migration of low-cost Bluetooth-enabled products to the mass market consumer."
ONLY BLUETOOTH-ENABLED CORDLESS PHONE AVAILABLE IN NORTH AMERICA TODAY
Deploying Microtune's cost-effective wireless silicon solution, the Memorex phone, as presented by Meridian Concepts LLC, offers a high-performance, feature-rich Bluetooth-based product designed to bridge the gap between phone and PC connectivity. As a core feature, it enables users to remotely share voice and data from the phone to a variety of other products with matching Bluetooth profiles, including PCs, headsets, personal data assistants (PDAs), printers and game consoles.
With its built-in USB port, the cordless phone itself can be used as a Bluetooth dongle, allowing the user to plug the phone into the USB port of other computer-centric products, in effect, transforming them into Bluetooth devices.
"Microtune's Bluetooth technology offers a much broader feature set than found on other cordless phone products," said Hide Kanakubo, President of Meridian Concepts LLC. "Its commitment to innovation and execution has provided us with first-entry advantage into the North American Bluetooth cordless phone market."
ENGINEERED TO OPTIMIZE CORDLESS PHONE PERFORMANCE AND TO EXPAND ITS FUNCTIONS
Microtune's wireless silicon technology, functioning as embedded transmission and reception components, was engineered to optimize Bluetooth performance and to extend the feature set in cordless phone applications. Incorporating system-on-chip radio, baseband, flash memory, audio codecs and USB functions in a very small chipset, Microtune delivers the world's smallest and most highly integrated Bluetooth product on the market today. With keyboard, touch screen and mouse drivers, tone generators and battery management as built-in features, the solution, in effect, provides a `cordless phone on a chip set.' It also offers ancillary accessories, such as an echo canceller, packet error mitigation engine, dual-voice codecs, SRAM Flash, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and 40 general purpose input/output (GPIO) ports, which can be enabled or disabled to meet customer-specific price/performance requirements.
As a competitive advantage for manufacturers, Microtune's wireless solution enables the implementation of advanced cordless phone features, including seven-handset operation, the downloading of phone lists with different rings for different users, a thumb wheel for scrolling screen menus, a real-time clock and call-transfer and call-conferencing functions. For consumers, Microtune's solution is designed to offer exceptional voice quality and range. It enables users to make calls with the clarity of sound and range comparable to that of today's high-end digital cordless phones. Its achievable performance dispels the common notion that Bluetooth-enabled solutions offer short range and poor voice quality.
Although targeted for cordless phones, the ability to support simultaneous voice and data communications is also a critical requirement for emerging wireless home gateways, access points and automotive applications. With its leading-edge wireless silicon solution, Microtune plans to pave the way for the broader implementation of Bluetooth functionality in other consumer electronics products.
ABOUT MICROTUNE
Microtune, Inc. is a leading silicon and systems company that designs, manufactures and markets radio frequency (RF)-based solutions for the global broadband communications, automotive electronics and wireless connectivity markets. Inventors of the MicroTuner(TM) single-chip broadband tuner, the Company offers a portfolio of advanced tuner, amplifier, transceiver and wireless products that enable the delivery of information and entertainment across new classes of consumer electronics devices. The Company currently holds fourteen U.S. patents for its technology, with an additional 42 applications pending approval that span its RF and wireless products, containing a total of more than 1,970 supporting claims. Founded in 1996, Microtune is headquartered in Plano, Texas, with key design, manufacturing and sales centers located around the world. The web site is www.microtune.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those discussing the development of new products and the results of those efforts, that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause such statements to differ materially from actual future events or results. Such forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by words such as "plan", "estimate", "expect", "believe", "could", "would", "anticipate", "may", or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes. These forward-looking statements and other statements made elsewhere in this release are made in reliance on the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Factors which could cause actual results to differ include the Company's ability to develop new products that comply with industry standards and the ability to migrate customers to silicon-based products, the ability to manufacture new products in the time frame required, the ability to sell new products at anticipated levels, ability to develop new products within anticipated cost range, and general economic conditions that have affected the broadband communications, automotive and wireless connectivity markets recently, any of which may cause the Company's financial results to fluctuate. Readers are referred to the reports and documents filed by Microtune with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000 (as amended), Form 10Q for each quarter and Form S-3 filed on August 17, 2001, as amended in December 2001.
EDITORS NOTE:
Microtune, MicroTuner, VideoCaster and MicroStreamer are trademarks of Microtune, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.