SiRF Technologies and Matsushita Electric Works ``MEW'' Announce Broad Alliance to Develop and Market a Wide Range of GPS-Enabled Products

    SAN JOSE, Calif. and OSAKA, Japan--March 11, 2002--

    SiRF to Location-Enable a Range of New Wireless, Consumer
    Electronic, Automotive and Mobile Computing Products

    SiRF Technology, Inc. and Matsushita Electric Works (MEW) today forged a far-reaching alliance that will include location-enabling a broad range of new wireless, consumer electronic, automotive and mobile computing products based on SiRF's new SiRFstar IIe/LP chip set (also announced today; see related press release "SiRF's Next-generation GPS Technology Brings Benefits of Location Awareness to More Consumer Platforms and Users") and SiRFLoc(TM) technology. These products will be marketed and sold worldwide.
    The alliance calls for joint developments and marketing cooperation for products based on the SiRFstarIIe/LP and SiRFLoc(TM), a high-sensitivity software platform that improves GPS location capability in standalone and wireless system environments. Some of these products will be used with the NTT DoCoMo Location Platform (DLP), one of the world's largest carriers. In addition, MEW will develop SiRF-enabled GPS accessories for mobile computing and consumer platforms, and GPS modules to sell in the Japanese automotive market. Finally, MEW has become a strategic investor in SiRF through SiRF's latest round of financing (also announced today; see press release "SiRF Technology Closes $19.5 Million Financing Round").
    "MEW has dedicated a sizable group to developing and marketing these GPS-enabled products," said Kanwar Chadha, founder and vice president of Marketing at SiRF. "That a company of MEW's size and caliber is investing heavily in SiRFstar architecture-based GPS products is further validation that location awareness is hitting mainstream markets; we anticipate accelerated adoption from this point forward."
    "We chose SiRF to location-enable our products because of the company's broad product offerings and technical leadership, as well as its specific technologies, such as SiRFLoc, which are optimized for location acquisition in low signal environments," according to Isao Shimada, director, member of the Board at MEW. "We fully anticipate a productive, wide-ranging alliance for years to come."

    New Products

    MEW's initial products include a GPS-enabled security phone, a GPS compact flash card, and a GPS SD GPS card. The GPS security phones provide instant access to emergency services for medical and security purposes. The GPS CFC and SD cards can be used to instantly location enable PDA's, wireless phones or consumer devices such as digital cameras. These products will be shown at the CTIA Show, March 18 - 21, in SiRF's booth, number 2773. Additional products aimed at the wireless, consumer electronics, automotive and mobile computing markets will be introduced over the next nine months.

    SiRFstar IIeLP

    Announced today, SiRFStar IIe/LP is based on the SiRFstar II architecture and the previous generation SiRFstar IIe chip set, but offers breakthrough power consumption. Low power consumption directly translates to longer battery life, a critical requirement in portable devices such as cell phones, personal locators, watches, and personal digital assistant (PDA) attachments. LP also features more microprocessing power than previous GPS chips, eliminating the need for a separate processor and thus dramatically reducing costs for low- to mid-range GPS consumer products.
    The underlying SiRFstar II architecture offers a range of product choices, enabling complete GPS functionality that is high performance, yet with a very small footprint, making it an ideal technology for integration into a wide variety of products. With its unique set of features such as SnapStart(TM) for quick start-up, SnapLock(TM) for fast acquisition and FoliageLock(TM) for high sensitivity, the SiRFstar architecture based products provide enhanced GPS-based location information in urban canyons and dense foliage -- where traditional GPS architectures have significant problems. SiRF has also developed a set of technologies to facilitate and optimize GPS integration into specific platforms, such as automobiles, cell phones and personal digital assistants. One such technology, SiRFLoc, offers multimode GPS architecture optimized for integration into devices connected to wireless networks.

    About Matsushita Electric Works

    Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. (Kadoma-shi, Osaka, President: Kazunari Nishida) is comprised of five divisions operating in the domains of electrical construction materials, home appliances, building products, electronic and plastic materials and automation controls. In each of these areas, MEW conducts research and development, manufacturing, sales, product design and installation, and servicing. MEW entered the GPS market in 1990, manufacturing and marketing GPS antennas. In 2000, through a joint development agreement with SiRF, MEW expanded its investment in the GPS market with the development and introduction of several high sensitivity GPS products. MEW markets its GPS products globally through the company's worldwide sales channels.

    About SiRF

    SiRF Technology, Inc. develops and markets semiconductor and software products that are designed to enable location awareness in high-volume mobile consumer devices and commercial applications. Location awareness refers to the ability of a device to determine and make use of the information regarding its location. SiRF's products enable a range of devices to utilize GPS to detect location. They have been integrated into mobile consumer devices, such as automobile navigation systems, cellular phones, GPS-based mobile computing peripherals and handheld GPS navigation devices, and into commercial applications, such as property tracking devices and fleet management systems. SiRF markets and sells its products in four target markets: wireless handheld, automotive, mobile computing and embedded consumer applications.
    For additional information, please visit www.sirf.com.

    Note to Editors: SiRF, SiRFstar and the SiRF logo are registered trademarks of SiRF Technology, Inc. SnapLock, FoliageLock, SiRFLoc, SnapStart, and TricklePower are trademarks of SiRF Technology, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.