Falanx Technology to Drive 3D Graphics for Smartphones based on Symbian OS

- Falanx Microsystems, Inc., the developer of complete mobile graphics solution IP cores for system-on-chip (SoC) semiconductor manufacturers, announced today that it has joined the Symbian Platinum Program to support the growing market for smartphones based on Symbian OS™. As a Platinum Partner, Falanx is extending its Mali™ 2D, 3D and video core IP solution to the Symbian OS ecosystem. Symbian develops and licenses Symbian OS, the leading operating system that powers the world's most popular smartphones. To date, almost 20 million phones based on Symbian OS have shipped worldwide.

"Our partnership with Symbian reflects our commitment to delivering robust IP cores that bring VGA-quality images to a new generation of feature-rich mobile devices, using API implementations that comply with open industry standards," said Falanx CEO, Borgar Ljosland. "By becoming a Symbian Platinum Partner, we can further expand the flexibility and interoperability of our Mali™ solutions and strengthen our relationships with Symbian OS phone users, application developers, mobile phone manufacturers and carriers/network operators."

Ljosland continued, "Open standards based-Symbian OS is driving an innovative cycle that allows Falanx to fully demonstrate the power and ease of integration of our all-in-one 2D, 3D and video IP solution for SoC makers designing for new generations of smartphones that will display stunning graphics for games and other exciting software applications."

Consumers are eager to expand the functionality of mobile phones, PDAs and other handheld devices to include gaming, video and other visual applications. Falanx IP cores have been developed from the ground-up for mobile applications, matching demands for high visual quality and performance, in chips that are small and consume very little power. By becoming a Symbian Platinum Partner, and integrating industry standards like Symbian OS and OpenGL™ ES, Falanx helps smartphone suppliers extend world-class visual features to their products for mobile network operators, and managed service providers, who are interested in offering mobile content management services to enterprises.

"High quality, low power visual applications, including 2D, 3D and video, have become a fundamental requirement for today's smartphones," said Bill Pinnell, Multimedia and Graphics Product Manager, Symbian. "We are pleased to have Falanx join the Symbian Platinum Program and bring its broad knowledge and specialized expertise in mobile graphics technology to the Symbian ecosystem."

The Symbian Platinum Program includes companies that have a technology or strategic position that is key to the success of mobile computing technology surrounding Symbian OS. As part of the program, Platinum Partners benefit from a range of commercial services, including technical support and joint marketing opportunities as well as privileged access to Symbian OS source code and a dedicated Partner Support team. For more information please see: www.symbian.com/partners/platinum.html

About Falanx Microsystems (www.falanx.com) Falanx Microsystems develops graphics accelerator IP cores, marketed to semiconductor system-on-chip (SoC) vendors, that deliver high quality multimedia images without compromising performance, power consumption and system cost. Unlike most graphics IP cores, Falanx's Mali™ Graphics Core-designed from the ground-up for mobile applications such as cell phones, PDAs and portable game platforms-is the only graphics IP core offering a complete integration of 2D, 3D and video, plus software and interoperability drivers, in an all-in-one solution. Falanx is headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, and is privately-held.

About Symbian Ltd (www.symbian.com)
Symbian is a software licensing company that develops and licenses Symbian OS, the global open industry standard operating system for advanced, data-enabled mobile phones.
Symbian licenses Symbian OS to the world's leading handset manufacturers. The following Symbian OS licensees have Symbian OS-based mobile phones in production and development: Arima, BenQ, Fujitsu for NTT DoCoMo FOMA, LG, Lenovo, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Sendo, Siemens, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. In 2003, over 6.67 million Symbian OS-based mobile phones were sold worldwide and almost 20 million have been sold to date.
Symbian has its headquarters in London, United Kingdom with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia (Bangalore, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo). For further information about Symbian please see www.symbian.com.

Symbian and all Symbian-based marks and logos are trade marks of Symbian Software Limited.
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