Sanyo and Hantro extend their cooperation in leading edge mobile video technology

SANYO signs Letter of Intent for Hantro’s VGA codec

February 18, 2003 - Oulu, Tokyo - SANYO and Hantro announced that they have signed a Letter of Intent for a process of extending the capabilities of SANYO’s multimedia chips to VGA resolution. This extension allows SANYO’s customers to meet the increasing demand for higher video quality in mobile devices and applications.

“We have been impressed with the quality of Hantro’s HW IP solutions” says Mitsumasa Kurihara, General Manager of Kumagaya Technology Center, LSI Division, SANYO Semiconductor Company. “As we develop new innovative multimedia products, we have found Hantro’s mobile video product portfolio and roadmap highly competitive. We look forward to further strengthening the partnership between our two companies”

“Our relationship with SANYO has been growing deeper during the development of SANYO’s multimedia chips, which incorporate Hantro’s existing CIF codec technology” comments Hantro’s CEO Eero Kaikkonen. “We are excited to continue working with a recognized industry leader like SANYO by offering our market leading video IP for SANYO’s new products.”

ABOUT HANTRO MPEG-4 VGA CODEC
Hantro's next generation hardware codec provides up to VGA (640 x 480 pixels) resolution video compression/de-compression capability to wireless video-enabled devices such as mobile phones, PDAs and digital still cameras. Delivered as an Intellectual Property (IP) module to be integrated on ARM AMBA bus based System-on-Chip designs, Hantro’s MPEG-4 VGA codec is specifically tailored for low-power devices. Integrating the VGA codec will enable easy implementation of high-quality video applications like multimedia messaging, video streaming and video telephony without significant increase to the CPU load and power consumption. In addition, the MPEG-4 VGA codec is simple to configure through an Application Programming Interface (API) facilitating fast video application development.

ABOUT HANTRO
Hantro provides its customers with video solutions for handheld devices. Hantro has both hardware and software based MPEG-4 and H.263 standards based video codecs that have been delivered to customers and are proven solutions. Hantro's product portfolio also includes video applications for video capturing, playback, messaging, streaming, and telephony. The company's products play a key role in the development of battery-operated video-capable end products like cellular phones, still cameras, PDAs, camcorders, PC cameras, and web pads. Hantro's investors are funds managed by CapMan, Startupfactory, Menire and Nexit Ventures.

ABOUT SANYO Semiconductor Company
SANYO Semiconductor Company is one of the five principal companies of SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. SANYO provides semiconductor devices, flat panel displays and system solutions for leading applications in the electronics industry such as mobile communication equipment, PC/PC related products and analog/digital AV equipment. SANYO Semiconductor Company has 3-wafer fabs and 5-assembly fabs in Japan with an additional 6-assembly fabs in the Asia-Pacific region. Sales bases of the Company are located in North America, Europe, Asia and Japan. In the fiscal year 2001 (ended March 2002) SANYO Semiconductor generated sales of 335 billion yen with approximately 15,000 employees including subsidiaries.