In a move to advance one of the company's global growth opportunities, Motorola, Inc.'s (NYSE: MOT) Semiconductor Products Sector, the embedded mobile computing leader with cellular and personal digital assistant (PDA) systems expertise, today announced its alliance with Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM), to provide Palm OS(R) licensees with the next generation of DragonBall microprocessors with ARM(R) core-based technology.
The alliance, part of Palm's new Palm OS Ready Program, benefits the entire community of Palm OS licensees and software developers, and enables manufacturers to design ARM core-based multimedia products to meet consumers' high expectations and active mobile lifestyles.
"As the number one microprocessor for handheld computers, Motorola's DragonBall family has been at the forefront of the rapidly growing portable devices market with Palm's products for six years," said Omid Tahernia, vice president and general manager of Motorola's Wireless and Mobile Systems Division. "Our continued alliance with Palm will take the relationship even further, enabling us to develop and deliver innovative consumer products for the Palm OS market."
This alliance positions Motorola closer to new mobile systems trends and the opinions of software developers, contributing to the fast delivery of technology and service.
"Motorola has been a long-time Palm partner, and we are very pleased to be working with that team in new ways," noted Alan Kessler, vice president and general manager, Platform Solutions Group, Palm, Inc. "We expect this new program to be a win for all constituencies involved."
According to Tahernia, Motorola is pleased to work with Palm toward this common goal to deliver rich multimedia capabilities to Palm OS licensees and developers while providing ease of use, long battery life and high performance.
The DragonBall MX1, the first ARM core-based product in Motorola's DragonBall family, offers:
-Industry-leading, best-in-class handheld performance;
-The first Bluetooth(TM) wireless technology-ready applications processor platform;
-Rapid, easy scalability from 68K to ARM cores; and
-Long battery life.
The DragonBall MX1 facilitates the use of data applications, e- mail and the Internet in wireless computing environments, and empowers Palm OS software developers to write programs for a wide range of wireless applications.
"The next generation of portable wireless products opens a new era in interoperability among devices and collaboration among people, changing the way we work, share information and interact with each other," said Tahernia. "GPRS phones, PDAs, smart phones -- Motorola's wireless embedded solutions have been the backbone of the phenomenal success of these products over the past decade. But the most compelling part is only beginning to take shape. Our ARM core-based DragonBall MX family leverages our system-on-chip expertise to meet converging needs for wireless and multimedia applications."
The DragonBall MX1 expands Motorola's comprehensive portfolio of wireless embedded solutions and provides customers with "one-stop shopping" for smaller, lighter, lower-cost mobile products. Motorola has a strong legacy of serving both the cellular industry for nearly 30 years and the PDA market since its inception in 1995. Motorola is also a licensed architectural partner of ARM technology. Motorola's DragonBall MX1 offers an ideal combination of price, performance, power consumption and features, including:
-Five generations of expertise that have been incorporated into the DragonBall MX1, speeding time to market and driving value for cost-effective, rich multimedia.
-An extremely low-power mobile multimedia client system-on-a- chip that is engineered for high performance and long battery life. DragonBall products have the longest stand-by power in the industry.
-A migration bridge between the 68K and ARM architecture due to extensive reuse of the industry's most widely accepted, integrated and proven peripheral set.
-The only cost-effective Bluetooth ready solution for wireless PDAs. Bluetooth baseband functionality is integrated into the processor that provides a seamless Bluetooth solution for PDA applications.
-Shared peripheral sets that include an LCD controller that supports 16 gray-level monochrome, color STN displays and color TFT displays.
-Upward-compatible applications across all members of the DragonBall family of products and platforms.
Motorola's DragonBall MX1 is targeted for advanced information appliances, smart phones, Web browsers/tablets, digital media audio players, handheld computers based on the popular Palm OS platform, and mobile data/voice applications such as Motorola's wireless cellular products.
With more than 30 million devices shipped to date and the support of a suite of the largest software and reference designs in the market, the DragonBall solution is the best-selling microprocessor for handheld computers in the world. DragonBall is found in more than 75 percent of all the world's PDAs (source: International Data Corporation (IDC), Motorola). IDC predicts a compound annual growth rate of 36 percent worldwide and 29 percent domestically for handheld/pocket-sized devices during the next few years.
Wireless Convergence -- Made Possible by Motorola
By combining its legacy of wireless experience with its success in the mobile computing space, Motorola enables developers to design smart products -- things that think, things that communicate, sophisticated devices that people can wear and hold, innovative products that combine fashion and function. The DragonBall microprocessors are designed to enhance mobile devices -- including mobile phones, PDAs, desktop PCs -- on any network, anywhere. For years, Motorola has been an established industry leader in providing wireless communications solutions that:
-Are fast, cost-effective and easy to use
-Speed up Internet services, like those enabling mobile e- commerce.
-Are designed to be low power, enabling long battery life.
-Span the communication-computing spectrum from simple voice- only wireless clients to rich multimedia platforms.
By integrating DragonBall microprocessors into all kinds of wireless convergence smart products, developers can help make these products more reliable, smaller, simpler, and affordable enough for everyone.
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