NEC and Vadem Forge Strategic Alliance to Develop Windows CE Devices
SAN JOSE, Calif. — November 11, 1996 — NEC(R) and Vadem(R) announced today they have signed a letter of intent (LOI) to form a strategic alliance to develop fully integrated system solutions for recently announced Microsoft(R) Windows CE operating system. The intent of the alliance is to support original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) wishing to develop products for the new handheld PC market.
The resulting agreement would call for the two companies to use their expertise in the design of low-power, highly integrated devices and systems to design complete solutions optimized for Windows CE applications in the handheld PC market. System solutions would be based on the core of NEC's VR4100(TM), a 64-bit MIPS(TM) RISC microprocessor. NEC will continue to market VR4100(TM)-based CPUs while Vadem will market companion chips and complete systems for reference designs and OEMs who wish to accelerate time-to-market.
"We want to provide a one-stop shopping approach to designing high-quality Windows CE devices," said Chikok Shing, President and CEO of Vadem. "By pooling our expertise in the handheld arena with NEC's portfolio of technologies and global presence, we believe we can offer a compelling value proposition to the OEM who wants to get to market as fast as possible. Success in the consumer electronics space is increasingly determined by economies of time rather than scale."
"NEC is committed to offering our customers ongoing support and high-quality products so they can produce competitive, leading-edge products," said Shigeki Matsue, president and CEO of NEC Electronics Inc. "Because of Vadem's expertise in handheld systems, NEC intends to take on this partnership with the confidence that the NEC/Vadem team will offer customers a more complete system solution so they can be at the competitive edge with their Windows CE-based systems."
The introduction of Microsoft's Windows CE operating system is only the latest indication of an accelerating trend toward delivering more functionality in a handheld form factor. Yet the convergence of computing, wireless communication, and network access in a handheld form factor is increasingly frustrating designers with its conflicting requirements of small size, low power, low cost, and high CPU performance. These constraints demand a much more comprehensive, "whole-product" approach to the design of handheld computers than is the case for desktops, or even laptops. Operating system, application software, user interface, display, digital and analog electronics, case, and many other features must all be designed as one in order to satisfy the constraints. This calls for more and different resources than those used in designing traditional PCs.
At the same time, the market for increasingly hybrid devices is growing more segmented. NEC and Vadem, with their complementary skill sets, are competitively equipped to provide the design, marketing, manufacturing and distribution expertise required so OEMs can take timely and full advantage of the technology available for consumer handheld products.
"What we're really trying to do is help the OEM get ahead of the curve," said Henry Fung, Vadem's VP-Engineering, "at whatever level of integration he wants. We can provide anything from a CPU to the design and manufacture of the complete system. In all cases, we think the OEM will get to market faster, with a superior product, than if he tried to do it all himself."
Vadem
Vadem has been a leader in the design and marketing of highly optimized hardware, software, and system architectures for high-volume, portable applications since 1983 and holds several patents on power management techniques. The company has applied its core competencies in silicon design, system firmware, and application software to pioneer product categories with some of the industry's most highly integrated designs. These include portable PCs (Zenith Z-191 and eaZy PC, Sharp PC-4500 and PC-7000), personal intelligent communicators (IBM Simon and PCRadio, LG HandyPDA), and PDAs (H-P OmniGo, Sharp PT-9000, and NEC Mobile Gear). Vadem is privately held. Its headquarters are located at 1960 Zanker Rd., San Jose, CA 95112. The company may be reached at 408-467-2100, [email protected], and http://www.vadem.com.
NEC
NEC designs, manufactures and markets an extensive line of electronic products including ASICs, microprocessors and microcontrollers, 3D graphics accelerators, digital signal processors (DSPs), memories and components including flat panel displays. In 1995, the company ranked second in semiconductor sales in the world. NEC Corporation (NIPNY) is a $41 billion international manufacturer of computer, communications and semiconductor products. For more information on NEC and its products, visit the NEC website at http://www.nec.com.
NOTE: Vadem is a registered trademark of Vadem, Inc. NEC and VR4100 are registered trademarks of NEC Corp. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Vadem Inc.
CONTACT:
Ahmet Alpdemir of Vadem, 408-467-2100, or fax, 408-467-2199;
or
Vanessa Gonzales of NEC Electronics Inc., 408-588-6187, or fax, 800-729-9288