VIA Telecom Licenses Extended Systems’ Infrared Technology for Next Generation CDMA Connectivity App
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VIA Technologies (TPE:2388)
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San Diego, California, 3 December 2003 - VIA Telecom, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of CDMA chipsets, today announced that it has licensed the infrared software development kit (SDK) of Extended Systems (Nasdaq: XTND), a leading provider of mobile application solutions for the enterprise, for use in next-generation CDMA chipsets. This license enables mobile handset manufacturer customers to add infrared communications capabilities using the Infrared Data Association (IrDA) specification to their product line-up.
While current applications for infrared technology in handsets include Internet connectivity and exchanging and updating contacts with laptops and PDAs, and printing through enabled printers, infrared supporting mobile handsets are increasingly being used for more sophisticated applications such as point-of-sales purchase payments, with the shorter range of infrared transmission deterring fraud while enabling seamless convenient payment. Already commercially launched in South Korea, infrared POS systems are being tested in Japan and the US, and look set to drive greater functionality in mobile phones.
As part of the agreement, VIA Telecom also licensed the Extended Systems’ OBEX (Object Exchange) transport protocol, providing the ability to beam files over infrared. OBEX is the underlying protocol that enables both IrFM (Infrared Financial Messaging) and SyncML. This provides VIA Telecom customers with a clear development path to implementing IrFM or SyncML capabilities into their handsets as those applications become more widely used.
“I have worked with Extended Systems’ embedded protocol stacks in the past, and I know, from first-hand experience, the product’s excellent architecture, small code footprint, portability and reliability,” said Doug Brown, program manager for VIA Telecom. “With Extended Systems’ software, we can be sure that we are implementing the best-supported IrDA stack on the market and that our customers will have a superior IrDA transport on which to build applications now and in the future.”
David Hofacker, business unit manager of Extended Systems’ Universal Mobile Connectivity group, says that Extended Systems has had a great deal of success with chipmakers because the company has become known in the industry as a one-stop SDK shop. “The ability to obtain multiple protocol stacks from one vendor was especially compelling for VIA Telecom, as it provides complete flexibility for their customers to add infrared technologies to their product line-up.”
About Extended Systems’ Software Development Kits
Extended Systems provides Bluetooth, IrDA and SyncML software development kits that enable hardware manufacturers to reduce development costs and shorten time-to-market. Extended Systems’ SDKs offer small memory footprint, low MIPs requirements and easy portability. The company has more than 400 design wins including Palm, Motorola, HP, 3Com, Fujitsu, NEC, Mitsubishi, and Visteon.
About Extended Systems
Extended Systems provides the expertise, strategy and solutions to help enterprise organizations streamline their business processes through mobile technology. The company’s mobile software suite enables companies to mobilize critical enterprise applications such as e-mail, field service, sales force automation (SFA), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and customer relationship management (CRM). In addition, the company offers Bluetooth and IrDA wireless connectivity software and client/server database management systems. Extended Systems has more than 2,500 enterprise customers worldwide; and key alliance relationships with Ericsson, Handspring, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, Sharp, Siemens and Toshiba.
Founded in 1984, Extended Systems has offices and subsidiaries in the United States and worldwide. For more information, visit the company Web site at http://www.extendedsystems.com.
About VIA Telecom, Inc.
VIA Telecom is a leading innovator and developer of Baseband Processors for 3G CDMA2000 mobile applications used in a wide range of 3G devices spanning voice, data, and GPS-enabled applications. Headquartered in San Diego, California, VIA Telecom has design centers in San Diego and Fremont, California, and Hangzhou, China, and sales offices in the US, Taiwan, China, and Korea. For additional information, please visit the website at http://www.via-telecom.com or send an e-mail to marketing@via-telecom.com.