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Weekly UpdatesMoving to speed the development of next-generation (2.5G and 3G) smart phones, Motorola's (NYSE:MOT) Semiconductor Products Sector has announced that its DragonBall(TM) MX1 microprocessor will port to all versions of the Symbian operating system (OS). The Symbian OS(TM) is an advanced, open-standard operating system specifically tailored to the emerging smart phone market and handset manufacturers' requirements for compact and rich functionality targeted to on-the-go mobile professionals. Motorola's support of the Symbian OS is expected to help customers shorten time to market in the design and development of wireless products that offer integrated data and voice services.
The DragonBall MX1 offers advanced multimedia capabilities and is designed for building high-performance and cost-effective wireless products, such as smart phones, digital media audio players, handheld computers and other mobile data/voice products. Additionally, the DragonBall family is part of Motorola's Innovative Convergence(tm) wireless platform portfolio that delivers comprehensive solutions incorporating voice and data functionality. These platforms combine chipsets and proven protocol software with development tools, reference designs, and manufacturing and testing tools to create 2G-to-3G silicon-to-software solutions.
"Motorola offers one of the most advanced applications processors available on the market today. The DragonBall family helps manufacturers to create compelling, data-enabled, mobile phones and devices with multimedia capability," said Mark Edwards, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Symbian. "The manufacturers who use DragonBall processors can now take advantage of the Symbian OS, the leading operating system for applications processors based on the ARM9(tm) core technology, to deliver a wide range of wireless devices in a significantly reduced timeframe."
Symbian, a mobile operating system consortium, was formed to address the anticipated demand for combined voice communications, wireless Internet access and computing functionality. Integrating the simplicity of mobile phones with the features of mobile computing, Symbian's software platform has been licensed to companies including Ericsson, Matsushita, Motorola, Nokia, Philips, Psion, Sanyo and Sony. The Symbian OS 6.1 is currently being ported to the DragonBall MX1; the just-announced Symbian OS 7.0 is expected to follow. Symbian OS v7.0 offers enhanced multimedia capabilities, MIDP Java, security features and networking capabilities optimized for next-generation mobile phones.
"Consumer demand is increasing the need for wireless device makers to develop high performance, low-cost products that have a rich user interface, as well as always-on and multimedia features. By porting the Symbian OS to our DragonBall MX1, we are providing a ready-made solution for smart phone manufacturers," said Buddy Broeker, director of handheld computing for Motorola's Wireless and Broadband Systems Group. "The DragonBall MX1 combined with the Symbian OS will have a significant impact on the market availability of smart handheld devices, enabling manufacturers to combine the best of the handheld computing technology with wireless voice and data capabilities."
Metrowerks, a Motorola company and the leading commercial tools provider for the DragonBall platform, recently announced the availability of the first development tools designed specifically for the new Symbian OS(TM) v7.0, which will be used to create system software and applications for the next generation of Symbian OS phones.
"By providing Metrowerks' CodeWarrior(TM) Development Tools for Symbian OS and DragonBall MX1 with the Symbian OS, Motorola offers a total development environment for the smartphone industry," said Jim Welch, president and CEO, Metrowerks. "CodeWarrior, DragonBall and Symbian OS are formidable, market-leading solutions of choice for application developers looking to deliver innovative applications for wireless devices and to gain a critical competitive edge in today's rapidly changing marketplace."
Over the next several years, industry experts predict that there will be a significant increase in consumer requirements for mobile phones and the wireless industry as a whole must deliver products that satisfy the many diverse needs of wireless device users. To meet this demand, manufacturers are focusing on smart phones -- wireless phones that include personal digital assistant (PDA) functionality and integrate voice, data and multimedia to help ensure consumers can access the information they need, when they need it and wherever they may need it. In fact, according to research firm IDC, smart phones will be the fastest-growing segment of the smart handheld devices market, increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 164 percent to more than 23 million units by 2004.
About DragonBall Applications Processors
Building on years of experience in wireless technology, the Innovative Convergence platforms include cutting-edge chipsets, proven software, industry-leading development tools, the DragonBall microprocessor family and sophisticated imaging and video capabilities in one comprehensive, packaged solution for next-generation products.
Optimized for multimedia and Bluetooth(TM) applications, the DragonBall MX1 provides the first on-chip Bluetooth wireless technology-ready applications processor announced from a major worldwide semiconductor supplier. The DragonBall family of processors was introduced in 1995 and is now in its fifth generation. With more than 30 million devices shipped to date and the support of a suite of software and reference designs, the DragonBall name is readily associated with industry-leading handheld organizers and other portable wireless products.
The DragonBall MX1, based on the ARM920T(TM) core, offers speeds up to 200 MHz and provides on-chip integration with color graphics for very efficient media MP3 and MPEG4 media processing. In addition, DragonBall products have the longest standby power in the industry and support the Java(TM) 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME(TM)). The DragonBall family is compatible with industry-leading operating systems such as the Palm OS platform, Microsoft(R) Windows(R) CE operating system, Linux(R) operating system, and Symbian operating system.
Metrowerks Wireless Development Tools
Metrowerks delivers a comprehensive portfolio of software and hardware development tools that span the entire spectrum of pre- to post-platform development. This includes the Symbian OS tools; CodeWarrior Development Tools for ARM(TM) Embedded Systems; CodeWarrior for Java(TM), the first development toolset to comprehensively support Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME(TM)) and PersonalJava(TM) technologies; CodeWarrior Development Tools for Palm OS(TM), the de facto standard for Palm OS development; CodeWarrior tools for Java Card(TM) technology; and CodeWarrior tools for the Linux operating system, the best-selling commercial toolset for Linux.
About Symbian
Symbian supplies an operating system to the world's leading mobile phone manufacturers enabling them to create mobile phones which combine voice communications, wireless Internet access and computing functionality. Symbian's website can be found at http://www.symbian.com.
About Motorola
As the world's #1 producer of embedded processors, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector creates DigitalDNA(TM) system-on-chip solutions for a connected world. Our strong focus on wireless communications and networking enables customers to develop smarter, simpler, faster and synchronized products for the person, work team, home and automobile. Motorola's worldwide semiconductor sales were $4.9 billion (USD) in 2001.
Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated communications and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 2001 were $30 billion.
For more information, visit http://www.motorola.com or call 512-895-2631.
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