National Semiconductor Using Technology From Sun Microsystems For Internet Products
May 29, 1996, Santa Clara, CA - National Semiconductor Corporation (NSM-NYSE) today announced that they are using technology from Sun Microsystem's JavaSoft business unit to provide a new generation of internet-enabled products. The combination of JavaOSª with National's embedded processor and analog mixed-signal technologies will enable products with built-in connectivity. National is working with recent spin-off InfoGear Technology Corporation to design such a product - the iPhoneª - a full-featured telephone with built-in access to internet services.
"Our customers are telling us that the internet can add significant value to their product lines. National Semiconductor will be ready with reference designs and architectures to speed our customers time to market. Java and JavaOSª are important technologies for connecting analog and mixed signal solutions to the internet and corporate intranets," said Gunnar Hurtig, Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and Market Development at National.
"We believe that the market for consumer information appliances is huge, and this announcement signals a potentially powerful relationship among our three companies," said Robert Marshall, CEO of InfoGear Technology Corporation in Redwood City. "Bringing Java to the embedded world will provide the iPhone with a rich and growing software development base. Together we combine the consumer device with software and silicon solutions that will quickly bring the iPhone to the marketplace and stimulate volume production."
The potential ramifications of this technology are embedded systems designs that allow functionality and connectivity that is as big as the internet. With the effort that is currently underway, National will address the changing needs of key OEM customers who desire to build a new generation of products that can be controlled, monitored, and reprogrammed via networks. These applications include consumer products, wide area networks, remote access, and multifunctional office equipment.
"National Semiconductor's emphasis on providing complete embedded architectures, enabled with JavaOSª software technology, will allow manufacturers and ultimately customers, to reap the benefits of the exploding number of Java applications in development. Java's object-oriented, write-once run-anywhere features will provide quantum improvement in time to market and product development costs," said Jim Mitchell, Vice President and CTO at JavaSoft.
National Semiconductor Corporation provides technologies for moving and shaping information. The company focuses on four strategic markets: communications, personal systems, industrial, and consumer. National Semiconductor is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has 20,000 employees worldwide. In fiscal 1995, the company reported sales of $2.4 billion.
InfoGear is dedicated to developing and delivering software systems products that enable connection to the internet and World Wide Web by low-cost consumer electronics devices. Their first product is the iPhoneª, a full-featured telephone that enables access to the internet and World Wide Web through a touch-screen interface. InfoGear's corporate headquarters are in Redwood City, California. The InfoGear Technology Development Center is located in Raanana, Israel.