September 27, 1999 -National Semiconductor® Corp. (NYSE:NSM) and QNX Software Systems today announced the formation of a strategic alliance for the emerging information appliance market. As part of the alliance, National and QNX will engage in joint sales and market development, cooperative marketing, and collaborative research and development.
The goal of the alliance is to co-develop a series of production-ready reference platforms for the information appliance market, targeting such applications as Internet personal access devices (PADs), screenphones, set-top boxes and handheld devices. The companies' first joint release is the WebPAD™ Software Developer's Toolkit, a production-ready package that contains everything OEMs need to build Internet PADs.
"With shrinking product life cycles and intense competition, OEMs are demanding out-of-the-box solutions," said Linda Campbell, vice-president of Strategic Alliances for QNX Software. "It's a testament to the combined strengths of our software-hardware partnership that we can provide off-the-shelf solutions to our customers."
National's WebPAD reference platform is a wireless PAD that is optimized for Internet browsing. Weighing less than three pounds, the WebPAD solution is about the size of a standard paper notepad and features a simple touch-screen that encourages user interaction. Its wireless design lets users surf the Internet, send email and access information without being tied to a traditional desktop PC. The WebPAD reference design is based on National's highly integrated Geode™ GXm processor, an x86-based chip that integrates sound, graphics, memory control and the PCI interface.
"There's a huge untapped market out there for information appliances, with some predicting that a significant percentage of the billion Internet subscribers in 2002 will be accessing the Web via these types of personal access devices," said Camillo Martino, worldwide director of National's Personal Access Device business unit. "Our IP building blocks, integration expertise and proven track record on the x86 platform position National and QNX to help OEMs capitalize on that demand."
WebPAD Software Developer's Toolkit
The WebPAD SDK is a complete software development kit for National's WebPAD reference platform, including the QNX realtime operating system, embedded windowing system, Internet technology suite, development tools, demo applications with source code, and evaluation licenses - everything OEMs need to begin prototyping immediately. In addition, QNX's embedded GUI and Internet technology are completely customizable, enabling a unique product look and feel without the need for recoding.
"The idea behind this reference platform was to give OEMs a product they could market virtually right away," said Campbell. "Or they can choose to spend time customizing and adding the killer features that will ultimately sell their device. Either way, because so much of the development is already done, OEMs can go from concept to finished product in as little as six weeks."
About National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor provides system-on-a-chip solutions for the information age. Combining real-world analog and state-of the-art digital technology, the company's chips lead many sectors of the personal computer, communications, and consumer markets. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, National reported sales of $2 billion for its last fiscal year and currently has about 11,000 employees worldwide. Additional company and product information is available on the World Wide Web at www.national.com.
About QNX Software Systems
Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems Ltd. is the industry leader in high-performance realtime operating system software for the x86 platform. No other RTOS vendor has over 19 years' experience on x86, offers more options for x86, or has as large a marketshare on x86. Recently, QNX added MIPS and PowerPC to its supported processor platforms. For more information, or to download the 1.44M demodisk, visit www.qnx.com.
