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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
Leading Game Publishers and Developers Endorse QUALCOMM and ATI's New Wireless 3D Gaming
SAN JOSE, Calif., March 25 -- QUALCOMM Incorporated
(Nasdaq: QCOM), pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access
(CDMA) digital wireless technology, and ATI Technologies Inc.
(Nasdaq: ATYT; Toronto), the global leader for mobile graphics, today
announced significant publisher and developer support for their next
generation wireless 3D gaming platform, announced earlier this week.
Publishers and developers will be able to take advantage of revenue
opportunities by creating 3D games for QUALCOMM's BREW solution and ATI's 3D
graphics technology to enhance wireless content and bring their games to the
next level.
As part of the collaboration announced earlier this week, QUALCOMM's
industry-leading Mobile Station Modem(TM) (MSM(TM)) baseband solutions will be
combined with ATI's highly optimized IMAGEON(TM) architecture to provide a
fully featured, high-performance 3D gaming solution for 3G CDMA2000(R) and
WCDMA devices. QUALCOMM will license the IMAGEON technology for its
next-generation MSM7xxx(TM) family of chipsets, and will also enable ATI to
interface IMAGEON ASICs to QUALCOMM's MSM6xxx(TM) chipsets -- providing device
manufacturers using QUALCOMM's chipsets with a fully tested 3D multimedia
hardware solution.
"The wireless realm represents an opportunity to expand and extend high-
quality gaming experiences," said Tim Walsh, president of THQ Wireless. "The
future of mobile gaming is in good hands with QUALCOMM and ATI teaming up to
provide advanced 3D mobile entertainment solutions."
"Namco America is dedicated to bringing Namco content to the mobile market
in North America. We have been extremely successful in developing wireless
games with the BREW solution to date and that is one of the reasons why this
announcement is so exciting," said Kenji Hisatsune, EVP & COO of Namco America
Inc. "With ATI added to the mix and QUALCOMM's advancements on the chipset
side, we now have access to some of the top business and technical solutions
for wireless game development in a single unified offering. This is an
important milestone for game publishers and developers."
"3D is a great advance for mobile content. It dramatically changes the
mobile game experience and we commend QUALCOMM and ATI for bringing this
solution to market," said Larry Shapiro, EVP of business development and
operations, Walt Disney Internet Group.
"By integrating 3D gaming technology at the chipset level and offering the
highest level of support to developers via the BREW system, QUALCOMM and ATI
are raising the bar on wireless game development to new heights of
innovation," said Matt Sivertson, director of international operations, Sony
Online Entertainment. "We look forward to taking full advantage of this new
technology to raise the standard of our mobile games, close to that of our
popular console and PC games."
"The advent of accelerated graphics hardware in portable devices marks the
beginning of a truly exciting time for gaming and graphical applications,"
said Peter Freese, core technology director, NCsoft. "It dramatically expands
the market for graphical entertainment, personal and business applications."
"Sega was an early adopter of wireless gaming and has seen it become a
great business," said Yuki Kobayashi, director of mobile, Sega of America.
"We are pleased to see ATI bringing 3D graphic technology to this market as it
will allow the market to mature on a worldwide basis."
"Leveraging 3D graphics has been a central pillar of Bandai's wireless
gaming strategy to date, and this announcement allows us to continue on this
path to create increasingly rich mobile games," said Masao Ohata, vice
president of Network Entertainment for Bandai America Incorporated. "The
combination of QUALCOMM's MSM chipsets, ATI's leading-edge graphics
acceleration technology and the BREW system promises an exciting future for
mobile gaming and entertainment."
"The announcement of ATI and QUALCOMM working together to advance 3D
gaming technology at the hardware level is a very key event in the wireless
gaming industry," said John Greiner, president, Hudson Entertainment. "This
will rapidly accelerate the proliferation of 3D graphics and we're looking
forward to evolving both our existing BREW titles to 3D as well as produce all
new content."
"This is a significant announcement from a business and technology
standpoint, as it will enable us to leverage our premium entertainment brands
in an entirely new level of visual clarity across our wireless games
portfolio," said Rio Caraeff, vice president of wireless services for Sony
Pictures Digital Networks. "The BREW platform has been a very successful
business for us, and this exciting announcement will enable this trend to
continue with the development of higher quality 3D titles for consumers to
enjoy."
"3D is one of the next frontiers for wireless game development and we are
pleased that ATI's 3D technology is coming to QUALCOMM's BREW solution," said
Mitch Lasky, CEO of global wireless publisher JAMDAT Mobile Inc.
"ATI's IMAGEON solution brings mobile gaming to a level at which the
product of mainstream game development can be brought to the wireless
consumer," said Lincoln Wallen, vice president of RenderWare Mobile for
leading middleware supplier Criterion Software. "This collaboration between
ATI and QUALCOMM will serve to excite the CDMA market and stimulate the demand
for premium game content."
Demonstrations of BREW-based wireless games, leveraging ATI's 3D graphics
capabilities, will be on display at the Game Developers Conference, March
22-26, 2004 in the ATI booth #827 at the San Jose Convention Center in San
Jose, Calif.
QUALCOMM's BREW system provides products and services that connect the
mobile marketplace value chain, which includes application developers,
publishers, content providers, device manufacturers, operators and consumers.
Publishers and developers worldwide are generating revenue from BREW-based
applications and content, and 24 manufacturers have offered more than 120
BREW-enabled device models to consumers. BREW is successfully enabling the
commercial wireless data services of many very successful operators, including
Verizon Wireless, ALLTEL, Cellular One, MetroPCS, Midwest Wireless and U.S.
Cellular in the United States, China Unicom, KDDI in Japan, KTF in South
Korea, Hutch in Thailand, Telstra in Australia, VIVO in Brazil, BellSouth
Chile, BellSouth Colombia, BellSouth Ecuador, BellSouth Guatemala, BellSouth
Panama, BellSouth Peru, Telefonica Moviles in Peru, Movicom in Argentina,
Telcel and Movilnet in Venezuela, Verizon Dominican Republic, Verizon Wireless
Puerto Rico and Pelephone in Israel.
ATI Technologies Inc. is the world leader in the design and manufacture of
innovative 3D graphics and digital media silicon solutions. An industry
pioneer since 1985, ATI is the world's foremost visual processor unit (VPU)
provider. ATI is dedicated to delivering leading-edge performance solutions
for the full range of PC and Mac desktop and notebook platforms, workstations,
set-top and digital televisions, game consoles and handheld device markets.
With 2003 revenues in excess of US $1.3 billion, ATI has more than 2,200
employees in the Americas, Europe and Asia. ATI common shares trade on NASDAQ
(ATYT) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ATY).
QUALCOMM Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com ) is a leader in developing and
delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services
based on the Company's CDMA digital technology. Headquartered in San Diego,
Calif., QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2003 FORTUNE 500(R)
company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market(R) under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release
contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and
uncertainties, including the extent and speed to which the BREW solution is
deployed and adopted, change in economic conditions of the various markets the
Company serves, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the
Company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended
September 28, 2003, and most recent Form 10-Q.
QUALCOMM is a registered trademark of QUALCOMM Incorporated. BREW, Mobile
Station Modem, MSM, MSM6xxx and MSM7xxx are trademarks of QUALCOMM
Incorporated. IMAGEON is a trademark of ATI Technologies Inc. ATI and ATI
product and product feature names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks
of ATI Technologies Inc. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA USA). All other trademarks are
the property of their respective owners.
For further information, contact: Michele Bakic, QUALCOMM Internet
Services, +1-858-651-4017, mbakic@qualcomm.com, or Emily Gin, Corporate Public
Relations, +1-858-651-4084, publicrelations@qualcomm.com, or Bill Davidson,
Investor Relations, +1-858-658-4813, ir@qualcomm.com, all of QUALCOMM
Incorporated; or Chris Evenden, Director Public Relations, +1-416-509-0890,
cevenden@ati.com, or Janet Craig, Director Investor Relations,
+1-416-997-9006, janet@ati.com, both of ATI Technologies Inc
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