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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
QUALCOMM Signs FLO Chip Agreement With Newport Media to Support Global Deployment of MediaFLO
SAN DIEGO, -- QUALCOMM Incorporated
(Nasdaq: QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of Code Division Multiple
Access (CDMA) and other advanced wireless technologies, and mobile system
semiconductor company Newport Media Inc., today announced that the companies
have signed a royalty-free agreement that enables Newport Media to use
QUALCOMM's patented technologies to design, manufacture and sell certain
semiconductor chip products that implement FLO(TM) technology. FLO
technology, a multicast innovation, is a Telecommunications Industry
Association (TIA) standardized air-interface technology designed to increase
capacity and coverage and reduce cost for multimedia content delivery to
mobile handsets. The FLO Forum recently gained official approval and
publication of the FLO Air Interface Specification by the TIA TR-47.1
Subcommittee.
"In order to encourage multiple FLO chip vendors, QUALCOMM is enabling
companies, such as Newport Media, to develop and market FLO chips
incorporating QUALCOMM's patented technologies without payment of royalties to
QUALCOMM," said Marv Blecker, president of QUALCOMM Technology Licensing.
"Through this program and the work being done with the growing vendor
community in the FLO Forum, we continue driving the adoption of FLO technology
to facilitate the delivery of high-quality mobile TV, audio and datacasting
services to consumers around the world."
"We are pleased to sign this agreement with QUALCOMM, a leader in
providing wireless multimedia delivery solutions, as it will allow us to
address the rapidly growing mobile TV market and provide advanced chipsets
based on FLO technology to our customers," said Mohy Abdelgany, president and
chief executive officer of Newport Media. "This agreement opens up new
business opportunities and we look forward to expanding our product portfolio
to include FLO semiconductor solutions."
In order to provide Newport Media's handset customers and other handset
suppliers rights to use QUALCOMM's patented technology, QUALCOMM also has
implemented a broad-based licensing program to enable the development,
manufacture and sale of FLO-enabled handsets. Subject to QUALCOMM's standard
terms and conditions, QUALCOMM will license its essential FLO patents for use
in multi-mode CDMA/FLO handsets with no increase to its standard royalty rate
for CDMA-based handsets. CDMA includes CDMA2000(R) and/or WCDMA/UMTS. For
FLO handsets that do not also implement CDMA, QUALCOMM will license its
essential FLO patents on terms and conditions that are fair, reasonable and
free from unfair discrimination. Companies interested in licensing FLO
patents should contact QUALCOMM at 1-858-587-1121 and ask to speak with the
QUALCOMM Technology Licensing group.
Engineered specifically for the mobile environment, FLO technology offers
several advantages over other mobile multicast technologies, including
higher-quality video and audio, faster channel switching time, superior mobile
reception, optimized power consumption and greater capacity than other
multicast technologies. Because of its superior throughput and efficient use
of spectrum, FLO technology can support more content channels (in the same
frequency band) than competing technologies, depending on channel bandwidth
allocation. Specific performance features of FLO technology include:
For example, in a 6 MHz channel, FLO technology can transmit up to 20
streaming channels of QVGA-quality (320x240 pixels) video at up to 30
frames per second, 10 stereo audio channels (HE AAC+ parametric stereo)
and multiple distributed Clipcast(TM) content per day (short-format
video clips) and datacast services.
Faster channel switching time. Channel change time is approximately
two seconds with FLO technology, and does not require buffering, splash
screens or progress bars.
Low battery power consumption without compromising channel switching
time. The commercial goal for FLO technology is approximately 3.8
hours of view time on a standard 850 mAh battery.
High mobility reception, for example, in 700 MHz, FLO-enabled receivers
can operate efficiently at vehicular speeds up to 200 km/hr with
graceful degradation of service at even higher speeds.
More information on the benefits of FLO technology and technical details
on the FLO specification are available from the FLO Forum (www.floforum.org).
The FLO Forum is a multi-company initiative committed to advancing the global
standardization of FLO technology. Composed of industry-leading
organizations, the FLO Forum works to develop products and services, based on
FLO technology, that enable the delivery of advanced multimedia services to
wireless consumers. The FLO Forum is organized to promote the global
standardization of FLO technology, including compliance and certification
benchmarks for the technology. The FLO Forum recently gained official
approval and publication of the FLO Air Interface Specification by the TIA
TR-47.1 Subcommittee.
MediaFLO(TM) system is an end-to-end solution that enables multicasting of
high-quality video, audio streams, Clipcast media and IP datacasting to mobile
handsets. The MediaFLO system is a manageable, scalable, subscription-based
distribution system and an efficient over-the-air network solution that
provides wireless operators and broadcasters a way to cost-effectively deliver
the high-quality audio and video content their subscribers desire. More
information about the MediaFLO system is available at www.mediaflo.com.
Newport Media Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company that develops and
sells highly integrated solutions for emerging digital audio and mobile TV
broadcast standards. Newport Media has assembled a management and development
team with comprehensive system semiconductor experience in wireless handset
and digital set-top box industries. Newport Media's development team
leverages its collective experience in these converging industries to develop
broadcast multimedia architectures and IC implementations with unprecedented
performance, power consumption, size and cost. For more information, visit
www.newportmediainc.com.
QUALCOMM Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and
delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services
based on CDMA and other advanced technologies. Headquartered in San Diego,
Calif., QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2006 FORTUNE 500(R)
company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market(R) under the ticker symbol QCOM
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