Zeevo Announces Full Bluetooth Qualification for TC2000 System-On-A-Chip Platform

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Zeevo, Inc., an emerging leader in the delivery of fully integrated System-on-a-Chip (SoC) solutions for wireless communications standards, announced its TC2000 has been granted full Bluetooth(TM) qualification and is now included on the Bluetooth Qualified Products List (BQPL).

"Achieving this critical milestone now allows our first customers to bring their products to their customers and we are excited at the prospect of seeing Zeevo-based products in the marketplace," said Greg Ravenscroft, Vice President of Marketing for Zeevo. "Our fully supported Bluetooth solution -- hardware, software and development environment -- ensures our customers a quick time to market."

Mr. Hidetoshi Miyazawa, Manager of NEC Engineering, Ltd., a subsidiary of NEC Corporation (NEC) (Nasdaq: NIPNY; FTSE: 6701q.l; TSE: 6701) commented, "The Zeevo TC2000 Bluetooth solution has met our varied application requirements with its highly integrated architecture and embedded Bluetooth protocol stack." Mr. Miyazawa continued, "Zeevo's solution is ideal for embedded applications. The TC2000 has enabled us to easily integrate hardware and software, simplifying the development process and dramatically reducing time to market."

Mr. Brad Carey, President of Axsys Automation, a supplier of Home and Building Automation Systems that utilize Bluetooth technology, observed, "Zeevo's Bluetooth program has fit well into our Bluetooth product portfolio. The TC2000 advanced features which include: multipoint, scatternet support and full 128 bit encryption, easily integrate into our access point." Mr. Carey continued, "A 'digital-looking' chip makes our product development requirements much simpler and time-to-market much quicker."

Mr. Bulent Celebi, President and CEO of Ubicom America said, "We are very excited to be working with Zeevo. They are driving to make Bluetooth more cost-effective, easier to implement, and now, with Bluetooth qualification, less risky. To my knowledge, Zeevo is also unique in the marketplace with its scatternet capability. For Ubicom's vision of covering the world with access points for ubiquitous and always-on mobile Internet, Zeevo's technological edge is most welcome."

"Zeevo is to be congratulated for developing the TC2000, which is one of the most highly integrated Bluetooth chips available. The Bluetooth market is beginning to take off, and I think Zeevo will soon be shipping a lot of these chips," said Jack Quinn, President of Micrologic Research - analysts for wireless communications markets. Micrologic Research's Bluetooth shipment estimates for 2002 is 45 million units, 181 million units in 2003 and 1,156 million units in 2005.

The qualification process ensures the TC2000 meets the performance specifications required for the Bluetooth standard as developed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). Zeevo utilized the services of BABT, A division of TUV America Inc. in the qualification testing of the product.

The TC2000 is a complete SoC solution for the Bluetooth standard. Executed in 0.18um CMOS process and a unique package technology, Zeevo customers enjoy a "digital-looking" chip integrating RF, Radio, Link Controller and an embedded ARM7TDMI® microprocessor with SRAM and FLASH memories. Users communicate to the chip via a high-speed UART or USB. The TC2000 comes with HCI-level firmware included in the FLASH memory.

Customers enjoy full hardware and software support with available Blue Shark(TM) Development Kits and BlueDolphin(TM) Evaluations Kits.

"Achieving qualification is a significant validation of our solution and a testament to the engineering skills at Zeevo," said Anil Aggarwal, CEO of Zeevo, Inc. "We have looked at Bluetooth from our customers point-of-view, and developed a complete, highly integrated solution, uniquely positioned in the marketplace. The relative ease of design-in and time-to-market that can be achieved with Zeevo product as proven by customers is going to enable the mass Bluetooth market and unleash the true potential of Bluetooth."

The TC2000 is available today for customer samples and the Blue Shark(TM) Development Kits and BlueDolphin(TM) Evaluations Kits are currently shipping to customers.

About Zeevo

Zeevo, Inc. is a privately owned fabless semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California. The company was founded in 1999 to develop and market "systems on a chip" solutions for the communications marketplace. Zeevo's goal -- "Enabling Pervasive Connectivity(TM)", means staying connected anywhere in order to have a true personal web that can be carried with you at all times. Zeevo has been a member of the Bluetooth SIG since January 2000. For more information, see our web site at http://www.zeevo.com .

About NEC Engineering Ltd.

NEC Engineering Ltd., as a member of NEC group, provides expertise in the development and design of information and communications products. Making use of the latest information technologies, computer technologies and LSI technologies, the company develops various stand-alone and system solutions products.

About Axsys

Axsys Automation is a leading provider of automation solutions resulting in products for businesses and consumers in home, building, factory, utility and transportation industries. Axsys offers experience in designing, manufacturing and marketing hardware and software products, which are the foundation of every solution.

A distinguished list of companies has relied on Axsys' expertise for development of custom applications. Axsys is a member of the Bluetooth SIG, Inc., LonMark® Interoperability Association and recognized by Echelon as a LonWorks(TM) Independent Developer (LID). This affords Axsys the capability of guiding businesses through the integration of open, interoperable networking and Bluetooth wireless technologies.

Put the power of Axsys technology solutions in your next application. It's what's inside that counts. Further information regarding Axsys Automation can be found at http://www.axsysautomation.com .

About Ubicom

For wireless access point and networked device manufacturers, we provide Internet Access Processors and Software that form a disruptive platform. Our Software System-On-Chip technology reduces time to prototype to a matter of days and time to production to twelve weeks. It is half the cost, one-third the power and one-tenth the size of traditional SOC (system on a chip) based solutions. Unlike SOCs from Atmel, Motorola, TI and others, we deliver a complete, flexible and Internet upgradeable platform including an optimized processor, operating system, networking software, and multiple physical layers which can be leveraged across our customer's entire product portfolio. Additionally, Ubicom is the only vendor that supports 802.11, HomePlug power line, Bluetooth, USB and Ethernet and can have all of these communication protocols co-exist in a single network. Customers can therefore leverage their R&D into new technologies and can create novel new products by mixing these technologies. Additional information on Ubicom and its products can be found on the Web at www.ubicom.com.

Ubicom ... enabling Ubiquitous Communication

About Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a technology specification for the Bluetooth Special Interest Group which consists of leaders in the telecommunications and computing industries who are driving the development of an emerging open standard specifying wireless transmission between small form factor, low cost, short range radio linked electronic devices. Bluetooth specifies a system platform including hardware, software and interoperability requirements. The Bluetooth radio operates in a globally available 2.4GHz ISM band, enabling communication compatibility worldwide between a wide range of home, business and general- purpose electronic systems. To learn more about Bluetooth qualification, visit the official Bluetooth SIG web site at http://qualweb.opengroup.org .

NOTE: Bluetooth(TM) is the registered trademark owned by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Sweden.

"Enabling Pervasive Connectivity", "Blue Shark", and "BlueDolphin" are all the registered trademarks owned by Zeevo, Inc.

ARM, Thumb and ARM7TDMI are registered trademarks of ARM Limited. "ARM" is used to represent ARM Holdings plc (LSE: ARM and NASDAQ: ARMHY); its operating company ARM Limited; and the regional subsidiaries ARM INC.; ARM KK; ARM Korea Ltd.; ARM, Taiwan; and ARM France SAS.

Other trademarks or registered trademarks are owned by their respective registered owners.