Bitboys Introduces Vector Graphics Processor for Mobile Devices at Game Developers Conference

New Bitboys G12 Processor Renders Vector Graphics at 60 Frames Per Second, Offers 100-fold Speed Improvement Over Software-based Rendering

(Espoo, Finland and San Francisco, Calif. - March 7, 2005) Bitboys, a provider of graphics hardware IP solutions for wireless and embedded devices, today announced the new Bitboys G12 mobile vector graphics processor that enables fast, power-efficient and enjoyable vector graphics on devices such as mobile phones and PDAs.

Bitboys products are licensed to semiconductor and mobile phone manufacturers as IP (Intellectual Property) cores that are integrated into the manufacturers' SoC (System-on-Chip) semiconductor products. Bitboys is the only company that offers a dedicated vector graphics processor for mobile and embedded environments.

The Bitboys G12 is an extremely compact vector graphics processor that supports hardware rendering of both SVG Tiny 1.2 and OpenVG 1.0 graphics. The Bitboys G12 offers rendering performance of over 60 frames per second - a more than 100-fold improvement over software-based vector graphics rendering. The processor operates at extremely low power consumption levels and requires very little CPU capacity.

"At Symbian we think 2D and vector graphics play an increasingly important role in the attractiveness of both the user interface and multimedia applications for phones. This is one of the reasons Symbian has been working on the definition of OpenVG - the open industry standard for displaying vector graphics," said Bill Pinnell, Multimedia, Games & Graphics Product Manager, Symbian. "OpenVG coupled with BitBoys', small, power-efficient vector graphics accelerator allows Symbian OS licensees to bring rich good looking graphics to a wider range of mobile phones."

Vector graphics technology offers numerous benefits for mobile devices, including small file sizes for high-quality graphics; scalability to any display size; and lossless compression without JPEG artifacts. Vector graphics allow content to be always rendered to the highest possible detail and quality, while animation is easily executed and takes very little memory. Furthermore, vector graphics facilitate smooth rendering of anti-aliased text, also in complex non-Latin fonts such as Kanji.

The advanced vector graphics features of the Bitboys G12 enable

• Fast, ultra-clear user interfaces
• Animated, interactive advertisements that offer high value for operators
• Scalable, rotating maps with small file size, including corporate logos and animations
• Cartoons, anime, greeting cards, games and other mobile entertainment applications

As vector graphics content takes very little space and compresses well, it is easily distributed over any wireless network, including current GSM and CDMA networks.

"As much as we all love 3D graphics, it's 2D that does most of the work - good 2D with the anti-aliased edges and sharp lines that are essential on a tiny screen. To do it right without using excessive amounts of power or transistors takes real skill," said graphics industry expert Dr. Jon Peddie of market research firm Jon Peddie Research. "The market potential for 2D or vector graphics acceleration is over 425 million units, and more if you add dedicated vector acceleration to high-end phone 3D engines. Bitboys is a leading IP core supplier in the handheld market, and the introduction of a dedicated vector graphics engine will propel them even further."

"We are very excited about the benefits this technology will offer to our customers. The Bitboys G12 IP core is easily integrated into a great variety of devices that can benefit from the smooth and fast graphical interfaces enabled by vector graphics acceleration in hardware. We expect hardware acceleration of vector graphics to become a standard in wireless devices over the next few years," said Petri Nordlund, CTO of Bitboys.

"The cross-platform, royalty-free OpenVG vector graphics rendering API has gathered wide interest from the wireless and handheld industry as the next-generation platform for a wide variety of interactive graphics on mobile phones and other embedded devices. The promise of accelerating presentation vector graphics such as SVG, and user interfaces in general, becomes closer to reality when compact and low-power designs implementing the new low-level 2D vector graphics API become available," said Koichi Mori, chairman of the OpenVG working group, Khronos. "With the OpenVG 1.0 specification close to be ratified, the Khronos Group is happy to see the first implementation of the API on a mobile graphics hardware accelerator from Bitboys."

The new Bitboys G12, provided as an IP core licensed to semiconductor manufacturers and OEMs, will be available for SoC (System-on-Chip) integration in the second quarter of 2005. Hardware acceleration of vector graphics is also included in the Bitboys G40, a 2D/3D/vector graphics processor introduced in August 2004 and targeted for high-end multimedia mobile phones. For technical product details of the Bitboys G12 and G40, please see v.

Bitboys
Finland-based Bitboys develops and licenses graphics hardware IP solutions for various wireless and embedded devices. Bitboys graphics processors are specifically designed for power and size restricted environments and are the outcome of over 14 years of experience in graphics research and development. The first product line targeted for wireless and embedded devices has been available for licensing since July 2003. Bitboys currently employs 38 dedicated graphics professionals. For more information about Bitboys, please visit www.bitboys.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Bitboys will provide a hardware demonstration of the Bitboys G12 processor rendering SVG and OpenVG graphics at the Khronos Developer University event, held at Game Developers Conference, March 10th, 2005, San Francisco, CA. Bitboys key executives are available for interviews upon request. For details about the Khronos Developer University event, please visit http://www.khronos.org/devu/locations/sanfrancisco2005.html