Hantro Broadens Product Range With ARM MOVE Technology

CAMBRIDGE, England and OULU, Finland, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ARM [(LSE: ARM) (Nasdaq: ARMHY - news)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions, and Hantro Products Ltd. (Hantro), a leading provider of mobile multimedia solutions, today announced at the GSM World Congress, Cannes, France, that Hantro will integrate its MPEG-4 software encoder with the ARM® MOVE(TM) video encode acceleration coprocessor, increasing the customer choice in the area of high-quality 3G video on mobile devices running on the ARM architecture.

The MOVE coprocessor is part of ARM's MOVE technology that combines memory and power-efficient software and hardware components that improve video codec performance by up to a factor of two. This significantly improves the performance and battery life of video-enabled devices such as digital cellular phones and PDAs. The ARM MOVE coprocessor has already been licensed to several ARM Partners for use in mobile video applications.

"By integrating its MPEG-4 software encoder with the ARM MOVE coprocessor, Hantro can now offer an accelerated software video solution suitable for next- generation mobile phones to complement their high-performance video solutions for cameras and top-end wireless devices. We believe that enhanced video features will be one of the major drivers in the uptake of next-generation mobile devices," said Alan Lewis, manager, Digital Multimedia, ARM. "The combination of Hantro's technology and ARM's MOVE coprocessor enables customers to access a high-performance video encoder with the minimum of associated component costs."

"The ARM architecture is already established as the heart of many mobile video devices and so it is important that our solution is compatible with ARM technology," said Tomas Myntti, vice president, Sales and Marketing, Hantro. "The combination of our technologies can help to make mobile video a realistic proposition in both low-end and smart phones, enriching the user experience for 2.5G and 3G mobile devices."

ARM MOVE technology components, which have been designed to work efficiently with any ARM core-based device, comprises of a set of highly optimized encoder and decoder software components, plus the MOVE video encode acceleration coprocessor. A wide range of implementations of digital audio standards such as MP3, WMA and MPEG-4 AAC are also available for the ARM architecture to enable a full multimedia solution.

The ARM MOVE coprocessor is incorporated into the ARM PrimeXsys(TM) Wireless Platform, which is built around the ARM926EJ-S(TM) microprocessor core. Hantro's MPEG-4 software encoder will be licensable directly from Hantro

About ARM

ARM is the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions. The company licenses its high-performance, low- cost, power-efficient RISC processors, peripherals and system-on-chip designs to leading international electronics companies. ARM also provides comprehensive support required in developing a complete system. ARM's microprocessor cores are rapidly becoming a volume RISC standard in such markets as portable communications, hand-held computing, multimedia digital consumer and embedded solutions. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com .

About Hantro

Hantro provides its customers with video solutions for handheld devices. For video coding, Hantro has both hardware and software-based MPEG-4 and H.263 compatible video codecs that are proven and already delivered to the first customers. Hantro's product portfolio also includes video applications for video capturing, playback, messaging, streaming and telephony. The Company's products are in a key role for the device and semiconductor manufacturers developing battery-operated video-capable end products like cellular phones, still cameras, PDAs, camcorders, PC cameras and web pads.

The company was founded in 1992 and today employs more than 50 ICT professionals in its offices in Oulu, Espoo, and Saratoga, CA, USA.

ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Limited. ARM926EJ-S, PrimeXsys and MOVE are trademarks of ARM Limited. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders. "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.

For further information please contact: Michelle Spencer of ARM, +44-1628-427780, michelle.spencer@arm.com; or Kelly Foster of The Townsend Agency, +1-858-457-4888 ext. 143, kfoster@townsendagency.com, for ARM