3G 3D Gaming Platform

22nd March , 2004

US : QUALCOMM Incorporated and ATI Technologies announced a strategic technology collaboration to create the next-generation wireless 3D gaming platform.

As part of the collaboration, QUALCOMM's industry-leading Mobile Station Modem™ (MSM™) baseband solutions will include ATI's highly optimized IMAGEON™ architecture to provide a fully featured, high-performance 3D gaming solution for 3G CDMA2000® and WCDMA (UMTS) devices.

QUALCOMM will license and integrate the IMAGEON technology for its next-generation MSM7xxx™ family of chipsets, and will enable ATI to interface IMAGEON Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) to QUALCOMM's MSM6xxx™ chipsets - providing QUALCOMM's manufacturing partners with a fully tested 3D multimedia hardware solution. This collaboration creates a rich 3D graphics and development environment which includes QUALCOMM's BREW™ solution, industry standard APIs, ATI's PC-level performance, and well established developer programs. This enables the development of value-added games for the mobile environment and easy porting to mobile devices, of some of the world's most popular PC and console-based games, resulting in new revenue generating opportunities for wireless operators and content providers.

"QUALCOMM and ATI have joined forces to deliver a superior 3D graphics solution to the wireless industry, furthering QUALCOMM's commitment to continually developing new uses for wireless," said Dr. Sanjay K. Jha, president of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies. "Combining our leadership in wireless communications with ATI's leading graphics expertise establishes a new standard of excellence for wireless 3D graphics applications and devices."

"ATI is pleased to partner with QUALCOMM as the wireless industry leader to increase the commercial availability of 3D gaming and multimedia devices and services for 3G CDMA," said Dave Orton, president and chief operating officer, ATI Technologies Inc. "We are leveraging many years of expertise in graphics and 3D gaming across all platforms as well as our vast and strong relationships with content providers to offer an outrageous 3D graphics experience for wireless consumers in a very low power environment."

"ATI and QUALCOMM, through the BREW solution, will assist Verizon Wireless to deliver an extreme 3D gaming experience to our customers," said James Straight, vice president of wireless data and multimedia services for Verizon Wireless. "The combination of the BREW system and ATI's graphics solution, will enable publishers and developers to push the envelope with their exciting mobile offerings, giving our customers a superior gaming experience."

This collaboration will leverage the revenue-generating opportunities of the rapidly growing wireless gaming industry. IDC estimates that wireless gaming revenue could generate USD $1 billion by 2006 for wireless carriers in the United States.

QUALCOMM will showcase a variety of 3G CDMA wireless products and solutions at CTIA Wireless 2004 in Atlanta, March 22-24 in booth number 3931 (hall B4) at the Georgia World Congress Center. QUALCOMM will hold a press conference on "Multimedia Convergence" on Monday, March 22 from 2-2:30 p.m. in the CTIA 2004 press conference facilities. ATI executives will be available to provide additional details on this collaboration.

QUALCOMM's chipsets include access to QUALCOMM's BREW solution. The BREW system enables the development and monetization of advanced applications and content, allowing operators and OEMs to differentiate their products and services and increase revenues.

QUALCOMM's chipsets are also compatible with the Java runtime environment; J2ME™ can be built entirely on the chipset as an extension to the BREW solution.

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).

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