Beatnik, Inc. - Enhanced Audio Solutions

BEATNIK® AUDIO ENGINE™ NOW OPTIMIZED FOR INTEL®
PXA250 and PXA210 APPLICATIONS PROCESSORS

Beatnik Audio Technology Enables Enhanced Audio Solutions through Intel® Integrated Performance Primitives

SAN MATEO, Calif., - Feb., 12, 2002 - Beatnik, Inc., a leading provider of standards based structured audio systems to the wireless device industry, today announced support of the Beatnik® Audio Engine™ (BAE™) for the Intel® PXA250 and PXA210 Applications Processors. Already optimized for the Intel StrongARM* SA-1110 microprocessor, the BAE will take advantage of the high-performance and low-power capabilities of the Intel PXA250 and PXA210 Applications Processors to provide users with high-quality digital audio capabilities for their mobile devices.

The BAE is a hardware-independent software solution that provides a complete audio sub-system including a wavetable synthesizer & sequencer, effects processor and stereo mixer. The BAE can play back and mix popular formats such as XMF™, MP3, WAV, AIFF, MIDI and RMF®. This solution will utilize the processing power of Intel's PXA250 and PXA210 Applications Processors to enable carriers to deliver gaming, music and other multimedia applications on a variety of mobile devices using extremely small audio file sizes.

The BAE supports open standards such as eXtensible Music Format™ (XMF), the new worldwide audio standard for use in the development of wireless applications, services and content. XMF combines multiple music and sound formats, such as MIDI and Down-Loadable Sounds (DLS), into a single file that can be controlled interactively during playback. An XMF file can be extremely small - for example, 62kb for 3 minutes of music, with higher quality than most streaming audio formats. This makes XMF ideal for wireless applications including interactive music remixers, mobile phone ring tones, audio content delivery and games.

Fully implemented in software, the BAE can take the place of specialized audio hardware to provide rich audio playback at extremely small file sizes and when combined with the low power capabilities of the Intel PXA250 and PXA210 Applications Processors can reduce the overall system cost while extending the battery life of mobile devices. Additionally, as a software solution, it is easily scalable and upgradeable, without the need for extensive hardware reconfiguration.

"Given the immense popularity of music and games on handheld devices, the BAE will dramatically enhance the user experience of audio on devices using Intel's PXA250 and PXA210 Applications Processors," said Jeremy Copp, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing for Beatnik, Inc. "The high performance and low power capabilities of these processors, combined with the revolutionary features of the BAE, will allow mobile users to enjoy next generation multimedia applications anytime, anywhere."

"One of Intel's goals with the PXA210 and PXA250 Applications Processors is to provide users with a device that offers broad support and performance for enterprise and consumer targeted devices," said Mark Casey, marketing director for Intel's Handheld Computing Division "Beatnik has joined us on the path toward realizing this goal with its Beatnik Audio Engine that will benefit users by providing high quality, low bandwidth audio playback capabilities"

About Beatnik, Inc.
Beatnik licenses scalable, standards based structured-audio software solutions for mobile devices that enable rich multimedia content delivery and an enhanced user experience for games and device interaction. Beatnik markets its core software technology and audio content development tools to mobile device manufacturers and a community of creative professionals. Incorporated in 1996, Beatnik was founded by musician and composer Thomas Dolby Robertson.