Press Releases

MontaVista Linux Supports Proven Japanese Input System
”Mobile Wnn”

SUNNYVALE, Calif., and TOKYO, Nov. 18, 2002 — MontaVista Software, Inc., the company powering the embedded revolution™, and Omron Software Co., Ltd., a provider of Japanese input system software, today announced an alliance to pursue joint development and marketing opportunities. Omron’s popular Mobile Wnn entry system running on the award-winning embedded MontaVista™ Linux® platform will help embedded developers turn consumer electronics devices, such as cellular phones and PDAs, into high-quality mobile terminals.

Mobile Wnn allows easy key input even on devices with limited space for manual data input, such as cellular phones, PDAs and game machines. Since the system was developed in 1999, it has been deployed in more than 50 devices from 20 manufacturers, spanning a broad array of products from cell phones and the PlayStation2 from Sony, to musical instruments from Yamaha.

The Wnn input system is already supporting Linux on the business desktop and in personal computing environments. Now, Omron Software also intends to expand into the growing market of embedded Linux-powered devices.

“Our Mobile Wnn input solution already claims a sizable share in the mobile devices market, including cellular phones,” said Hideto Matsushita, general manager, Network Appliances & Software Products Division of Omron Software. “We are pleased to establish this partnership with MontaVista, the leading embedded Linux company, to provide our customers with the means to develop high performing and sophisticated, yet user-friendly applications for their next generation of mobile devices.”

“MontaVista Linux has the scalability, dependability and performance required for well-designed embedded applications ranging from hand-held consumer devices and set-top boxes to highly-available telecom and datacom solutions,” said Hitoshi Arima, vice president of Japan Sales, MontaVista Software. “As Linux is increasingly becoming the systems software of choice for consumer electronics in the Japanese market, the combination of Omron’s Mobile Wnn and MontaVista Linux offers Japanese OEMs a powerful solution for quickly and effectively developing cutting edge applications.”

MontaVista Linux
MontaVista Linux Professional Edition 2.1 is one of the most widely used embedded Linux operating systems and development platforms. It includes an impressive array of cross-development tools for system and application code, unparalleled processor and board support, native real-time performance in Linux, and hundreds of deployable utilities, libraries, drivers, and other run-time components. Earlier this year, MontaVista Linux Professional Edition was named “Best Embedded Linux Solution” at the New York Linux World and Expo. The product received the “Electron d’Or” award for “Best Embedded Tool and Development Solution for 2002” from the prestigious French publication “Electronique,” and the “Readers’ Choice Award” for “Favorite Embedded Solution 2002” from the American magazine “Linux Journal.”

Availability
MontaVista Linux Professional Edition 2.1 is available from MontaVista Software and the company’s sales and distribution channels worldwide. It is offered as a product subscription, providing customers with the MontaVista Linux kernel, utilities, development tools, software updates, access to the MontaVista Zone and full technical support. Wnn input solutions are available from OMRON Software.

About MontaVista Software
MontaVista Software is a leading global supplier of systems software for intelligent connected devices and their associated infrastructure, for applications ranging from communications infrastructure to consumer electronics. MontaVista powers the embedded revolution by providing GNU/Linux based open-source systems software solutions. Founded in 1999 by real-time operating system (RTOS) pioneer James Ready, MontaVista Software’s principal products include MontaVista™ Linux® Professional Edition and MontaVista™ Linux® Carrier Grade Edition. The Professional Edition comprises a Linux-based embedded source and binary distribution, cross development environments, and a versatile set of tools for the x86/IA-32, PowerPC, StrongARM, MIPS, SH, ARM, XScale, Xtensa and other microprocessor architectures. The Carrier Grade Edition is a next-generation high availability product that is the first Commercial Off-The-Shelf Linux (COTS) platform for telecommunications and carrier-grade applications. MontaVista Software also provides several complementary technology products addressing specific customer needs, such as Java development and runtime, powerful graphics capabilities and more.

Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley, in Sunnyvale, Calif., MontaVista Software is a privately held company funded by leading investors such as Alloy Ventures, US Venture Partners, RRE Ventures, WR Hambrecht + Co., IBM, Intel Capital, Panasonic and Sony Corporation. For more information about MontaVista Software, please visit http://www.mvista.com, email to info@mvista.com or call (408) 328-9200.

About Omron Software
Omron Software is a leading software technology company and one of subsidiaries of OMRON Corporation. The company provides engineering of industrial and social automation systems and embedded software for microcomputers, and software products for UNIX[tm], PC, and embedded systems. OMRON Software embedded software components for Network Appliances include: Mobile Wnn™, which is the smallest high performance input method system supporting Chinese, Japanese, and Korean; and Jumon™, which is Java™ mobile agent middleware for embedded devices. For more information about Omron Software, please visit http://www.omronsoft.com

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. MontaVista is a trademark of MontaVista Software Inc. All other names mentioned are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective companies.

Contacts:

MontaVista Software
Joe Samagond
Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications
MontaVista Software Inc.
Phone (408) 328-9234
E-mail: jsamagond@mvista.com

Patricia Colby
PR Strategy and Business Development
Pacifico Inc.
Phone (408) 293-8600 ext. 340
E-mail: pcolby@pacifico.com

Omron Software
OMRON SOFTWARE Co., Ltd.
Network Appliances & Software Products Division
E -mail: mwnn-info@omronsoft.co.jp