BusinessWire
March 29, 2006 06:00 AM US Pacific Timezone

New QuickLogic Bridge Controller & Hitachi Microdrive to Deliver Energy-Efficient Storage Solution for Handheld Consumer Electronics; Proven Low Power QuickIDE Bridge Controller Serves as Companion Device to Intel(R) PXA2xx Processors

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 29, 2006--QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ:QUIK), the industry's lowest-power programmable logic solutions leader, today announced that its new QuickIDE bridge controller interoperates with Hitachi Global Storage Technologies' one-inch Microdrive hard drive to deliver a complete mass storage solution for Intel-based portable consumer electronics.

The Microdrive 3K8 features a dramatically reduced footprint and power consumption for integration into mobile phones and other ultra-miniature consumer electronic devices. The drive has a maximum capacity of 8GB and is available exclusively for embedded applications.

As consumers desire higher quality video playback in these applications, the demands on the processor and hard drive increase. In some portable applications, designers are challenged to keep up with these stringent demands when the embedded processor cannot keep up with the data transfer rate of the hard drive due to a lack of a native IDE interface in the system.

As a solution to this challenge, QuickLogic has created a companion device to connect Hitachi Microdrive disk drives to Intel(R) PXA2xx processors. With support from Hitachi, QuickLogic has spent several hundred engineering hours performing various system-level benchmark tests to confirm the interoperability of the QuickIDE bridge controller and Microdrive solution. QuickLogic's results validate the theoretical maximum effective transfer rate of the Microdrive, which is 5.1-10 MB/sec sustained data rate.

"In order to broaden our reach into the portable electronics segment, QuickLogic has developed an ecosystem of industry leaders in low power embedded processors, wireless and storage peripherals," said Kevin Yee, Director of Business Development at QuickLogic. "As a result of this focused collaboration with Hitachi, QuickLogic has enabled Microdrive hard drives to connect to embedded processors in the most energy efficient manner -- without sacrificing performance."

"Low CPU utilization, low-power consumption and small footprints are all critical parameters for our customers integrating Microdrive technology into their portable electronics," said Marcia Bencala, vice president, Corporate Strategy & Product Planning, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "Hitachi's work with QuickLogic will go a long way in helping product designers achieve these parameters and deliver compelling handheld consumer electronic devices into the marketplace."

Availability

The QuickLogic Companion Device integrates a full-featured IDE Bridge Controller and local bus interface for embedded processors and is available now. In volume quantities, the companion device sells for less than $5. For more information, go to www.quicklogic.com/hdd or send an email to hdd@quicklogic.com.

About QuickLogic

QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ:QUIK) is the leading provider of the lowest power programmable logic solutions for the portable electronics, industrial, communications and military markets. Our latest products, PolarPro(TM), Eclipse II(TM) and QuickPCI(R), are being used to implement bridge and control solutions in embedded systems requiring Wi-Fi and IDE-based hard disk drives. QuickLogic's proprietary ViaLink(R) technology offers significant benefits for programmable logic, including the lowest power, instant-on capability and bulletproof intellectual property security. The company is located at 1277 Orleans Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1138. Web site: www.quicklogic.com

Safe Harbor Statement Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among others, the potential benefits of our technology to applications such as Intel-based portable consumer electronics and general handheld consumer electronic devices, the actual performance and market acceptance of our products and the pricing of our products. Actual results may differ materially from any such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: (i) The actual performance and market acceptance of QuickLogic's products, including solutions, if any, produced as a result of our partnership with Hitachi; (ii) General conditions in the semiconductor industry; (iii) Consistency in the price of our product.

Certain risk factors are detailed in QuickLogic's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. QuickLogic disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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