$50 FailSafe PC First to Allow Crash-Proof Internet Upgrades; Industry's First Bootable PC-on-a-Chip is Targeted for Post-PC Era Embedded Systems and Information Appliances.

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 28, 1999--

Called the MachZ PCe(tm), the groundbreaking PC-on-a-Chip is the only device available that ensures successful on-line software upgrades.

"This product will revolutionize the way products such as information appliances and Internet devices are designed," stated David Feldman, president of ZF Embedded. "The risk of having tens of thousand's of units in the field with the potential of a system crash is very real and totally unacceptable. Our patented FailSafe Boot feature makes it the only embedded processor that allows upgrades over the Internet eliminating the possibility of irrecoverable crashes. It is the only device capable of booting on power-up even if all external system software has been corrupted or is inaccessible."

The MachZ PCe is the only fully implemented PC-on-a-Chip that boots autonomously on application of power. It is also the only processor bundled with a full embedded PC BIOS and dual operating systems. This eliminates the need for OEMs to pay costly license fees and ends the expensive and time-consuming requirement of porting third party software and searching for unique peripheral drivers.

The MachZ PCe integrates an unequaled set of traditional PC hardware features including PCI, ISA and Access (I2C) buses, serial and parallel I/O, floppy and hard disk controllers. It also contains a host of patented features specifically created to solve the problems faced by designers of OEM products. With this device, ZF Embedded brings to market the most feature rich X86 PC-on-a-Chip ever introduced.

The MachZ PCe was designed from the ground up to resolve the many issues necessary to create reliable PC compatible embedded applications and offers the lowest PC system cost in the embedded market.

"As the market grows for information appliances and similar devices, so does the need to integrate PC-functionality into these devices rapidly and inexpensively," said Paul Zorfass, principal embedded analyst with International Data Corporation/FTI. "Companies that can design truly crash-proof devices will have a distinct competitive advantage."

Produced at National Semiconductor's .24 micron state of the art facilities, the MachZ PCe is the result of the alliance announced between the two companies in June of this year. It is slated for production in the first quarter of 2000 with samples available in the fourth quarter of 1999.

The bootable PC-on-a-Chip incorporates ZF Embedded's patented FailSafe Boot ROM, Ztag(tm), ZF-Logic(tm) and Dual Watchdog Timer(tm) technologies. The chip is a 388BGA device in a 35mm x 35mm package. It is targeted to be the enabling technology for the rapidly growing market for Internet devices, information appliances, and other products in the "post-PC era".

ZF Embedded, Inc. pioneered FailSafe systems in embedded applications. Its products are the most highly integrated, PC-compatible control modules in the embedded systems market. They include full motherboard hardware and software functionally. ZF Embedded's corporate headquarters is located at 1052 Elwell Court, Palo Alto, CA 94303 USA: toll-free: 800-683-5943; Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]; e-mail: [e-mail]; web: www.zfmicro.com. In Europe, ZF Embedded can be reached at [phone]. In South America, call [phone].