BSQUARE and Ampro Announce Windows CE Strategic Partnership; BSQUARE Support for Ampro's PC/104 and EBX SBCs will Enable Rapid Windows CE based Embedded System Development.BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 1998--Ampro Computers, Incorporated and BSQUARE Corporation have formed a partnership under which BSQUARE technology will now be delivered on multiple Ampro single board computer (SBC (1) (SBC Communications Inc., San Antonio, TX, www.sbc.com) A large, national telecommunications company that grew from a multitude of local and regional companies, including Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell, into a single, unified brand by 2002. ) products to enable a fast bring-up of Windows CE (Windows Consumer Electronics) Microsoft's version of Windows for handheld devices and embedded systems that use x86, ARM, MIPS and SHx CPUs. Windows CE .NET superseded Windows CE 3.0. in embedded-PC based systems. BSQUARE Corporation will develop CE Xpress(tm) Binary kits for Ampro's popular PC/104 and EBX EBX Electronic Book Exchange (XML standard) EBX Embedded Board Expandable (PC/104) EBX Electronic Branch Exchange EBX Enterprise Business eXtension (Orchestra Networks) form-factor SBCs and expansion modules. Ampro will bundle BSQUARE's CE Xpress Binary Kits to provide customers with a complete toolkit to quickly and easily embed em·bed also im·bed v. em·bed·ded, em·bed·ding, em·beds v.tr. 1. To fix firmly in a surrounding mass: embed a post in concrete; fossils embedded in shale. Microsoft Windows See Windows. (operating system) Microsoft Windows - Microsoft's proprietary window system and user interface software released in 1985 to run on top of MS-DOS. Widely criticised for being too slow (hence "Windoze", "Microsloth Windows") on the machines available then. CE 2.1 on target hardware. BSQUARE Corporation, as part of the strategic nature of this agreement, has also agreed to license its CE EmbeddedDesktop, an embedded Inserted into. See embedded system. shell for Windows CE, to Ampro for sale to Ampro customers, assuring the fastest time to market through one stop shopping. The first Ampro products that include the BSQUARE CE Xpress Binary Kits are expected to ship in early 1999 and will be delivered to customers running an example desktop generated by BSQUARE's EmbeddedDesktop product. "We are extremely pleased to be providing Ampro, an acknowledged embedded-PC SBC leader, with support from our CE Xpress Binary Kit products," said Joe Notarangelo, vice president and general manager of BSQUARE's Embedded Systems Embedded systems Computer systems that cannot be programmed by the user because they are preprogrammed for a specific task and are buried within the equipment they serve. Group. "BSQUARE software bundled with Ampro products make a powerful development solution that embedded systems designers are asking for today: dramatically faster time-to-market." "Right now, we're seeing an explosion of interest in Windows CE among our embedded market Refers to custom-designed, computer-based devices and applications that perform a fixed set of tasks. It may refer to cellphones and other handhelds, network appliances (routers, access points, modems) and myriad consumer electronics products. customers," said Rick Lehrbaum, founder and executive vice president of strategic development of Ampro, "so we decided to come up with the very best solution in terms of both development tools and target hardware device driver support." "We explored the Windows CE support currently available and determined that BSQUARE's solution is the best, by far, in two ways: it offers the most comprehensive device driver support; and, even more importantly, it provides the most architecturally sound approach to using CE in embedded-PC based systems." Ampro will offer BSQUARE support for Windows CE on the following EBX and PC/104-Plus form-factor SBCs: -- Little Board(tm)/P5x -- Little Board/P5e -- Little Board/486i -- CoreModule(tm)/P5i -- CoreModule/4DXe In addition, BSQUARE will also develop support for selected Ampro PC/104 and PC/104-Plus peripheral expansion modules for use in embedded systems based on the above SBCs. These will support PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). and ISA (1) (Instruction Set Architecture) See instruction set. (2) (Interactive Services Association) See Internet Alliance. (3) (Internet Security and Acceleration) See .NET. based LCD and CRT (1) (C RunTime) See runtime library. (2) (Cathode Ray Tube) A vacuum tube used as a display screen in a computer monitor or TV. The viewing end of the tube is coated with phosphors, which emit light when struck by electrons. display controllers, 10Base-T and 10/100Base-T Ethernet LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. interfaces, serial/parallel expansion ports, and other expansion functions. About Ampro Products The Ampro Little Board SBCs are EBX form-factor (5.75 x 8-inch) PC/104-expandable single boards, available with Pentium(R) and 486 CPUs, and include onboard disk controllers, LCD/CRT display controllers, Ethernet, serial/parallel ports, and a built-in Flash disk. Ampro's CoreModule SBCs are PC/104 form-factor (3.6 x 3.8-inch) modules, available with 386, 486, and Pentium(R) CPUs, and include built-in disk controllers, serial/parallel ports, and Flash disk. The MiniModule(tm) products are PC/104 form-factor peripheral interface modules for use with Ampro's CoreModule and Little Board CPUs. About BSQUARE Products BSQUARE's CE Xpress Kits reduce the effort to port Windows CE from months to minutes and enable the user to immediately begin applications, driver, or system development. BSQUARE's CE Xpress Binary Kits will deliver an evaluation, application development, and PCI/ISA expansion bus development infrastructure on Ampro products. Embedded developers can run application benchmarks on the target platform, complete system tradeoffs, and develop PCI/ISA-based hardware and software expansion. BSQUARE CE EmbeddedDesktop provides a full-featured default desktop which can be configured and customized by the designer. A general-purpose desktop interface such as the standard Microsoft H/PC H/PC - Hand-held Personal Computer shell does not provide the level of control needed for unique, mission-focused systems. Only CE EmbeddedDesktop is fully configurable, allow exact control over how the desktop looks and behaves. It includes password controls, cascading submenus, file system management, and more. About BSQUARE As one of the first Microsoft-sanctioned Windows CE Systems Integrators and distributors, BSQUARE's Embedded Systems Group offers a single source solution for embedded systems designers looking to incorporate Windows CE into their target devices. BSQUARE delivers all the necessary components for a successful implementation of Windows CE: licenses for Windows CE, CE Xpress Adaptation Kits, CE Xpress Binary Kits, BSQUARE CE EmbeddedDesktop, Embedded Toolkits for Visual C++ 5.0, Project Engineering Services, and technical support. BSQUARE offers more experience with Windows CE than any other systems integrator, and leverages this knowledge and years of direct experience to deliver cutting-edge technology and speed the customer's time-to-market. BSQUARE was founded in 1994 and is the market leader in providing complete Windows CE-based solutions. About Ampro Now in its 16th year, Ampro Computers, Inc., is the foremost manufacturer of PC-compatible computer modules tailored to a wide range of embedded applications An application that permanently resides in an industrial or consumer device. Providing some type of control function and/or user interface, the software is typically stored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM or flash memory. . The company originated the PC/104 and PC/104-Plus standards, and co-authored (with Motorola) the new EBX -performance non-backplane SBC standard (based on Ampro's popular Little Board(tm) form-factor). Ampro's extensive line of PC/104 form-factor CoreModule(tm) CPUs and MiniModule(tm) expansion products, and EBX form-factor Little Board SBCs enable OEMs to integrate PC-compatible architectures into their products while minimizing system size, time-to-revenue, and development costs and risks. Ampro's embedded computer modules are optimized for fixed, portable, and mobile environments and support extended temperatures, shock/vibration, and CE mark compliance. Application markets include industrial, avionics, transportation, medical, telecommunications, and military. All Ampro products are manufactured per IPC-610A Class 2, in Ampro's two US ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. 9000-certified factories (in Idaho and Illinois). More Information For further information on Ampro products, please visit the Web site at www.ampro.com or call 1-800-966-5200. For further information on the products and services by BSQUARE, please visit the Web site at www.bsquare.com or call 1-888-820-4500. BSQUARE and CE Xpress are either registered trademarks or trademarks of BSQUARE Corporation in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and/or other countries. Other product and company names herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. |
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