CMD Technology Ships One Million Universal Serial Bus (USB) Keyboard Controllers; High Volume Shipments of Universal Serial Bus Peripherals Now Underway.

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 1998--CMD Technology, the recognized leader in USB keyboard controller solutions with design wins at most major keyboard manufacturers, Tuesday announced that it has shipped over a million of it's Constellation family of USB keyboard controllers in the first few months of production.

These new ASICs provide CMD's keyboard customers the ability to greatly expand the functionality of keyboards bundled by personal computer OEMs.

CMD's Constellation family of USB keyboard controllers offer the industry's most compelling set of features including a vast array of multimedia options such as CD-ROM/DVD control and volume control on the keyboard. In addition, these controllers are designed to allow a PS/2 mouse or IntelliMouse connection to the keyboard, any key wakeup ability, and full PC 98 and ACPI compliance. With the Constellation III, external components are integrated, bringing the cost of USB keyboards based on the chip in line with older PS/2 keyboard costs.

"The wait for USB peripherals is over," said David Murray, director of semiconductor marketing for CMD. "Our keyboard customers are now taking advantage of an interface that truly advances the state of the art in peripheral connectivity. We are actively working with several PC OEMs, and we expect our customers to soon be shipping USB keyboards in run rates that exceed one million units per month."

"USB has clearly become a 'must have item' both on consumer desktops and mobile PCs," said Steve Whalley, chairman of the USB Implementers Forum and connectivity initiatives manager at Intel. "We have seen the USB peripheral ramp start to build over past months and with this announcement by CMD, it is apparent that the ongoing momentum behind USB peripherals is driving volume right now."

CMD is the only company providing a high volume hardware and software solution with full driver and production utility support for keyboards running under the most recent release of Windows 95 for OEMs (OSR2.1). In addition, software support for keyboards designed with CMD's USB keyboard controller will be included in the upcoming release of Windows 98 and USB BIOS support for CMD's controllers is available from major BIOS companies.

CMD Technology Inc. is a leading provider of high performance, award-winning computer peripheral interface technology. Over 18 million PCI, IDE, and USB controller chip and board solutions have been shipped worldwide by CMD over the last three years. For more information, contact CMD Technology, Inc., 1 Vanderbilt, Irvine, Calif. 92618. Telephone, fax, e-mail, and Web page, respectively, are 714/454-0800, 714/455-1656, [e-mail], and http://www.cmd.com. -0-

1998 CMD Technology Inc. All brand names and trademarks are properties of their respective holders.

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