Conexant and Liberate to Bring Complete Digital Set-Top Box Platforms to Market; Combined Solution to Speed Time-to-Market for Network Operators.

Business Editors and High-Tech Writers

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. and SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 2000--Conexant Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CNXT) and Liberate Technologies (Nasdaq:LBRT) Monday announced they will collaborate to develop a next-generation set-top box platform for telephone companies and for satellite, terrestrial and cable operators.

By providing a complete, end-to-end solution in early 2001, the new platform architecture will enable more affordable products and will accelerate how quickly network operators can introduce new interactive services to consumers.

The new reference design will integrate Conexant's set-top box devices with Liberate's TV Platform(TM) software to enable emerging interactive applications such as interactive television, Web browsing, e-commerce and personal video recording (PVR).

As part of the collaboration, the two companies will integrate the Liberate TV Navigator(TM) client software and Conexant's chipsets for digital satellite, cable and terrestrial set-top boxes. In addition to collaborating on technology development, Conexant and Liberate will pursue joint marketing and sales initiatives to build and support market demand for the new set-top box platform.

The collaboration supports a new industry paradigm in which silicon manufacturers and software developers are working directly with network operators to define future standards for digital cable and other interactive services.

"We are pleased to strengthen this relationship with Conexant, and to leverage their industry-leading semiconductor communications technologies for interactive TV and set-top platforms," said Charlie Tritschler, vice president of marketing for Liberate Technologies.

"Together, Liberate and Conexant are addressing the needs of network operators, hardware manufacturers and consumers for the latest interactive features at affordable prices."

"Liberate's middleware solutions are an ideal complement to Conexant's IC portfolio and the powerful system processor in Conexant's CX22490 interactive TV decoder device," said Dan Marotta, vice president and general manager of Conexant's digital infotainment division.

"Our combined solution will raise the bar for set-top box performance and functionality, and will bring a new generation of fully featured set-top devices within the reach of mainstream consumers for the first time."

Conexant's comprehensive set-top box IC portfolio includes silicon tuners and demodulators, a single-chip programmable cable modem, dial-up and digital subscriber line (DSL) modems, home-networking technologies and single-chip, back-end solutions with a high-performance CPU, 2D rendering engine, MPEG-2 audio/video decoder and programmable demultiplexer.

These products enable set-top box platforms that support widely adopted digital cable, satellite television and digital terrestrial television broadband communications standards, including direct broadcast satellite (DBS), coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (COFDM), Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS), EuroDOCSIS, digital video broadcast (DVB) and Digital Audio Video Council (DAVIC).

The Liberate TV Platform software enables cable, satellite and telecommunication companies to deliver applications that integrate the Web's interactivity with the richness of TV-based content.

Using open Internet and international broadcast standards, Liberate provides an efficient client (Liberate TV Navigator) and server (Liberate Connect(TM)) platform that combines the best of both the Internet and television into one compelling, interactive medium-enhanced TV.

Liberate enables a range of services and applications from interactive advertising and gaming, to chat and e-mail, to enhanced programming.

About Conexant Systems

With revenues of $2.1 billion in fiscal 2000, Conexant is the world's largest independent company focused exclusively on providing semiconductor solutions for communications electronics.

With more than 30 years of experience in developing communications technology, the company draws upon its expertise in mixed-signal processing to deliver integrated systems and semiconductor products for a broad range of communications applications.

These products facilitate communications worldwide through wireline voice and data communications networks, cordless and cellular wireless telephony systems, personal imaging devices and equipment, and emerging cable and wireless broadband communications networks.

The company organizes its activities into two business areas: Internet infrastructure, which consists of the network access division, and personal networking, comprised of the digital infotainment, personal imaging, wireless communications and personal computing divisions. Conexant is a member of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 Indices.

For more information, visit Conexant at www.conexant.com.

Conexant's digital infotainment division is a leading provider of semiconductor systems for broadband and broadcast communications applications.

Addressing the convergence of PCs with consumer entertainment products, the division's broad portfolio includes cable and wireless modems, IP telephony products, digital set-top boxes and digital broadcast and video solutions for personal computing appliances.

About Liberate Technologies

Liberate Technologies is a leading provider of a complete software platform for delivering Internet-enhanced content and applications to information appliances, such as television set-top boxes and game consoles.

Liberate's Internet-based client and server software allows network operators, such as telecommunications companies, cable and satellite television operators and Internet service providers to provide consumers access to network operator-branded applications and services. With headquarters in San Carlos, the company has sales offices in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

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