Echelon and Nearmedia Show Consumer Friendly Home Automation at CES 2006.

LAS VEGAS -- Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ:ELON), the leading technology supplier for the widely-used LonWorks(R) control networking standard, and Nearmedia, Inc., an innovator in intelligent home middleware and user-interface software, today demonstrated consumer friendly home automation that offers simple, affordable, integrated control of the home for the mass consumer market. The companies showed how advanced technologies can be simply and easily incorporated into lifestyle enriching applications like energy management, lighting, security and safety. The collaborative effort by Echelon and Nearmedia features a unique twist to home control -- no installation tools are required to create the network. Press attendees are invited to the ShowStoppers Event at the 2006 International Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, to view the demonstration.

The automation devices on display utilize Echelon's power line signaling technology, currently one of the most widely deployed home control technologies in use in over 30 million residential electricity meters, kitchen appliances, and other applications worldwide. The products also use Echelon's Interoperable Self-Installation (ISI) software that allows them to self-organize into a fully functional control network without the need for a costly and failure-prone central controller, clumsy battery-operated hand-held programmer, or confusing user instruction book. Instead, the devices install automatically when they are plugged into the wall. The user interface, driven by the ROC(TM) software platform from Nearmedia, is extremely easy to use -- offering multi-lingual set-up and operation, icon-based device representations, and a remote interface that allows the home to be controlled from any remote browser.

"The key to success in the home market is to apply advanced technology while hiding its presence," said Michael Tennefoss, Echelon's vice president of marketing. "The mass market for home automation mandates hiding the underlying technology so the consumer gets the intended experience and not just interesting technology. Our focus has been on developing products that deliver extreme reliability, simplicity, and high value to controls manufacturers and ultimately their customers. We believe that Echelon and Nearmedia have overcome the technology hurdles that have slowed the mass market for home automation by enabling devices to self-organize, doing away with user-operated programming tools, and using a home's electricity wiring for networking communications."

"In the past, intelligent homes were limited to high-end new construction," said Jon Rappaport, CEO of Nearmedia. "Nearmedia and Echelon are opening up the vastly larger retrofit mass-market by enabling low cost hardware and do-it-yourself installation and configuration. Our ROC software platform is the first of its kind to make possible such a mass market control system. For original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) looking for a value-added enhancement to their product line, our package provides a complete, low-cost, robust solution."

Three specific applications will be demonstrated at the ShowStopper event: energy conservation incorporating a networked energy meter, thermostat, and load controls; home theater scene control utilizing light and blind management; and safety/security management incorporating toxic gas detection, gas valve control, motion detection, and automatic alarm notification.

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP(TM)) allows Media PCs or other UPnP enabled devices to automatically recognize and interact with each other. Echelon's UPnP bridge software extends this capability to LonWorks based control networks that include devices that sense, monitor and control. Nearmedia's user experience software provides an intuitive and simple way to control these devices -- individually, in groups, or in scenes -- using a handheld infrared control, Flash-based PC user-interface, Web browser, or mobile phone.

Echelon and Nearmedia have been collaborating since mid-2005 to create affordable, reliable, and easy-to-use home automation solutions. The combined product offerings create a full solution set that a hardware OEM or ODM can take to market relatively quickly. The two companies are also working together on joint sales and marketing efforts in 2006.

About Nearmedia, Inc.

Nearmedia designs, creates, and markets embedded and computer software enabling single-function smart home applications or household-wide home control/automation as an OEM provider to hardware vendors. Nearmedia creates middleware and user-interface software for media center PCs, Windows PCs, Macs, Linux computers, as well as embedded platforms such as consumer networking equipment, set-top boxes, and smart phones. The company delivers intuitive, affordable, user-friendly software applications leveraging its reliable, extensible, and proprietary ROC home control platform, working with best-of-breed partners worldwide.

Further information regarding Nearmedia can be found at http://www.nearmedia.com.

About Echelon Corporation

Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ:ELON) is a pioneer and world leader in control networking -- networks that connect machines and other electronic devices -- for the purpose of sensing, monitoring and controlling the world around us. Echelon's LonWorks platform for control networking was released in 1990 and has become a worldwide standard in the building, industrial, transportation, and home automation markets. Launched in 2003, Echelon's Networked Energy Services system is an open, extensible, advanced metering infrastructure that can bring benefits to every aspect of a utility's operation, from metering and customer services to distribution operations and value-added business. In 2005 Echelon released the world's first embedded control network infrastructure, the Pyxos(TM) platform, extending the benefits of networking inside machines to the sensors and actuators that make them function.

Echelon is based in San Jose, California, with international offices in China, France, Germany, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Further information regarding Echelon can be found at http://www.echelon.com.

Echelon, LonWorks, and the Echelon logo are registered trademarks of Echelon Corporation registered in the United States and other countries. Pyxos is a trademark of Echelon Corporation in the United States and other countries. ROC is a trademark of Nearmedia, Inc. in the United States and other countries. UPnP is a trademark of the UPnP Implementers Corp. Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

This press release may contain statements relating to future plans, events or performance. Such statements may involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties pertaining to the timing and level of customer orders and demand for Echelon products and services, the ability of those products to perform as designed, the growth of the LonWorks industry and markets for LonWorks based home automation products and solutions; risks associated with the adoption of the UPnP technology and the Nearmedia ROC platform and their integration with Echelon products; and other risks identified in Echelon's SEC filings. Actual results, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Echelon undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.