STMICROELECTRONICS AND IMAGINATION TECHNOLOGIES EXTEND PARTNERSHIP TO NEW GENERATIONS OF POWERVR TECHNOLOGY.

Imagination Technologies Group (LSE: IMG), a provider of human computer interface intellectual property (IP), and STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM), a supplier of system-on-chip solutions, have announced that they have extended their successful partnership to include the development and manufacture of a range of high performance PC graphics and video accelerators based on PowerVR Series4 and Series5 technology designed by Imagination Technologies' PowerVR Technologies division.

This move follows the success of ST's KYRO and KYRO II graphics accelerators, which are based on PowerVR Series3. A dozen leading manufacturers of PC Graphics Add-In-Boards have already adopted KYRO and KYRO II technology for their products.

The partnership agreement between ST and Imagination Technologies was forged in April 1999 and combines Imagination Technologies' acclaimed PowerVR tile based rendering technology with ST's world-class digital video know-how, process technology expertise, and manufacturing capability.

"Our KYRO family of graphics accelerators has proven the considerable advantages of PowerVR's Tile Based Rendering over traditional graphics renderers to both manufacturers and end-users. The advantages of PowerVR will only increase as future applications increase in complexity and PowerVR Series4 and 5 will offer users unrivalled performance without the price premium enforced on other graphics solutions by their outdated designs," said Tim Chambers, VP and General Manager of ST's Graphics Product Division.

"ST has made KYRO into one of the strongest emerging brands in the marketplace and offers a viable alternative to the `brute-force' technologies of its competitors. With ST's commitment to a roadmap based on PowerVR Series4 and Series5, the KYRO family of graphics accelerators will continue to provide outstanding performance, features and unrivalled value", said Hossein Yassaie, CEO of Imagination Technologies.

PowerVR takes a different algorithmic approach to 3D, aiming to eliminate redundant processing and avoid memory bottlenecks. By doing only what is absolutely necessary, and by keeping as much 3D processing as possible on-chip, PowerVR's combination of Tile Based Rendering, 32-bit True Color, 8 Layer Multitexturing and Hidden Surface Removal allows maximum performance to be extracted from the available memory bandwidth.