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SRS Labs and Fangtek Deliver World's First SRS WOW XT(TM) Stereo Ring Tone Chip for Mobile Phone Market

Posted on: Tuesday, 26 October 2004, 07:00 CDT

SANTA ANA, Calif., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SRS Labs, Inc. , a leading provider of innovative audio, voice and semiconductor technology solutions, and Fangtek, a leading provider of highly integrated circuit (IC) solutions for data communication, wireless, voice processing, audio processing and image processing applications, today announced that Fangtek has licensed SRS Labs' 3D stereo enhancement technology, WOW XT(TM), for Fangtek's new MIDI and MP3 ring tone chip. The Fangtek chip, including the SRS WOW XT royalty, makes it a superior performance/cost value and quick-to-market solution for mobile phone manufacturers who are marketing stereo ring tone capability. Handset makers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) began receiving samples as of September, with mass production beginning in November.

This agreement marks two milestones for SRS Labs. It is the first WOW XT ring tone chip solution available for the mobile phone market and secondly, because the SRS royalty is bundled into the chip cost, SRS Labs is now able to more efficiently and quickly penetrate the mid-to-high volume China mobile phone market with a WOW XT ring tone solution. iSuppli predicts that China's total handset production will reach 182 million units in 2004, an increase of 17.6 percent from 2003. Because China's local demand for handsets is nearly saturated, export shipments are the main market driver that will push the nation's handset production up to 231 million units in 2008, which would account for 34 percent of global production.

"Working closely with industry's leading handset makers, we've defined new enabling solutions for WOW XT on handsets," said Joanna Skrdlant, director of strategic IC platform development for SRS Labs. "We've identified the need for standalone integrated chip solutions to address the higher volume OEM and ODM markets, especially in China and Taiwan, and this partnership with Fangtek provides us with these new opportunities. Fangtek's new WOW XT-enabled stereo ring tone chip is an important first hardware solution in SRS Labs' strategy to expand our easy-to-implement, cost-effective solution offerings to our global customers."

The Fangtek stereo-enabled ring tone chip is available in QFN 48 pin packages and configurations and in addition to featuring WOW XT it supports MIDI, MP3 and other music data formats, and sampling rates. Fang Shen, president and CEO at Fangtek stated, "We've spoken with other providers of surround sound technology and found that SRS Labs has a unique technique for creating 3D sound effects and lower computing requirement that fit perfectly for cell phone-specific application ICs such as ours. While using small speakers and constrained by cell phone space, our customers are demanding a higher quality surround sound for their cell phone designs. With SRS WOW XT technology, Fangtek is the first company that provides the 3D surround sound MIDI and MP3 ringtone solution for cell phone manufacturers with very small footprints and power usage."

Exceptional audio quality is becoming a "must-have" feature in today's newest generation mobile phones and wireless devices. As these devices are increasingly used for personal entertainment and are now delivering a wide range of multimedia functionality, mobile handset makers must face the difficult challenge of achieving high quality audio playback over the tiny speakers. In stereo-speaker enabled handsets this challenge becomes even more difficult as consumers' audio expectations increase yet the achievement of a wide stereo sound image becomes extremely challenging to accomplish.

The Fangtek stereo ring tone IC with SRS WOW XT solves these challenges for handset makers because it provides a dramatically wide, 3D sound image with deep, rich bass over stereo-enabled handsets with closely spaced, small speakers. In Fangtek's new stereo ring tone chip, WOW XT applies SRS(R) 3D Audio, SRS TruBass(R) and SRS FOCUS(R). SRS 3D Audio delivers a wide, spacious 3D stereo image over the handset's closely spaced tiny speakers while TruBass technology uses patented psychoacoustic techniques to compensate for the poor bass performance inherent in those tiny speakers. TruBass overcomes the physical limitations of the small speakers and creates deeper, richer bass up to a full octave lower than the physical capabilities of any speaker. SRS FOCUS repositions and elevates the sound image to create the perception of image height and helps the ring tone sound emanate up and out of the handset for a clearer cleaner music playback experience.

SRS Labs' technologies are rapidly becoming a "must-have" feature by the world's leading portable audio and mobile phone manufacturers. NEC, Japan's largest handset maker, Samsung, the third largest mobile phone supplier in the world, Sharp Corporation, the third largest mobile phone supplier in Japan and Mitsubishi Corporation all use SRS technologies to deliver the highest quality audio experience in their mobile phones. More than 500 million WOW-equipped hardware or software products have been shipped or downloaded, including digital audio players from Samsung, Olympus, eDigital, I-River and I-Bead, Microsoft's Windows(R) Media Player series software products, car CD receivers from Kenwood, as well as televisions from Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba, Samsung and Sharp. For a demonstration of the stunning difference WOW makes to stereo audio, visit the SRS Labs website at: http://www.srslabs.com/Demonstrations.asp.

For information regarding SRS technologies for mobile phones or other audio applications, contact Joanna Skrdlant at (949) 442-1070 Ext. 5138 or joannas@srslabs.com. Additional information is also available from the company's website at http://www.srslabs.com/.

About Fangtek

Fangtek, Inc. is a leading provider of highly integrated circuit (IC) solutions for data communication, wireless, voice processing, audio processing and image processing applications. Combining proprietary mixed-signal processing and digital signal processing technologies and advanced design methodologies, Fangtek, Inc. designs, develops and supplies complete system-on-chip ICs and related hardware and software applications to provide high quality solutions that enable customers to cut time-to-market in a cost-effective manner. These technologies and products support Fangtek's core mission, which is to drive mixed-signal ICs to the next level. Fangtek, Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, CA, USA.

For information regarding Fangtek technologies for mobile phones or other mobile applications, contact Ge Song at (408) 213-8800 Ext. 203 or ge.song@fangtek.com. Additional information is also available from the company's website at http://www.fangtek.com/.

About SRS Labs Inc.

SRS Labs is a recognized leader in the advancement of audio and voice technology. The company works with the world's top manufacturers to provide a richer entertainment experience through patented sound techniques. SRS Labs' technologies can be heard through products ranging from televisions, flat panel displays, DVD players, mobile phones, car audio systems, headphones and notebook and desktop computers. The company also offers hardware and software tools to professionals and consumers for the creation, production and broadcast of content featuring SRS Labs' technologies. SRS Labs' wholly owned subsidiary, ValenceTech, is a Hong Kong-based semiconductor company that designs and sells custom ASICs and standard ICs to leading manufacturers worldwide. Based in Santa Ana, Calif., the company also has licensing representation in Hong Kong, Japan, Europe, and Korea. For more information about SRS Labs, Inc. please visit http://www.srslabs.com/. The information on the aforementioned website is not incorporated by reference into this press release.

Except for historical information contained in this release, statements in this release, including those by Ms. Skrdlant in paragraph three, are forward-looking statements and projections (which include statements concerning plans and objectives of management for future operations) that are based on management's belief, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. While the Company believes that its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that the Company's goals and strategy will be realized. Numerous factors, including risks and uncertainties, may affect the Company's actual results and may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. Some of these factors include the company's ability to quickly penetrate the mid-to-high volume China mobile phone market, the acceptance of new SRS Labs' products and technologies, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely development and release of technologies by the Company, general business and economic conditions, especially in Asia, and other factors detailed in the Company's Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the SEC. SRS Labs specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

For further information, please contact: Investors, Tami Yanito, ext. 3093, tami@srslabs.com, or Media, Jennifer Drescher, ext. 5010, jenniferd@srslabs.com, both of SRS, +1-949-442-1070; or Ge Song of Fangtek, +1-408-213-880, ext. 203, ge.song@fangtek.com.

SRS Labs, Inc.

CONTACT: investors, Tami Yanito, ext. 3093, tami@srslabs.com, or media,Jennifer Drescher, ext. 5010, jenniferd@srslabs.com, both of SRS,+1-949-442-1070; or Ge Song of Fangtek, +1-408-213-880, ext. 203,ge.song@fangtek.com

Web site: http://www.fangtek.com/

Web site: http://www.srslabs.com/Demonstrations.asp

Web site: http://www.srslabs.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/638331.html

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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