Phoenix Technologies' PICO Group Announces Broad Licensing Agreement with Octagon Systems; Leader in Industrial PC Market to Use PICO Software Foundations, Including PCMCIA and Power Management, in Future Designs

Business Wire, Sept 3, 1996

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 1996--Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: PTEC), a leading supplier of standards-based compatibility software for the PC industry, and its PICO Group, a leading supplier of software foundations for Information Appliances, today announced a broad licensing agreement with Octagon Systems, a leader in the emerging Industrial PC market. Octagon Systems develops ruggedized PC compatible systems that are widely used in control systems, medical instruments, data acquisition and transportation and energy systems.

Analysts are forecasting the market for ruggedized industrial PCs to reach over $2 billion by 1999. "We've seen a tremendous increase in the use of these systems across a broad range of applications," said Dennis Ekren of Octagon Systems, "PICO provides the right software foundations and support to give us that critical competitive advantage in this market."

Octagon Systems has licensed a variety of PICO software foundations for their line of industrial boards, including PhoenixPICO BIOS and Power Management. In addition, Octagon recently switched PCMCIA software vendors on several platforms and is now using Phoenix PicoCard for their PCMCIA software needs.

"This agreement further strengthens our position as the leading provider of software foundations to this explosive market," said Peter Baldwin, director of Phoenix Technologies' PICO Group, "Octagon is helping drive the use of embedded processor systems that people interact with on a daily basis, and PICO is proud to help them get to market with competitive products using our software foundations."

Phoenix's PICO Group is actively in development with OEMs worldwide on a variety of systems in the emerging Industrial, Hand Held, and Home Appliance markets. PICO software foundations are designed to be fully customizable and provide a variety of fundamental services that enable and enhance a new generation of systems. PICO software foundations are supported by Phoenix's world-wide engineering structure including offices in Japan, the USA, Europe, and Taiwan, as well as numerous representatives and distributors.

Phoenix Technologies Ltd. is the world's largest supplier of standards-based compatibility software to the personal computer industry. The company's system-level software products, such as PhoenixBIOS(TM) for desktops, NoteBIOS(TM) for portables, and ServerBIOS(TM) for servers, allow PC manufacturers to increase product differentiation, reduce product cycle time to market, as well as cut internal engineering costs. Phoenix provides a line of products and services for Special Purpose PCs and interconnect standards including PC Cards/CardBus, Universal Serial Bus (USB) and other emerging interfaces. Information on Phoenix Technologies' PICO products is available on the worldwide web at: http://www.ptltd.com/pico.>CONTACT: Peter Bernard

Phoenix Technologies Ltd.

408/452-6565

or

Paula Miller

PRx Inc.

408/287-1700

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