AOpen Announces New Motherboards Featuring Analog Devices' SoundMAX 2.0 Premium Integrated Audio

Business Wire, June 26, 2000

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 26, 2000

AX34/MX34 Series is the Industry's First Mainstream Motherboard

Solution to Offer Fully Integrated, Professional Quality Audio

AOpen America, Inc. today announced that it has integrated the industry's most advanced sound card features onto its family of AX34/MX34 motherboards.

Using Analog Devices (NYSE:ADI) SoundMAX 2.0 premium audio solution, AOpen's new family of motherboards can now offer PC users the most realistic and feature-rich sound quality available on the market today.

"Integrating ADI's SoundMAX 2.0 solution onto our AX34/MX34 motherboards have enabled AOpen to deliver the 3D positional audio and 1024 wavetable functions that consumers are requesting," said Jerry Huang, Director of Marketing and Communications for AOpen America, Inc. "We're particularly pleased to be able to greatly increase the value that we can offer our customers by providing increased functionality in an integrated solution."

With an integrated SoundMAX 2.0 audio sub-system, AOpen's customers can enjoy premium features including: 94 dB play back for MP3 and DVD movies; 1024-voice DLS wavetable for professional quality music; and 3D positioning, physical modeling and acoustic rendering for more interactive and realistic gaming. In addition, SoundMAX 2.0 provides AOpen users with asynchronous record/playback for high-quality speech recognition, Web conferencing and Phat Stereo(TM) for a more ambient 3-D soundstage experience.

"The integration of SoundMAX 2.0 brings AOpen to the forefront of the motherboard industry with the delivery of premium audio features to its OEM and channel partners," said John Croteau, product line director, Analog Devices' Integrated Audio Group. "For the first time, advanced wavetable and 3D audio features are available on a mainstream motherboard configuration and cost structure."

Pricing and availability

Suggested retail pricing is $129 for the AX34 Pro, $109 for AX34 and $99 for the MX34. All products are available now through AOpen's channel partners. All products offer one year warranty on parts and labor.

About Analog Devices

With revenues of $1.1 billion for the first half of fiscal 2000, Analog Devices is a leading manufacturer of precision high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications. Headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, the company employs approximately 8,200 people worldwide, and has manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Ireland, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Analog Devices' stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the company is included in the S&P 500 Index.

About AOpen America

Headquartered in San Jose, California, AOpen America is the world's largest total component solutions manufacturer and a member of an $8 billion technology group. Leveraging more than 23 years of technology manufacturing experience and more than 1,000 Group patents, AOpen designs, develops and markets advanced PC motherboards, optical drives, PC housings, peripherals, multimedia and networking solutions for resellers, system integrators and those who value reliability and performance.

Note to Editors: More information about AOpen, AOpen Products, services, and business partners is available on the World Wide Web at: www.AOpenUSA.com.

AOpen is a registered trademark of AOpen Inc. All other products, brand names or companies are trademarks or registered marks of their respective companies.