The Board of Directors of the MultiMediaCard Association Welcomes New Members; HP and Palm To Offer Technical and Marketing Support for Emerging Memory Standard

Business Wire, Feb 12, 2001

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 12, 2001

The MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) today welcomed Hewlett-Packard Company and Palm, Inc. onto its board of directors. The two companies join an organization which promotes the worldwide adoption of the MultiMediaCard standard for storage and retrieval of digital information in small, low-power devices.

According to Andy Prophet, executive director of the MMCA, "We are delighted to have two such prominent firms join our board of directors. Both companies bring extensive experience, from both a technical and marketing orientation, to help us establish MultiMediaCards as the global standard for small format removable digital storage."

The appointed board member from HP will be Kenneth Eldredge, chief technical officer, HP Personal Storage Business; and for Palm, Frank Canova, director of Palm Labs.

"HP is pleased to partner with industry leaders on the MMCA board of directors to establish and promote truly open and affordable personal storage standards," said Jim Browning, general manager, HP Personal Storage Business. "Consumers are ready for a next-generation, widely adopted memory card that works in a variety of personal appliances. HP is committed to providing higher capacity cards at lower prices to meet the needs of this growing market."

"As the Palm Economy grows and people expect more from their handheld computers, the demand for more memory will increase exponentially. MultiMediaCards allow us to address this need today, as well as provide a low-cost distribution vehicle for content developers and enterprise customers," said Mr. Canova.

Current board members of the MMCA include: Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Hitachi Ltd., Infineon Technologies, Motorola, Nokia, SanDisk Corporation, Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd, SCM Microsystems Ltd. and Siemens AG.

About MultiMediaCards

MultiMediaCards are the world's smallest (24mm x 32mm x 1.4 mm) removable solid-state memory solutions for mobile applications such as MP-3 music players, portable video games, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile telephones and digital cameras. These convenient, reliable, rugged and lightweight standardized data carriers store up to 128 Mbytes, sufficient for 120 minutes of MP-3 digital music, or approximately 80,000 book pages. MultiMediaCards use ROM technology for read-only applications and Flash technology for read/write applications. The cards are fast for excellent system performance; energy efficient for prolonged battery life in portable products; and cost-efficient for use in systems sold at consumer price points. They also have an easy-to-install serial interface.

About the MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA)

The MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) was founded in 1998, with 14 companies, to promote the worldwide adoption of a postage-stamp size, removable storage standard for storing and retrieving digital information in small, low power devices. The organization has grown rapidly and now has more than 90 members worldwide, representing all branches of mobile electronic applications, including semiconductor suppliers, software vendors and manufacturers of products such as music players, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, voice recorders, GPS navigation devices, bar code scanners and more. The MMCA developed and regulates open industry standards that define all types of MultiMediaCards, ensuring full interchangeability between the cards produced by all MMCA members. MultiMediaCards offer an unmatched array of features and benefits, and are becoming the industry standard for compact removable storage media across multiple host platforms and markets. MMCA headquarters are located at 19672 Stevens Creek Blvd., PMB 404, Cupertino, CA 95014. More information is at the web site: www.mmca.org.