Socket Communications Adopts SyChip Secure Digital I/O WLAN Card Design; Socket to Add WLAN Card with Smallest Industry Standard Form Factor to Mobile Connection Products Portfolio

Business Wire, Jan 9, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

2003 International CES

SD Card Pavilion, Booth #7442

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 2003

SyChip, Inc., the leader in Radio Frequency Integration Circuits (RFIC) and Chip Scale Modules (CSM) for the wireless Internet appliance market, today announced that Socket Communications (NASDAQ: SCKT, PSE: SOK), the Mobile Connection(TM) Company, will incorporate SyChip's WLAN6060SDIO card design into its future WLAN Secure Digital Input Output (SDIO) connectivity product for Windows Powered Pocket PCs.

The SyChip design is the industry's first WLAN card to be based on the SDIO standard and is currently undergoing testing by major handheld manufacturers. Socket will provide customers with a connectivity product that combines SyChip's low-power WLAN SD card with Socket's Mobile WLAN Tools software, creating a solution that is easy to install and use, as well as being dependable and secure with Socket's recently announced support for the 802.1x standard.

"The combination of Socket's Mobile WLAN Tools along with our WLAN6060SDIO card, will deliver a secure, easy-to-use, universal solution for Pocket PC customers and network administrators," said Moses Asom, co-founder and senior vice president of marketing and business development at SyChip. "As more and more manufacturers adopt the SDIO standard, we believe this combined solution will become the 802.11b connection of choice for devices with SDIO slots."

"The combination of BSQUARE's SDIO Now! system software technology, SyChip's WLAN6060SDIO card and Mobile WLAN Tools from Socket Communications provides for a powerful wireless computing solution," said Mark Sage, Sr. Product Manager at BSQUARE Corporation. "Through the SDIO Now! Program, Pocket PC device manufacturers integrate the functionality that will enable them to offer their customers a new generation of wireless connectivity.

"Windows Powered devices are among the most connected on the market, offering more options for communication and accessing personal and corporate information real time," said Clark Butler, partner marketing manager for Mobile Devices at Microsoft Corp. "The SyChip card combined with Socket software will further these native connectivity options by enabling manufacturers to build a new generation of smaller, even more secure Windows Powered devices with integrated high-speed wireless Internet capabilities."

"Smaller form-factor electronic products are driving the need to develop ever smaller peripherals, and our partnership with SyChip enables Socket to bring wireless LAN access to SDIO-compatible devices," said Peter Phillips, vice-president of marketing at Socket Communications. "This will allow mobile professionals to connect their Pocket PCs, Smart phones and other handheld devices to the network easily while away from their desks."

SyChip will demonstrate its SDIO card at the SD Card Pavilion, Booth #7442, in the Las Vegas Convention Center during CES, from January 9-12. Initial products will be shipped by the end of the first quarter of 2003.

For more information on the SyChip 6060 WLAN solutions, please contact Navi Miglani at 972-202-8847 or at nmiglani@sychip.com. For information on the Socket SD WLAN product, please contact Peter Phillips at 510-744-2767 or at peter@socketcom.com.

About SyChip

SyChip, Inc. designs, develops, and markets Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits and Chip Scale Modules for the wireless Internet appliance market. The company focuses on developing highly integrated RF modules that are differentiated because of proprietary integration, modular architectures, and low loss silicon technologies. As a result of the proprietary silicon substrate and world class RF system design team, SyChip's RF designs are more predictable and easier to simulate, thus reducing time-to-market, increasing performance and improving reliability. More information is available at the Web site www.sychip.com.

About Socket Communications

Socket Communications, Inc., the Mobile Connection Company, provides the broadest range of network connection products for Windows powered handheld computers, including Bluetooth cards, wireless LAN cards, digital phone cards, a 56K modem card, and Ethernet cards. Socket also provides bar code scanning products and peripheral connection serial cards for laptops and other mobile devices. More information is available at the Web site: www.socketcom.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE: To request artwork of the SyChip 6060 SDIO WLAN embedded solution, please contact Chris Pfaff at c.pfaff@att.net or 201-218-0262.

Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.