Socket Communications and Zoran Collaborate on Portable Media Player Reference Design; Expansion to ThreadX Enabled by Third Party OS Developer Program

Business Wire, March 15, 2006

NEWARK, Calif. -- Socket Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCKT), an innovative provider of mobile productivity products, today announced it is working with Zoran Corporation to develop a portable media player reference design incorporating the Socket SDIO WLAN card for Wi-Fi connectivity. In conjunction with Visuality Systems, a third party embedded systems expert, Zoran Corporation developed the Zplayer Ultra reference design for portable media players using the industry leading Zmedia IC from Zoran.

"Our ability to quickly add expansion Wi-Fi connectivity to our Zplayer Ultra reference design was simplified by incorporating the Socket SDIO WLAN card," said Brian Hofstetter, director of marketing, Connected Entertainment at Zoran. "Socket's SDIO WLAN card allows us to maximize our reference design's flexibility relative to connectivity expansion options. The Zplayer Ultra can record and play back video on its 3.5" LCD, or provide the video signal out to a remote TV. The Zplayer Ultra supports record and playback of MPEG4 and MP3 formats for video and audio."

The Zplayer Ultra supports industry standard Secure Digital Input/Output (SDIO) expansion cards with the proper system software running the ThreadX operating system. A Zplayer Ultra with a Socket SDIO WLAN card inserted in the expansion slot will support local Wi-Fi connectivity.

"Partnering with Zoran Corporation and Visuality Systems is an example of Socket's efforts to broaden its embedded WLAN development efforts across a number of operating systems," said Mike Gifford, founder and executive vice president for Socket. "We're leveraging our expertise by recruiting a number of third party OS development partners to assist in our expansion efforts. Over the next several months we anticipate more design-wins that take advantage of our WLAN hardware and software in the embedded systems marketplace."

The Zplayer Ultra is a reference platform for portable media manufacturers. System pricing and availability will be the responsibility of device OEMs, and will be based on the features implemented. For more information on the Zplayer reference platform, please contact Zoran at http://www.zoran.com.

About Socket Communications

Socket Communications (NASDAQ:SCKT) develops and distributes a broad range of data collection and network connectivity products for mobile devices such as PDA's, Smartphones and tablet PCs. Working collaboratively with mobile solutions from leading Strategic Vertical Integrators, world-class 3rd party software developers and OEM's, Socket Mobility Friendly(R) products are proven to drive operational efficiencies, increase mobile workforce productivity, boost corporate performance and improve customer satisfaction. Socket is headquartered in Newark, California and can be reached at 510-744-2700 or http://www.socketcom.com/

Zoran, the Zoran logo, and Zmedia are trademarks or registered trademarks of Zoran Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States or other countries.

Socket and Battery Friendly are registered trademarks of Socket Communications, Inc. The Mobile Connection Company, Mobility Friendly, Increasing Mobile Productivity, and KwikBlue are trademarks of Socket Communications, Inc. The Bluetooth word mark and logos are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Socket Communications, Inc. is under license. Wi-Fi(R) is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. All other trademarks and trade names contained herein may be those of their respective owners. (C) 2006, Socket Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.