Hitachi SuperH Processor Drives New Generation of the HP Jornada Palm-size PC. SH7709A - Hitachi Semiconductor America - Product Information

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Dec 6, 1999

Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. Monday announced that its SuperH RISC microprocessor powers Hewlett-Packard Company's new HP Jornada 430se Palm-size PC which made its screen debut in the new movie, The World Is Not Enough, the 19th installment of the James Bond series, which opened November 19.

Hitachi's SH7709A microprocessor drives the HP Jornada 430se Palm-size PC, a small but powerful device integrating business and entertainment functionality, based on the Microsoft Windows CE operating system.

"Hitachi continues to provide excellent performance and low power consumption for the HP Jornada 430se Palm-size PC," said Kheng Joo Khaw, general manager of HP's Asia Pacific PC Division. "The performance of Hitachi's processor is one of the factors that allows us to offer a leading-edge product that's futuristic enough for a James Bond movie, yet practical enough for today's personal, business and entertainment applications."

The HP Jornada 430se Palm-size PC is designed around Hitachi's SH7709A CPU, which at 133 megahertz, is the fastest processor to be designed into any palm-size PC. By utilizing the SH7709A CPU, the HP Jornada 430se Palm-size PC delivers excellent battery life while offering the performance needed to run multimedia applications such as MP3 player software.

In addition, the HP Jornada 430se Palm-size PC also features a 65,536-color display, digital imaging software and the ability to listen to the news or a book -- all while the user is mobile. The HP Jornada 430se Palm-size PC provides 16MB of RAM and a CompactFlash Card Type II slot which enables users to insert industry-standard CompactFlash hardware such as storage cards, modems and barcode scanners. The HP Jornada 430se Palm-size PC's new travel synchronization/charging cable allows users to synchronize information with their PCs and recharge the battery without carrying a docking cradle.

"This is the third generation of Windows CE-based HP handheld and palm-size PCs to use Hitachi microprocessors," said Joe Longo, product marketing manager for Hitachi Semiconductor (America). "HP's selection of the SuperH RISC processor for its newest HP Jornada Palm-size PC is another demonstration of our lead in the Windows CE market. Hitachi's SuperH series and technical support helps developers of handheld and mobile devices decrease their time-to-market while achieving significantly higher levels of functionality."

Hitachi's SuperH processors power a broad range of Windows CE devices, from low-power-consumption portable products, to information appliances, to high-performance, multimedia-oriented devices such as the Sega Dreamcast game player, to the auto PC.

The SH7709A CPU is part of the popular SH-3 family of RISC processors which is designed to meet the demanding price/performance and power consumption targets of sophisticated consumer and embedded electronics. Hitachi provides the most complete line of off-the-shelf processors, companion chips and reference platforms for Windows CE, which enables OEMs to reduce their time-to-market.

Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. -- a subsidiary of Hitachi America, Ltd., in turn a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT) -- supports the requirements of the North American marketplace with a broad range of standard and low-power semiconductor solutions. Offering some of the industry's most popular RISC microprocessors and memory components among other semiconductor solutions, Hitachi provides chips to the world's leading device manufacturers within industrial, consumer and emerging market applications. Hitachi's substantial design engineering, research and development facilities in the United States help bring the world's best technology to U.S. customers. FMI: http://www.hitachi.com/semiconductor.