ARM and SPIRIT Form Strategic Partnership To Deliver Outstanding Mobile Multimedia Performance

ARM selects SPIRIT to bring increased multimedia performance to mobile consumer devices

MOSCOW, RUSSIA AND CAMBRIDGE, UK – Oct 4, 2006 – SPIRIT DSP, a leading provider of embedded voice and audio software engines, and ARM [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)] announced today a strategic partnership to deliver outstanding multimedia performance to mobile digital audio and voice devices. SPIRIT’s highly-optimized software audio and voice engines now run on the ARM® AudioDE™ audio processor, delivering exceptionally low power consumption.

SPIRIT, a member of the ARM Connected Community, has been chosen by ARM as a preferred software Partner to provide outstanding performance and efficiency to media players and voice-enabled consumer electronic devices. SPIRIT is working with ARM to port and optimize SPIRIT’s industry-wide codec portfolio to the ARM AudioDE data engine. Under the agreement, ARM will actively promote SPIRIT audio and voice software solutions to ARM Partners, OEMs and processor vendors worldwide.

“With today’s growing consumer entertainment and communication demands, high-performance, compact, multimedia-rich devices with long battery life have become critical,” said Andrew Sviridenko, chairman, SPIRIT DSP. “ARM is the architecture of choice for the mobile device market. SPIRIT’s collaboration with ARM benefits OEMs whose consumer electronic products require long battery life, as well as excellent audio and voice quality for superior entertainment and performance. With ARM’s unique offerings in OptimoDE™ data engines and AudioDE audio processors, the media and mobile industries can now vastly improve the end-user experience.”

“SPIRIT’s power efficient software solutions, combined with the ARM AudioDE audio processor will enable consumer electronics manufacturers to bring compelling, next-generation multimedia products to market quickly and with low risk,” said Tom Cronk, general manager, Data Engines, ARM. “SPIRIT and ARM share a common dedication to pioneering technologies that help maintain competitive advantage and leverage advanced efficiency for mobile audio and voice applications.”

SPIRIT software engines are integrated sets of highly optimized signal processing software components, including audio/voice codecs and utilities that implement playback, record and live conversation functionality on portable devices with considerable power savings. SPIRIT software voice engines integrate acoustic echo and noise cancellation, PLC, jitter buffer, ARS and multiple codecs, including the SPIRIT wideband codec.

The ARM AudioDE audio processor is a best-in-class digital audio solution for designers of portable audio devices. The AudioDE audio processor is derived from ARM's OptimoDE technology and is configured to meet the challenges of high performance and low cost while delivering exceptionally low power consumption. The AudioDE audio processor consumes a mere 0.1mW per MHz when implemented in 0.13-micron geometry, has a very small core size and small memory footprint. The AudioDE audio processor is capable of running multiple codecs and post-processing algorithms – each task requiring minimal MHz; for example: AAC-LC decode in 9MHz, AMR-NB decode in 4MHz, and MP3 encode in just 16MHz.

Availability

The ARM AudioDE audio processor and SPIRIT audio and voice products are available for licensing immediately.

About SPIRIT DSP

SPIRIT DSP (www.spiritDSP.com) employs 140 professionals, has been in international software licensing business since 1992. A bootstrap company, SPIRIT has been profitable for 14 years. For the last 10 years SPIRIT's focus is communication, audio, speech and VoIP software products and today SPIRIT counts among its clients Adobe, Agere, Atmel, Compal, Flextronics, Ericsson, HP, HTC, Kyocera, LG, Marconi, Microsoft, National Semiconductor, NEC, Nortel Networks, Oracle, Panasonic, Philips Semiconductor, Polycom, Radvision, Samsung, Siemens, SigmaTel, Texas Instruments, Toshiba and Trinity Convergence, among 200+ other communication OEMs and software vendors. Through the brand names SPIRIT communication software is used in over 80 countries and powers more than 100 million voice channels. SPIRIT DSP is a member of major voice-related developer communities, including Intel(R) Developer Network, ARM(R) Connected Community, Philips Nexperia Partnership, TI Third Party Network, TI OMAP Developer Network for Wireless handsets and PDAs. SeeStorm is SPIRIT affiliate for synthetic video conferencing.

About ARM

ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital products, from mobile, home and enterprise solutions to embedded and emerging applications. ARM’s comprehensive product offering includes 16/32-bit RISC microprocessors, data engines, 3D processors, digital libraries, embedded memories, peripherals, software and development tools, as well as analog functions and high-speed connectivity products. Combined with the company’s broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com

About the ARM Connected Community

The ARM Connected Community is a global network of companies aligned to provide a complete solution, from design to manufacture and end use, for products based on the ARM architecture. ARM offers a variety of resources to Community members, including promotional programs and peer-networking opportunities that enable a variety of ARM Partners to come together to provide end-to-end customer solutions. For more information, please visit http://www.arm.com/community.

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