SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: SIRF), a leading provider of GPS-powered location platforms, today announced it is working with Samsung to bring the power of GPS-enabled location services to GSM mobile phone subscribers in China. As mobile phone users across China travel in their localities or across country, the low-power SiRFstarIII multimode A-GPS architecture at the heart of the recently released Samsung SGH-i728 mobile phone is designed to guide people to their destinations; support timely, location-enhanced traffic, weather, event updates and other useful information; and help locate local restaurants, entertainment and hotels.
"China is the world's largest mobile phone market, and Samsung has created an excellent mobile phone platform for supporting location-based services in this dynamic market," said Kanwar Chadha, vice president of marketing and founder of SiRF. "With the recently concluded Olympics showcasing China to a global audience, we believe that service providers have a strong opportunity to demonstrate the real power of location through a variety of exciting applications for both domestic and international users."
According to ABI Research, the worldwide market for GPS-enabled handsets is expected to grow from approximately 240 million units shipped in 2008 to over 550 million handset shipments in 2012.
"Our SGH-i728 mobile phone extends our relationship with SiRF into the vast China market, and we hope that Chinese consumers can enjoy the benefits of various location-based services," said Sophia Kim, a spokesperson at Samsung. "Samsung expects the market for location-based services to boom in the near future, and is committed to supporting exciting new location-based service applications with a full line of location-aware handsets."
The SiRF GSC3LTf product, used in the Samsung SGH-i728 mobile phone, puts the SiRFstarIII architecture on a small, wireless-friendly chip, and integrates a number of power management and control functions to reduce power consumption, complexity, and bill-of-material costs. The GSC3LTf also supports the SiRFLoc Client software, SiRF's patented multimode A-GPS solution powering mobile phones optimized for location-enabled-services. SiRFLoc improves GPS location capability in wireless system environments by utilizing various modes of wireless infrastructure assistance to provide a quick location fix and improve signal reception in obstructed environments.
About SiRF Technology
SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. develops and markets location platforms based on semiconductor and software products that are designed to enable location-awareness utilizing GPS and other location technologies, enhanced by wireless connectivity and multimedia capabilities for high-volume mobile consumer devices and commercial applications. SiRF's technology has been integrated into a wide range of mobile consumer devices such as automobile navigation systems, portable navigation devices (PNDs), mobile phones, mobile computers, GPS-based peripherals and handheld GPS devices, and into commercial applications such as location servers, asset tracking devices and fleet management systems. SiRF markets and sells its products in four target platforms: wireless handheld devices such as mobile phones; automotive electronics systems, including navigation and telematics systems; consumer electronics products such as recreational GPS handhelds, mobile gaming machines, digital cameras and wearable devices; and mobile computing systems, including personal digital assistants, notebook computers, universal mobile personal computers (UMPCs) and mobile internet devices. Founded in 1995, SiRF is headquartered in San Jose, California, and has sales offices, design centers and research facilities around the world. The company trades on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol SIRF. Additional information about SiRF and its location technology solutions can be found at www.sirf.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the location uses of mobile phones with our architecture, expected growth and potential future volumes in the GPS-enabled handset market, consumer benefits of location based services, growth of location based services in the future, customers' support for location based applications, integration of power management and control functions to reduce power consumption, complexity and bill-of-material costs, the ability to improve GPS location capability in wireless system environments by using wireless infrastructure assistance to provide quick location fix and improve signal reception in obstructed environments, the opportunity to demonstrate the real power of location based services, the anticipated growth of the GPS-enabled handset market, the anticipated demand for location based services and Samsung's plan to support new LBS applications are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "to," "being," "possible," "may," "will," "addresses," "designed to," "expand," "provide," "believe," "expected," "planned," "anticipated" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and should not be considered as an indication of future performance. SiRF's actual results could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements based on current beliefs and plans as a result of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, competition, global economic conditions, product performance, demand, our ability to effectively market our products, our ability to maintain our customer base, effectively bring new products to market, achieve market acceptance for our products and the success of our customers, the market for GPS-based location awareness and services, risks associated with the semiconductor industry and other business strategies, potential disputes involving third parties, our patents or intellectual property, and uncertainties related to business or industry conditions. Risks and uncertainties related to SiRF are discussed in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 27, 2008 and subsequently filed from time to time in SiRF's SEC reports, any combination of which could adversely impact the forward looking statements herein. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.
SOURCE SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc.
International News / Press Release source: PR Newswire
Copyright PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.