25 Mar 2009 07:00
Embargoed Release: 07:00 Wednesday 25th March 2009
Toumaz Holdings Limited (`Toumaz Holdings', the `Company' or the `Group') Future Waves Achieves Volume Production of its Fenix 1 Chip
Toumaz Holdings, the specialist niche investor in emerging technologies, is pleased to announce that Future Waves Pte Limited ('Future Waves'), in which the Group is the largest shareholder, has commenced mass production of its CMOS RF tuner chip Fenix 1. Major Future Waves customer and DAB market leader PURE Digital (`PURE'), is now shipping an increasing range of new radios that incorporate the Fenix 1. PURE is the international market leader in DAB digital radio products and the UK's number 1 overall radio manufacturer.
Future Waves' Fenix 1 chip has completed rigorous development and testing, including extensive testing and characterisation by PURE. The Fenix 1 utilises the unique Toumaz AMx RF platform technology, which offers a method of digitally controlling analogue processors in a low power design. This has led to PURE integrating the chip into some of its leading products, including its best-selling PURE Highway, an easy to fit in-car DAB digital radio that also enables iPod/MP3 connection. The PURE Highway increased the in-car DAB market in 2008 by over 300% compared to 2007*. More recently several other high volume portable radios from PURE have also started to ship using the Future Waves device. Further new products from PURE incorporating Future Waves solutions are in development.
Several hundred thousand Fenix 1 production devices have been sold so far, demonstrating the capabilities of Future Waves' RF technologies. With Fenix 1 achieving full mass production, Future Waves is confident that it will experience a steady growth in revenues, as the digital and internet radio sector continues to expand as widely forecast.
Future Waves is also a licensing partner of Imagination Technologies Group plc (`Imagination'), PURE's parent company and a leading provider of System-on-Chip (`SoC') silicon IP. Future Waves is developing baseband devices, to work with its RF CMOS technologies, based on Imagination's communications IP cores. This will offer Future Waves' customers a more complete, innovative baseband and RF solution and expand the reach of Future Waves' devices into new markets.
Paul Smith, PURE's general manager, said:
"We are pleased to have incorporated the Fenix 1 chip into PURE's DAB radio product range. Fenix 1 is a clear demonstration of the strengths of Future Waves' chip technology, and we look forward to its increased use in our range as the worldwide markets for our product grows."
Chris Toumazou, chairman of Future Waves, commented:
"The move to mass production of Fenix 1 is very encouraging and, we believe, a validation of our proprietary RF CMOS and analogue technologies. The partnership between Future Waves and PURE continues to strengthen, and we expect that many new world-leading digital radio products and connected devices will be launched over the coming year incorporating Future Waves' unique RF CMOS technology."
*source: GFK volume shipment data
For Further Enquiries:
Guy Spelman Toumaz Holdings Tel: +44 7767 338 967
Limited Charles Cunningham FinnCap Tel: 020 7600 1658 Sam Smith Vikki Krause Hansard Group Tel: +44 207 245 1100
About Future Waves Pte Limited:
Future Waves is a fabless semiconductor designer and supplier focusing on mobile receiver solutions for the digital audio and video broadcasting industries. Its innovative Fenix 1 chip utilises the proprietary Toumaz AMx platform technology, which offers a unique method for digitally controlling analogue processors in a low power design, allowing manufacturers of devices that incorporate RF and other analogue functions to reduce power consumption significantly compared with other methods. Futures Waves provides single chip receiver solutions configurable to a wide range of standards and operating modes. Fenix 1 is designed using CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) manufacturing processes, and is in mass production now. Future Waves is currently developing its second generation chipsets Fenix 2 and Orion 2.
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