Xilinx, Handspring, And Portable Design Magazine Announce Winner Of The “Cool Module” Design Contest
SAN JOSE, CA — September 4, 2001 — Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX), in association with Handspring, Inc. and Portable Design(TM) magazine, today announced the winner of the "Cool Module" Design Contest. The contest, announced at the January 2001 Portable Design show in Santa Clara, Calif. offered portable system designers the opportunity to design a Springboard(TM) expansion module using a Xilinx(R) CoolRunner(R) CPLD. The winning prototype "Cool Trak" design, created by frog design is an add-on module for a HandSpring Visor(TM) handheld computer that collects and displays many crucial statistics for the bicycle enthusiast. The module measures speed, distance traveled, pedaling rate, air temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, altitude, and the rider's heart rate. The heart rate is transmitted in a wireless format to the Cool Trak module and interpreted on the Visor LCD.
"The Cool Trak module is designed for recreational cyclists with an eye on fitness, as well as competitive or professional riders looking to achieve maximum performance," said Preston Brown, director of electrical engineering at frog design. "CoolRunner CPLDs are ideal for low-power and low-cost applications such as the Cool Trak module and the free Xilinx WebPACK(TM) VHDL design environment allowed us to rapidly complete the project."
"We were impressed by the innovation put forth by the teams submitting entries into the 'Cool Module' design contest," said Jeff Hawkins, founder, chairman and chief product officer at Handspring, Inc. "Our hats go off to Xilinx for sponsoring the event, Portable Design for promoting the event and playing a crucial role in the judging process and most importantly the numerous teams that demonstrated incredible ingenuity in designing new Springboard module concepts for the Handspring Visor."
Over 100 entrants from areas such as biometrics, electronic gaming, communications and wireless, audio, and manufacturing test, competed for a top prize of $10,000, a free Handspring Visor Platinum handheld computer, and publication of the winning design in Portable Design magazine. Ten finalists were selected to create a working design. Final designs were judged by former Xilinx chief technology officer Bill Carter, founder, chairman and chief product officer for Handspring, Jeff Hawkins, and editor-in-chief of Portable Design, Richard Nass.
The Springboard development platform for Visor handhelds, provided to finalists by Insight Electronics, is based on Xilinx CoolRunner CPLDs that enable ultra low power designs. Handheld computers specialize in personal information management and are used by a growing number of consumers. With the advent of the Springboard expansion slot, a multitude of additional applications can be developed to run on Handspring Visors. With the development kit manufacturers now have the option of developing new market applications for integration with Visors.
About CoolRunner CPLDs
CoolRunner CPLDs are the first to combine very low power with high speed, high density, and high I/O counts in a single device. CoolRunner CPLDs feature Fast Zero Power(TM) technology, allowing the devices to draw virtually no power in standby mode, making them ideal for the fast growing market for battery operated portable electronic equipment. For more information on CoolRunner CPLDs in PDA applications, visit the Xilinx web portal dedicated to accelerating the design and development of consumer applications at www.xilinx.com/esp/pda.htm.
About frog design
Founded in Germany in 1969, frog is a family of creative professionals who pool their diverse backgrounds in design, brand strategy and interactive media to provide a competitive advantage for our clients. Our worldwide network of innovative thinkers has produced groundbreaking work for Sony, Apple, Disney, Dell, Microsoft, Nike, SAP and others. With U.S. offices in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, Austin, Ann Arbor and Los Angeles, and international studios in Berlin, Dusseldorf, and Altensteig, the frog influence is both global and comprehensive. For more information, visit www.frogdesign.com
About Xilinx
Xilinx is the leading supplier of complete programmable logic solutions, including advanced integrated circuits, software design tools, predefined system functions delivered as cores, and unparalleled field engineering support. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Xilinx invented the field programmable gate array (FPGA) and fulfills more than half of the world demand for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to reduce significantly the time required to develop products for the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, aerospace, defense, low-power portable and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx web site at www.xilinx.com.
All trademarks are property of their respective owners. Handspring, Visor and Springboard are trademarks of Handspring, Inc.
CONTACT:
Tamara Snowden
Xilinx, Inc.
408-879-6146 tamara.snowden@xilinx.com
Tony Grant
Xilinx, Inc.
408-879-5772 tony.grant@xilinx.com
Rob Veksler
frog design
212-965-9700 rob.veksler@frogdesign.com