SANTA CLARA and SAN JOSE, Calif., April 22, 2010 - Renesas Electronics America Inc. and Immersion Corporation have collaborated to provide a system-level solution that enables designers of consumer electronics; white goods; and medical, building automation and office equipment to enhance user experiences by integrating rich haptic feedback in product designs. This new solution offers manufacturers easy procurement and a simplified way to integrate Immersion's TouchSense technology, which provides low-cost, high-fidelity programmable haptic feedback using a modular approach based on Renesas Electronics' microcontrollers (MCUs). A demonstration of the solution will be available in Renesas Electronics America's booth (#2002) at Embedded Systems Conference Silicon Valley at the McEnery Convention Center, San Jose, California, April 27 to 29.
This TouchSense solution offers an extensive library of vibro-tactile haptic effects for touch surfaces and touch screens, enabling advanced user interfaces. Touch screen usage models include simple button clicks, differentiated button haptics, or haptics for scroll lists and gestures, restoring the "feel" to the "seamless" interface. Customers using Renesas Electronics' MCUs can produce high-fidelity haptic systems to achieve competitive advantages and win greater revenue opportunities by offering products that are more intuitive, satisfying and efficient.
This simple, easy-to-integrate haptic solution is compatible with Renesas Electronics' MCUs designed for a wide range of applications. Renesas Electronics' leadership in the MCU market (30 percent share1) ensures quality and reliability, and its global support minimizes risks, while Immersion's position as the top developer and licensor of touch-feedback technology offers state-of-the-art haptics. Thus, the collaboration between Renesas Electronics and Immersion brings a true world-class design solution for improving human-machine experiences to a vast range of customers in diverse global markets.
"Renesas Electronics America's desire to stay a step ahead, and its established focus on interface technologies, makes it an ideal company to join forces with," said Craig Vachon, senior vice president and general manager of Immersion. "Offering our haptics technology at the semiconductor level from a true world player significantly simplifies integration and procurement for OEMs. This will drive innovation and make it easier for customers to transform user experiences by incorporating the power of touch feedback."
"To address the market demand for better user experiences, we are combining Renesas Electronics' advanced technologies with Immersion's haptic solutions to enable the development of next-generation human-machine interfaces," said Ritesh Tyagi, director of microcontroller products and solutions marketing, Consumer and Industrial Business Unit, Renesas Electronics America. "Immersion's haptics capability is a natural fit for Renesas Electronics' new line of hardware-assisted capacitive-touch microcontrollers and TFT-LCD graphic solutions, which are geared for a wide range of markets such as white goods, medical and consumer products."
Availability
A demonstrator of the haptic touch-feedback technology is available upon request. More information can be obtained at http://america.renesas.com/applications/emerging_market/human_interface/haptics/index.jsp. A haptic-player development kit is offered by Immersion: P/N: CTS-DKIT-SSKV2. (Visit: http://www.immersion.com)
About Renesas Electronics America Inc.
Renesas Electronics America Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), the world's number one supplier of microcontrollers and a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions including microcontrollers, SoC solutions, and a broad range of analog and power devices. In the Americas, Renesas Electronics America markets and sells industrial-type active-matrix LCD modules from NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd., a global leader in innovative display technologies. More information about the products offered by Renesas Electronics America can be found at www.renesas.com.
About Immersion Corporation
Haptic (touch) technology is the future of user experience in digital devices. Founded in 1993, Immersion (NASDAQ: IMMR) harnesses human touch to create user experiences that deliver a more compelling sense of the digital world. Using one of Immersion's adaptable high fidelity haptic systems, partners can achieve a competitive advantage and greater revenue opportunities with products that are more intuitive, satisfying, efficient, and safe. With Immersion technology, world-class companies can deliver improved user experiences in products such as widely popular video games, leading video console gaming systems, advanced automotive driver controls, medical devices, and award-winning mobile phones. With over 800 issued or pending patents in the U.S. and other countries, Immersion is the leading innovator in touch-enabled user experiences that bring the digital universe to life. Additional information is available at http://www.immersion.com.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of Immersion Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
All statements, other than the statements of historical fact, are statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the statement that customers can produce high-fidelity haptic systems to achieve competitive advantages and win greater revenue opportunities by offering products that are more intuitive, satisfying and efficient, the statement that offering Immersion's haptics technology at the semiconductor level from a true world player significantly simplifies integration and procurement for OEMs, and the statement that the collaboration will drive innovation and make it easier for customers to transform user experiences by incorporating the power of touch feedback.
Immersion's actual results might differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with Immersion's business, which include, but are not limited to, the effects of the current macroeconomic climate; delay in or failure to achieve commercial demand for Immersion's products; a delay in or failure to achieve the acceptance of force feedback as a critical user experience; unanticipated difficulties and challenges encountered in product development efforts between Immersion and Renesas; those risks resulting from Immersion's ongoing analysis of Immersion's accounting method regarding revenue recognition; other accounting adjustments that may result from review of Immersion's financial statements for the periods in question; Immersion's ability to timely file any required amended periodic reports reflecting any restated financial statements; the ramifications of Immersion's potential inability to timely file required reports; potential and actual claims and proceedings relating to such matters, including stockholder litigation and action by the SEC or other governmental agencies; and negative tax or other implications for Immersion resulting from the accounting adjustments; and other factors. Many of these risks and uncertainties are beyond the control of Immersion.
For a more detailed discussion of these factors, and other factors that could cause actual results to vary materially, interested parties should review the risk factors listed in Immersion's most current Form 10-Q and Form 10-K, which are on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect Immersion's beliefs and predictions as of the date of this release. Immersion disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements as a result of financial, business, or any other developments occurring after the date of this release.
Immersion, the Immersion logo and TouchSense are trademarks of Immersion Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
(1) Gartner 2009 Worldwide Semiconductor Market Share Database, March 2010 results
(IMMR-T)
The content in the press release, including, but not limited to, product prices and specifications, is based on the information as of the date indicated on the document, but may be subject to change without prior notice.