Alameda, California March 13, 2002 Calimetrics, Inc., the emerging leader in data storage semiconductor and high-density optical media technologies, today announced its MLTM (MultiLevel recording) technology roadmap for writable and rewritable optical disc drives and media, providing the market with a cost-effective and backward compatible path to extend capacities from 2 GB up to 60 GB per disc side. Complementary to existing and future optical storage standards, ML technology improves capacity and performance up to three fold by encoding significantly more information in a mark or pit location.

The ML technology roadmap includes the currently available 2 GB ML CD-R/RW, and four new products, ML DVD-7 “Super Combo”, ML DVD-10, ML DVD Blue-25 and ML Blu-ray-60. Each technology can be implemented by adding a single ML chip (or ML “core” designed into a host controller/decoder IC) to the controller circuitry of an optical disc drive and using Calimetrics-developed ML-enhanced disc media. The ML products are designed to be backward compatible, with future ML-enhanced drives supporting the read/write capabilities of legacy formats. Starting today, these high-performance products enable the optical disc industry to serve enterprise storage, high-quality video, portable applications and beyond.

“As more and more consumers use DVDs, the demand for more capacity only increases. ML technology offers a cost-effective means in the market today for manufacturers to extend the capabilities and life of their existing products lines and create interesting new consumer electronics devices,” said John Freeman, President of Strategic Marketing Decisions. “SMD believes ML technology can boost increasing capacity requirements on DVDs while meeting the decreasing pricing pressures associated with consumer devices.”

“The beauty of ML technology is that it truly is platform independent and complementary to other optical media storage products. By leveraging existing optics and infrastructure as well as ML-specific firmware, it provides a very cost effective means to attain extremely large data storage capacities and transfer rates in the CD and DVD markets and beyond,” stated Ken Campbell, President and CEO of Calimetrics. “Our roadmap of proven ML technologies provides manufacturers with a compelling, backward compatible way to extend the longevity of existing CD products and to significantly increase the advantages of new technologies, like Blu-ray disc.”

ML CD

ML technology is available now for integration into CD-R/RW drives in enterprise and desktop data storage markets as well as professional and consumer audio and video applications. The recently announced ML ENDEC IC from Sanyo Semiconductor Company (Sanyo part number LC898050) utilizes eight level ML recording and achieves 2.5 bits/data-cell, resulting in ML CD-R/RW drives and discs with 2 GB capacity.

ML DVD-7 “Super Combo”

The Sanyo ML ENDEC can also be designed into DVD recordable and rewritable drives with a 0.65 NA lens to achieve 7.1 GB of capacity and a 50 percent improvement in write and read speeds (data transfer rate). ML technology can enhance any DVD recording format with no change to DVD optics or mechanics. It is compatible with dye recording formats, such as DVD-R and DVD+R, as well as phase-change recording formats, such as DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM.

An ML “Super Combo” drive utilizing the ML ENDEC will be capable of four capacity and speed options: CD-R/W (700 MB); DVD+/-R/RW (4.7 GB) for DVD-playback compatible recordings; ML-enhanced CD (2 GB) recorded at 48 times CD speed; and 7.1 GB DVD discs with recording speeds 50 percent faster than the drive’s native speed.

ML DVD-10

Calimetrics also has implemented its patented ML technology on an industry-standard DVD test base, demonstrating the potential for 10 GB capacity per disc side. The technology, which utilizes 12 level ML recording to achieve a density of 3.1 bits/data-cell, will be incorporated into a next generation HD ML chip currently under development, with availability expected in late 2003. The HD ML technology can also be implemented as a core in a host controller/decoder IC.

ML DVD Blue-25

With the addition of a blue laser to an ML DVD-10 drive, the HD ML chip can extend disc capacity to ML DVD Blue at 25 GB per side. By using DVD-type optics and disc media thickness, this ML DVD Blue-25 system can attain 25 GB per side while maintaining backward compatibility with recordable and rewritable DVD formats. Unlike the recently announced “Blu-ray” format (described below), the ML DVD Blue-25 drive can also write and read standard 4.7 GB DVD discs. Furthermore, the ML DVD Blue-25 recording media can be manufactured on existing DVD media production lines, without the addition of a cartridge and an optical transmittance protection layer.

ML Blu-ray-60

The recently announced “Blu-ray Disc” format combines a higher-power lens with a 405nm blue-violet laser and a recording media optical protection layer to achieve 23 GB to 27 GB per disc side. By joining Calimetrics’ HD ML technology with this type of blue-laser format, ML technology can enable a drive to write and read 60 GB per side on a single-sided, single layer 12cm CD/DVD size disc.

Technical Reports

Calimetrics will be presenting a detailed technical review of ML DVD-10 at the Joint International Symposium on Optical Memory and Optical Data Storage (ISOM/ODS) 2002 Conference in Waikoloa, Hawaii, July 7 - 11, 2002.

For a technical report on the ML technology roadmap, or for further information about integrating ML technology into optical disc drive systems, please contact Tom Burke at Calimetrics: trburke@calimetrics.com or +1-510-864-4100 x106.

About ML Technology

Calimetrics’ patented ML technology is the only way to increase the capacity and performance of optical media storage, including CD and DVD, up to three fold at minimal incremental cost while ensuring backward and forward compatibility. Implementing the technology requires the addition of a single integrated circuit (IC) to the standard electronics of current CD-R/RW drives, so manufacturers can add ML capability without altering existing optics, mechanics, or manufacturing infrastructure. ML discs, which incorporate enhancements to nearly triple the available storage capacity compared to current technology, maintain the cost-per-megabyte efficiencies of conventional CD-R and CD-RW discs. ML technology is also designed to provide further improvements as new recording technologies are introduced and commercialized in CD, DVD and beyond.

About Calimetrics

Calimetrics, Inc. develops enabling technology for the future of optical media storage in the enterprise, desktop and consumer electronics markets. Calimetrics’ patented ML™ technology is the only way to significantly increase the capacity and performance of optical media storage at minimal incremental cost while ensuring backward and forward compatibility. Incorporated in 1994 and headquartered in Alameda, California, Calimetrics is backed by venture capital and corporate investors including TDK, Sanyo, Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics, and Mitsubishi Chemical, as well as supported by the Advanced Technology Program of NIST, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. For further information, please see: www.calimetrics.com.

Calimetrics, the Calimetrics logo and ML are trademarks of Calimetrics, Inc. All other trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners.

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