Analog Devices Feeds Shark Multimedia With Industry's
First Single-Chip 56K Modem/Sound Card Solution
Basking Combo Enables PC Integrators To Offer 56K Internet Access and
Advanced Telephony in Sub-$1000 Systems
NORWOOD, Mass., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE:ADI) announced today that Shark Multimedia, a leading manufacturer of PC audio and modem products, has chosen the SoundMAX(TM) 16/Modio audio/modem solution for its new Basking Combo board. The new board is the industry's first ''soft'' modem solution to add communications capabilities to a PC as an extension to its sound system. It enables PC system OEMs, VARs, and integrators to deliver DOS-compatible audio and Windows 95 audio/communications at a low price, and it requires only one expansion slot and no additional IRQ or DMA resources than a standard sound card.
''The Analog Devices single-chip audio/modem solution provides several significant advantages for us, the greatest of which are reduced cost and the preservation of those diminishing expansion slots,'' said Neal Greenberg, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Shark Multimedia. ''The Basking Combo opens up a whole new market for 56K modems and Internet telephony in sub-$1000 PC systems.''
SoundMAX 16/Modio -- High Quality Sound And Fast Internet Access
The SoundMAX 16/Modio solution is designed to provide both high-quality sound and fast Internet access in a cost-effective, tightly integrated solution. It is fully compliant with Microsoft PC97 audio requirements, featuring 16-bit full-duplex sound for simultaneous record and playback, Phat Stereo
3D effects, and an OPL-3-compatible music synthesizer. It includes an enhanced digital game port for improved Pentium utilization, and provides 100% compatibility with applications written for Sound Blaster Pro and AdLib.
It also features advanced Modio communications drivers from SmartLink, Ltd., which utilize Pentium resources and MMX technology to implement high- speed fax/data/voice communications. The 56K modem provides faster Internet access, with DMA-based signal streaming for reliable,
robust modem operation.
''Analog Devices' SoundMAX 16/Modio exemplifies the right architectural strategy for MMX-enabled PCs'', said Moty Mebel, President of SmartLink, Ltd. ''The device provides baseline I/O capabilities with advanced sample rate conversion and streaming support, letting our Modio drivers and the Pentium processor assume the workload for communications and voice signal processing.'' A new sample rate conversion technology -- called continuous time oversampling (CTO) -- is embedded in the SoundMAX 16/Modio controller to facilitate audio/communications integration in low-cost multimedia PC designs. CTO performs sample rate conversion, stream synchronization, and low-latency digital mixing on the fly.
''In the Basking Combo board, Shark Multimedia has developed a product that will offer integrators significant savings over even the most aggressively priced sound cards and 56K modems in the market,'' said Campbell Stras, SoundMAX Product Line Manager at Analog Devices. ''And
ultimately the PC end- users will save because they will have higher-quality audio for both gaming and music, and faster access to the Internet.''
Analog Devices' SoundMAX family consists of a scaleable series of PC audio configurations spanning ISA, PCI, and emerging USB and 1394 extension buses.
With sales of $1.2 billion for fiscal 1996, Analog Devices is a leading manufacturer of precision high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications.
Headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, the company employs approximately 7,200 people worldwide and has manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Ireland, the
Philippines and Taiwan.
NOTE: SoundMAX is a trademark of Analog Devices, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
