VLSI's ThunderBird Q3D Selected to Power
Flagship of Labway's Xwave Family of Extreme
Gaming Sound Cards
Audio Accelerator Chip to be Featured in New Thunder 3D
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 1999--VLSI Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: VLSI - news) today
announced its ThunderBird Q3D(TM) PCI Audio Accelerator chip, jointly developed with QSound Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:
QSND - news), will be featured in Labway Corporation's Thunder 3D(TM). The Thunder 3D, the first member of Labway's
new Xwave(TM) family of high performance PC sound products, will be showcased at Computex, Asia's foremost
computer trade show, in June 1999.
''It's exciting to see a major sound card player like Labway select ThunderBird for their high performance gaming card,'' said
Scott McNeese, product marketing manager at VLSI. ''Labway's Thunder 3D takes full-advantage of the ThunderBird
Q3D's capabilities and is set to shake up the competition in the branded audio card market.''
''The fact that ThunderBird has now been selected by the two largest independent card manufacturers in the world is a solid
indication that the product provides the features and the quality that are most desirable in a sound card,'' said David
Gallagher, president and CEO of QSound.
The ThunderBird Q3D is the only PC sound solution available today that delivers the combination of superb hardware
acceleration, effective two-speaker 3D sound, and quadraphonic playback of both 3D and stereo applications including
music, movies, and games. ThunderBird Q3D achieved immediate recognition as the most advanced and cost-effective
product of its kind. The May 1999 issue of Maximum PC Magazine, a top publication for performance PC enthusiasts,
found a prototype ThunderBird Q3D-based sound card held leading positions in both CPU utilization and frame rate
benchmarks in its side-by-side benchmark comparison of the latest sound cards.
Consumers want full hardware acceleration for smoother play, higher video frame rates and consistent high quality audio.
ThunderBird Q3D provides this plus QSound's unique Q3DInteractive(TM) two-speaker 3D, which eliminates the need for
cross-talk cancellation resulting in an expansive sweet spot. The 3D experience is further enhanced with QSound
Environmental Modeling(TM) for EAX(TM) game compatibility. Multichannel speaker support exceeds expectations by not
only rendering 3D applications and multichannel recordings in quad but transforming 2D games, stereo music CDs, MIDI
files, MP3 music, cut scenes and movies into more compelling and exciting quadraphonic.
About Labway Corporation
Established in 1994, Labway Corporation Ltd. has become one of the leading manufacturers of audio, video and multimedia
products. It supplies product to many top-tier OEMs around the world. For more information, please visit Labway's
homepage at www.labway.com.tw.
About QSound Labs, Inc.
Founded in 1988, Calgary-based QSound Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSND - news) is a technology company specializing in
software audio applications for the Internet, PC/multimedia, Consumer Electronics and Healthcare industries. Its patented
technologies provide these industries with immersive, realistic sound environments that include positional audio, stereo
enhancement and virtual surround sound solutions. A key contributing factor to the success of QSound's Internet software
audio products has been the development of a unique enabling technology, (QAP), a turnkey solution for the marketing and
sales of any product via the Internet. For more information, visit the QSound Web site at www.qsound.com.
About VLSI Technology, Inc.
VLSI Technology, Inc. designs and manufactures custom and semi-custom integrated circuits for leading firms in the wireless
communications, networking, consumer digital entertainment and advanced computing markets. VLSI's value proposition is
based on full-service customer support, deep libraries of vertical market-focused IC intellectual property, unparalleled
custom circuit design expertise enabled through the Velocity(TM) Rapid Silicon Prototyping design style, and one of the
world's most flexible and efficient custom circuit manufacturing facilities in San Antonio, Texas. The Company is based in San
Jose, California with 1998 revenues from continuing operations of $547.8 million, and approximately 2,200 employees
worldwide. For more information, visit the VLSI homepage, www.vlsi.com.
ThunderBird Q3D and Velocity are trademarks of VLSI Technology, Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their
respective companies.
Contact:
VLSI Technology
Samer Bahou, 408/474-5570 (Sr. PR Specialist)
samer.bahou@vlsi.com |
