3GSM 2006 - BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NVIDIA Corporation , the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today unveiled the NVIDIA GoForce 5500 handheld graphics processing unit (GPU) -- the industry's first handheld GPU to enable true, fluid digital TV, high-fidelity surround sound, rapid multi-shot photography, and console-class 3D graphics. For many years, these capabilities have been the domain of function-specific devices such as the home entertainment system, the digital still camera, or the Sony(R) Playstation(R). Today, this new GPU brings all these features, and more, to the mobile phone.

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"High-quality multimedia services are a key revenue growth driver for the world's carriers and content providers and we believe we'll see significant uptake of these services in 2006," said Mario Morales, semiconductor analyst for IDC. "Companies like NVIDIA, whose products deliver compelling and tangible improvements to the overall end user experience of these new services, are well placed to take advantage of this surge in demand."

The newest member of the NVIDIA GoForce family of handheld GPUs, the NVIDIA GoForce 5500 delivers a host of multimedia features, including:

True, fluid digital TV and video

-- The industry's first handheld GPU to playback H.264, WMV9 and MPEG-4 video up to D1 resolution(1) at 30 frames per second (fps)

-- Compatible with major mobile TV standards including DVB-H, ISDB-T, and DMB networks

High Fidelity Surround Sound

-- The industry's first handheld surround sound processor to deliver an immersive audio experience in the palm of a hand

-- Crossfade and multistream technologies help to prevent annoying breaks between songs and music cut out when the ringtone is activated

Console-class 3D gaming

-- Experience console-class games, such as Quake III Arena, at unrivalled speeds on a handheld device

-- 3X the performance of the previous generation(2) Sharp, crystal clear digital photography -- Rapid multi-shot capabilities so users never miss a photo -- Support for up to 10 megapixel resolution Ultra-low power consumption

-- Dedicated low-power hardware design delivers more hours of entertainment on the phone with less drain on the talk time

"The introduction of the NVIDIA GoForce 5500 handheld GPU marks the beginning of a new era for 3G mobile phones," said Michael Rayfield, general manager of the handheld GPU group at NVIDIA. "The NVIDIA GoForce 5500 GPU delivers high-quality video playback and capture, high-resolution camera support, and stunning 3D graphics -- all at impressive performance levels that we believe consumers are going to demand in the next generation of mobile devices."

Phones based on the NVIDIA GoForce 5500 handheld GPU are expected to be available from key handset manufacturers before the 2006 holiday season.

For more information on the NVIDIA GoForce family of handheld GPUs, please visit: http://www.nvidia.com/page/handheld.html

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA Corporation is the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies. The Company creates innovative, industry-changing products for computing, consumer electronics, and mobile devices. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA and has offices throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas. For more information, visit http://www.nvidia.com/.

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, benefits, features, performance and capabilities of the NVIDIA GoForce 5500 personal theater processor, 2006 as the year in which demand for entertainment on mobile phone will dramatically increase, the demand by consumers for products with the features, benefits and performance of the NVIDIA GoForce 5500 personal theater processor, and the anticipated availability of phones containing the NVIDIA GoForce 5500 personal theater processor are forward- looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, delays in ramping new products into production, decrease in demand for or interest in portable entertainment systems, manufacturing defects, software bugs, incompatibility of technologies, loss in performance when products are integrated, reliance on third-party manufacturers, the impact of competitive products and pricing alternatives, development of new and faster GPUs, changes in industry standards and interfaces, our dependence on third-party developers and publishers and other risks detailed from time to time in the NVIDIA reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 30, 2005. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

NOTE: All company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.

(1) D1 resolution is 700 X 480 (NTSC) and 720 X 576 (PAL)

(2) GoForce 5500 is up to 3x the performance of GoForce 4800 as measured by the single texture fill-rate test in 3DMark®Mobile 06.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: bdelrizzo@nvidia.com

CONTACT: David Higham of NVIDIA, +1-408-486-8287, or dhigham@nvidia.com

Web site: http://www.nvidia.com/