September 24, 2008

The NaBee is Samsung's response to Nikon and Canon's Wi-Fi enabled DSLRs. This might actually be a rather impressive response to the two major camera manufacturers if NaBee is implemented on a more wider product offering than just still cameras. If the NaBee system was used on Samung's compact cameras as well as their other products which involved data movement, Samsung would have an edge by providing the convenience of inter-product compatibility with the personal computer.

Suffice it to say, there are a lot of uses where NaBee could take hold, and I look forward to hopefully seeing these uses announced by Samsung in the future. For now, the NaBee mini-dongle is a great option for digital camera enthusiasts.

- DigitalDingus

Samsung Techwin, a worldwide innovator in digital camera technology, and Alereon, Inc., the Certified Wireless USB technology leader for Ultra Wideband (UWB) WiMedia solutions, today announced NaBee, a wireless connectivity solution for Samsung digital still cameras powered by Alereon’s AL5000 Worldwide Wireless USB Chipset. Leveraging Alereon’s worldwide second generation products, the new Samsung solution is the easiest and most convenient way to wirelessly connect a digital camera to a PC. Samsung will be demonstrating NaBee in their booth in Hall 04.2 booth G030 at Photokina in Cologne, Germany.

“We are pleased to work with Samsung, a true worldwide leader in the consumer electronics and digital still camera world,” said Eric Broockman, CEO of Alereon. “As the wireless USB market continues to expand, working with global leaders like Samsung, is an important part of Alereon’s strategy in the Wireless USB space.”

Samsung’s NaBee allows for a simple, high-speed wireless communication between a digital still camera and PC. Plug the miniature dongle into the camera USB connector, and its matching dongle into the PC and it connects just like a standard USB cable. NaBee will be available from all major catalog and online resellers, as well as selected retail outlets in December 2008.

Samsung selected Alereon following rigorous examination of available Certified Wireless USB products. Alereon was chosen based on worldwide compatibility, performance, cost, ease of integration and expertise in the UWB and Wireless USB space.

“As customer demand continues to grow for unique applications, we are dedicated to differentiating our products in powerful ways," said Seong-Young Han, Group Leader of New Business Development at Samsung Techwin. “Samsung is a worldwide leader in the digital camera market and continues to exemplify that leadership with today’s Wireless USB introduction showcasing creative innovation using new high speed wireless technology.”

Paramount to Alereon’s and Samsung’s differentiation is the ability to provide NaBee to customers worldwide. The Alereon AL5000 Chipset family transmits and receives WiMedia band groups one through six, which span frequencies of 3.1 to 10.6 GHz respectively. Unlike competitive bandgroup one or bandgroup three solutions, which may offer as little as a single channel in non-US applications, Alereon provides consumers in Europe, Japan, Korea, China and New Zealand with as many as 19 additional channels. Manufacturers standardizing on Alereon solutions can produce a single product or SKU that can be designed and sold worldwide with a simple software modification to meet local regulatory requirements.

About Samsung Techwin Co. Ltd

Please refer to Samsung Techwin website at http://www.samsungtechwin.com for the company profile.

About Alereon, Inc.

Alereon, Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company using revolutionary Ultra Wideband (UWB) radio technology to develop high-bandwidth, low-power, low-cost Wireless USB and WiMedia UWB chipsets that are ideal for today’s personal computer and portable products, like digital cameras, mp3 players and cell phones. Our mission is to replace the complex tangle of wires that interconnect today's electronic devices with wireless links. For more information, visit http://www.alereon.com.