BSQUARE, Matsushita to Develop Windows CE Compatibility for AM33 Microprocessor

<%=company1%> announced that it has signed a long-term contract with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (MEI), to provide software development services that will port Microsoft's Windows CE to MEI's AM33 microprocessor. MEI is taking advantage of the new Windows CE Porting Partners program, announced by Microsoft Corp. in January, to provide a microprocessor to power Windows CE-based Internet-enabled devices. MEI also has signed the Windows CE Semiconductor Partner Agreement with Microsoft. The addition of the AM33 will expand the number of microprocessor architectures currently supported by Windows CE to give developers greater flexibility in choosing the most targeted microprocessor for a specific intelligent computing device.

"The new "plug-in" architecture of Windows CE enables us to provide Windows CE support in the AM33, and deliver that support to market without waiting for an official upgrade of the operating system," said Yojiro Mano, Director of Microprocessor Development Center of MEI. "Under this new arrangement, we will be satisfying customers with Windows CE support much earlier than we ever could have before."

"BSQUARE has years of experience in porting Windows CE to various microprocessors, and its expertise will ensure a fast, quality port for MEI," said Randy Kath, director of Windows CE Tools at Microsoft Corp. "This agreement shows how Microsoft's Porting Partner Program allows Windows CE to quickly expand the microprocessors it supports, and therefore increase the number and quality of information appliances. We are confident that Windows CE and MEI's AM33 will provide an excellent foundation for future intelligent computing devices."

Under the terms of the agreement, BSQUARE will port the Microsoft Windows CE operating system and all the associated Windows CE Toolkits to the MEI AM33 microprocessor. The AM33 Plug In Module will support the Microsoft Platform Builder both in English and Japanese versions. BSQUARE will develop the software compilers and compiler assembler. BSQUARE will also provide a custom adaptation of Windows CE for the AM33 version of the reference platform and support for Microsoft Toolkits including debuggers and Windows CE runtimes such as MFC, ATL, CEF translator and the VB runtime. The final Plug In Module, which includes all of the above items, will be provided to Microsoft for public distribution some time next year.

The rapid growth of Windows CE in the embedded and intelligent computing device markets has led to increased demand from semiconductor vendors for Windows CE support for their new and existing processor architectures. The Porting Partner Program was created in response to this demand and will enable Windows CE to support a larger number of microprocessors (CPUs). The upcoming version of Windows CE Tools will enable new processor architectures to be added to the Tools at any time via a new "CPU Plug-ins." model. CPU Plug-Ins contain all the microprocessor-specific components needed to support the Windows CE operating system and tool chain and can be distributed at any time.

Edited by Bruce A. Bennett