News & Events
Intersil's PRISM Technology Featured in Symbol's newSpectrum24 Portfolio of Wi-Fi Certified Wireless LAN products

-- Symbol's new Compact Flash™ (CF) WLAN card is first to receive Wi-Fi certification~-- Wireless Networker™ is the first Type I CF card designed for embedded WLAN solutions

IRVINE, CA, November 7, 2001 - Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), the world's leading developer of silicon technology for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), today announced that Symbol Technologies (NYSE: SBL) is using PRISM® technology to power its new suite of Spectrum24® High Rate WLAN products that feature the Symbol Wireless Networker, the world's first Wi-Fi certified wireless Compact Flash adapter for Microsoft Windows powered Pocket PCs and notebook PCs. The Wireless Networker is currently the only Type I Compact Flash card for embedded WLAN solutions available today.

Symbol has incorporated Intersil's PRISM 2.5 wireless networking chip set into a new suite of WLAN products that include the AP 4121 Access Point, the LA 4121 PC Card, and the Wireless Networker Compact Flash Adapter.  The Wireless Networker comes in two antenna options - an integrated antenna in a CF+ Type I adapter or an external antenna with connector in a Type I extended form factor.

Symbol's Spectrum24 wireless LAN products are officially certified by the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) to ensure interoperability with Wi-Fi wireless LAN products manufactured by other vendors.  PRISM 2.5 is optimized for smaller form factors and embedded WLAN applications such as mini-PCI, USB or Type I Compact Flash that are much smaller and are typically installed directly in the system during product assembly.

"Symbol's new Wi-Fi certified Compact Flash card is another milestone product for the rapidly growing 802.11b wireless networking market and is a significant step forward in driving standards-compliant wireless connectivity for small handheld devices such as Pocket PCs and other sub-notebook designs," said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of PRISM Wireless Products at Intersil.  "We're pleased that Intersil's PRISM WLAN technology is part of this great new design."

Symbol is using Intersil's highly integrated PRISM 2.5 WLAN chip set to enable the small form factor capability of its Wireless Networker WLAN adapter, which supports Pocket PCs with Compact Flash Type I/II slots.  Pocket PC users can enjoy fast wireless connectivity to surf the Internet, read and send email, access networks and data base information, send instant messages and remotely synchronize with networked PCs for file transfer to their small hand held device.

The Symbol Wireless Networker deploys advanced power management. Wireless Networker uses Power Save Polling (PSP) to extend battery life by allowing the radio to idle when not active. The Wireless Networker Type I extended card is now available through popular online consumer technology E-tailers and ScanSource, Symbol's largest distributor.

"Intersil's PRISM chip sets provide the most highly integrated wireless networking solutions available on the market today for manufacturing IEEE 802.11b wireless products," said Ray Martino, vice president of wireless network products at Symbol.  "PRISM 2.5 delivers the affordability, performance and high degree of integration that has enabled Symbol to quickly develop and achieve Wi-Fi certification for our Wireless Networker Compact Flash card."

Symbol's Wireless Networker provides ongoing software development to support notebook and ultra portable PCs based on the Windows operating system.  The device offers fast wireless connectivity and high performance with data rates up to 11 Mbps, with automatic rate scaling to 5.5, 2 and 1 Mbps, to maximize range connectivity, which goes up to 300 feet/91 meters in a standard office environment. The Wireless Networker also ships with advanced security mechanisms and supports 40 and 128 bit WEP encryption, with ongoing firmware development to support Kerberos Version 5.0 when used with Symbol's Spectrum24 High Rate wireless LAN infrastructure.

PRISM is a highly integrated, low-cost solution for designing Wi-Fi-compliant, embedded wireless networking capability into small, portable computing devices such as laptop PCs, Personal Digital Assistants, home gateways and next generation Web Pad Internet appliance devices.  Optimized for high data rate (11 Mbps) performance, PRISM-based systems are feature-rich and provide fast, reliable performance in all types of networking environments. Advanced design and process technologies reduce power consumption, design complexity and total system cost.  PRISM-based products provide users with wireless access to networks and the Internet for fast and efficient transmission of data, video and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

The Global Wireless Market Embraces PRISM WLAN Technology
"Intersil is the number one manufacturer of wireless LAN chipsets and has been a driving force behind the success of WLANs," said a May 2001 WLAN report from Cahners In-Stat Group.  Since introducing the PRISM WLAN chip set in 1996, industry-leading companies including Actiontec, Alcatel, ASUS, Casio, Cisco, Compaq, 3Com, Dell, D-Link, GemTek, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel, Legend, Linksys, Nokia, Nortel, Panasonic, Quanta, Samsung, Sharp, Siemens, SOHOware, Sony, SpectraLink, Symbol, Z-Com and Zoom have incorporated PRISM chips in WLAN product designs. PRISM technology is designed to comply with the IEEE's 802.11 global standard, and Intersil is a founding sponsor of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA), whose Wi-Fi brand is a mark of compatibility for 802.11-based systems.

About Symbol Technologies
Symbol Technologies, Inc. is a global leader in wireless and Internet based mobile data management systems and services.  Symbol provides its customers unique value with innovative solutions utilizing application-specific information appliances, data and voice wireless networks, and bar code and data capture scanning.  Symbol and its global network of business partners provide wireless LAN and WAN mobility solutions from the enterprise to e-commerce for industries including retail, transportation and distribution logistics, manufacturing, parcel and postal delivery, healthcare, hospitality and education. Symbol's broad range of information appliances is in use by businesses and consumers from factory to office, and in the home.  Information is available from Symbol at http://www.symbol.com and 1-800-722-6234. About Intersil
Intersil is a global leader in designing innovative wireless networking and high performance analog solutions that enable wireless access to video, data and voice in homes, offices and public places. Creating advanced power management products, Intersil provides reliable solutions for file servers, portable information appliances and over half of all computer microprocessors manufactured today. With a rich high performance analog and mixed signal portfolio, Intersil brings added value in providing complete silicon, software and reference design solutions to new products that bring portable connectivity to people wherever they live, work or travel. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Intersil has offices in cities throughout the US, Europe and Asia. For more information about Intersil or to find out how to become a member of our winning team, visit the company's Web site and career page at www.intersil.com.

This press release contains information relating to certain projections and business trends concerning the WLAN market that are forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are based upon management's current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, and projections about our business and industry. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will" and variations of these words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. Furthermore, any forward-looking statements and projections made by others in this press release are not adopted by Intersil Corporation ("Intersil") and Intersil is not responsible for the forward-looking statements and projections of others. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors. Important risk factors that may cause such material differences for Intersil in connection with WLAN market include, but are not limited to: the rate at which consumers adopt small handheld Internet appliances and portable computing devices; the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Intersil's wireless technologies and products, including our embedded WLAN applications technologies and products; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders; the loss of a key customer; the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; silicon wafer pricing and the availability of foundry and assembly capacity and raw materials; the effectiveness of Intersil's expense and product cost control and reduction efforts; intellectual property disputes, customer indemnification claims, and other litigation risks; Intersil's ability to develop, market, and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a timely manner; risks inherent in acquisitions and divestitures, such as the anticipated benefits not being realized, integration issues, unanticipated costs, changing relationships with customers and suppliers, accounting treatment and charges; the success of our recent public offering of securities, as well as other risk factors. Intersil's Annual Report on Form 10-K, recent and forthcoming Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Registration Statement on Form S-3, and other Intersil filings with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission ("SEC") (which you may obtain for free at the SEC's Web site www.sec.gov) discuss some of the important risk factors that may affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and Intersil undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements. PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Americas Inc.
Spectrum24 is a registered trademark and Wireless Networker is a trademark of Symbol Technologies
All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.