The Embedded Business Group (EBG) of Hitachi America, Ltd., a
subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), and Tilcon Software Ltd., the
leading provider of Graphical User Interface (GUI) software tools for
embedded systems and real-time applications, today announced they
have teamed to develop a wide array of reference designs, the first of
which is based on the Wind River Platform for Consumer Devices.
With more and more automakers and mobile device manufacturers
looking at improved search functions and ease-of-use as ways to market
their products, Hitachi EBG and Tilcon provide an important
combination. Together, their technologies will help manufacturers in
the automotive and mobile markets bring devices such as enhanced GPS
systems and on-board entertainment consoles to end-users faster and at
lower cost.
For instance, on-board automotive GPS systems in the near future
will use more sophisticated search capabilities to enable drivers to
find, say, "the nearest gas station on the right-side of the road" or
"the closest Italian restaurant" all via a simple, reliable and
easy-to-execute interface. With mobile devices such as MP3 players,
these extended search and improved interfaces will enable users to
look for "songs similar to the one I´m listening to" or create instant
playlists of songs "like" this one.
This ability to let users "search the way they think" is the
fundamental principle of Entier, an embedded Relational Database
Management System (RDBMS) that helps developers create robust search
functions for devices such as GPS systems. Tilcon, meanwhile, provides
developers the ability to configure an easy-to-understand,
easy-to-navigate GUI through its Interface Development Suite at a
fraction of the time and cost of traditional code-based GUIs making
the whole process faster, more reliable and safer.
"Today´s consumers require mobile devices that provide them the
content they want in a quick and efficient manner," said Steven King,
vice president of sales and marketing and deputy general manager,
Hitachi EBG. "Tilcon´s consumer-centric approach to user interface
development has made it easier for us to help our customers design
innovative visual interfaces in mobile devices, which ultimately
enhance the consumer experience by enabling them to ´search the way
they think.´"
Said Prosanto Sarkar, CEO, Tilcon: "The explosion of mobile
content - music, video, photos, location-based information - has made
it even more imperative for consumers to have easy access to the
information they want. The ease with which our GUI development tools
integrate with applications using Entier´s embedded RDBMS offers a
clear advantage to developers wanting to offer improved function and
capabilities, faster and safer user execution with new screens and
flexible interfaces. The combination of our technologies offers clear
cost and time-to-market advantages for developers of a variety of
consumer devices, from automotive navigation systems to mobile
handsets."
Hitachi EBG markets and sells the Entier embedded database for a
variety of embedded applications that take advantage of the ever
increasing convergence of data in mobile devices for automotive,
digital home and mobile environments. No matter what the content -
music, video, point of interest or anything else - Entier has unique
capabilities that allow you to "search the way you think" and delivers
50 to 1,000 times faster performance than other products used today.
Its unique features are enabling innovative functionality with design
capabilities that greatly reduce the number of SQL commands required
to perform these ground-breaking search functions, enabling data to be
located faster at execution time, and for applications to be developed
more rapidly. To view a Flash demo of Hitachi Entier at work, please
visit http://www.hitachi.us/Entier/MeetJoe.html.
About Tilcon Software Ltd.
Tilcon Software Limited is the leading provider of graphical user
interface software tools for embedded devices. Tilcon´s rich feature
set, support for multiple platforms and extensive experience with
graphics development for real-time and embedded projects has resulted
in an effective toolkit used worldwide in demanding applications such
as medical devices, driver information systems, consumer electronics,
defense system and a wide range of industrial machinery. Tilcon was
founded in 1987 and its customers include Gambro Renal Products,
Hyundai Autonet, Siemens, Ericsson NetQual Inc., Physiometrix and
other leading manufacturers.
About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo,
Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately
384,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2006 (ended March 31, 2007)
consolidated revenues totaled 10,247 billion yen ($86.8 billion). The
company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in
market sectors including information systems, electronic devices,
power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and
financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the
company´s website at http://www.hitachi.com.
