FingerGear Announces Computer-On-a-Stick Biometric Edition Featuring Atmel’s FingerChip

World’s First Bootable Flash Drive Offers Complete Desktop Environment Plus Superior Security.

San Jose, CA and Mountain View, CA, - October 12th, 2005. . . Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq:ATML), a global leader in the development and fabrication of advanced semiconductor solutions, and FingerGear™, the consumer products division of biometrics leader Bionopoly LLC, announced today the release of its groundbreaking Bio Computer-On-a-Stick™ USB Flash Drive now with fingerprint security. The Computer-On-a-Stick is the world’s first bootable USB flash drive. The OS and all Desktop Software applications come preinstalled and occupy as little as 200Mb of flash memory. The device also features Atmel’s FingerChip® sensor for convenient and accurate one-swipe secure data access, and a large font LCD display for the ultimate user-friendly experience.


The FingerGear Computer-On-a-Stick also includes an Office Productivity Suite, along with many of the most commonly used home and office applications. The Office Suite, developed by OpenOffice.org, is compatible with Microsoft Office™ applications, including Word™, Excel®, PowerPoint®, and Outlook®. The Computer-On-a-Stick also bundles the increasingly popular Mozilla FireFox® web browser, now at a 25% market share(1), as well as a PDF Creator, a zip compression utility, and an Instant Messenger which communicates with Yahoo® IM, MSN® Messenger, AIM, and Napster®, among others.

With sales projections for USB Flash Drives as high as 100 Million units or greater for 2005, and average storage capacities exceeding 256MB(2), the trend towards USB storage devices with value-added capabilities has only just begun. Moreover, users are increasingly demanding greater security as potential network hackers become more and more sophisticated. The FingerGear Bio Computer-On-a-Stick features both public and private partitions. The public partition is accessible on any Windows®, Linux®, or Macintosh® PC with a standard USB port, thus making it easy to share non-sensitive files. The encrypted private directory can only be accessed when booting from the device, by using a login password or fingerprint authentication. Data is protected with the help of Atmel’s FingerChip due to the following combination; small size, low cost, high accuracy, low power consumption and portability for proven system security benefits.

The Bio Computer-On-a-Stick includes a USB 2.0 extension cable, a neck lanyard, and a mini boot CD. The device is bootable from any PC using an x86 processor, which can be found on nearly every Windows and Linux desktop shipped over the past 5 years. Recent PCs allow the user to configure their system to boot directly from a USB Flash Drive without the need for a CD. The Computer-On-a-Stick Standard and Biometric Editions are currently in stock and shipping now. The Computer-On-a-Stick pricing starts at only $99, and the Biometric Edition starts at $149.

“The USB standard has experienced one of the fastest adoption rates in the history of consumer electronics,” said Bionopoly C.E.O. Jon Louis, “The next wave of FingerGear USB devices now allows you to carry your entire Desktop Software Environment. With capacities up to 8 Gigs, the Computer-On-a-Stick can essentially replace your hard drive. The COS, and now the Biometric edition, offer the ultimate combination of desktop portability and advanced security.”

(1) According to W3Schools.com.

(2) According to Semico Research and Web-Feet Research

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry’s broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions. Focused on consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets, Atmel ICs can be found Everywhere You Are®.

(C) Atmel Corporation 2005. All rights reserved. Atmel®, logo and combinations thereof, Everywhere You Are®, FingerChip® and others, are registered trademarks or trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Microsoft®, Windows®, and others are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Other terms and product names may be trademarks of others.

Information:

For further information on Atmel’s FingerChip®, go to http://www.atmel.com/products/Biometrics/.

About FingerGear

FingerGear is the consumer products division of Bionopoly LLC. Bionopoly is a leader and innovator of low cost secure data storage and computing devices. Bionopoly is a privately held company located in Mountain View, CA. To learn more about Bionopoly’s technology, please visit the Bionopoly website at http://www.bionopoly.com. To purchase FingerGear products, please visit http://www.fingergear.com.

Contact Information

Clive Over

Director of Press Relations - USA and Asia

Atmel Corporation

Contact via E-mail