London, England 11th March 2008: 3DLABS Semiconductor, a pioneer in media-rich application processors, announces that is has been named a finalist in CMP Technology's EE Times fourth Annual Creativity in Electronics (ACE) Awards (www.eetimes-ace.com). 3DLABS has been shortlisted in the design team of the year category in recognition of its team's work in creating the DMS-02 processor - a breakthrough in video, imaging, audio, 2D/3D processing and 32-bit floating-point compute for the next generation of handheld devices.

The design team of the year award is given to a group of innovators whose system or IC-level design made a significant contribution to the furtherance of technology and whose project management abilities were creative, efficient and inspiring. The 3DLABS team is a finalist following its pioneering work in fully programmable application media processors that deliver a rich mix of video, imaging, 2D/3D graphics, audio and floating-point capabilities. Based on an array of floating-point processing elements and dual ARM® cores the 3DLABS architecture has the performance, flexibility and low power consumption required to target a broad range of portable consumer devices.

Hock Leow, president of 3DLABS comments: "We're delighted to have been selected as one of the finalists of the EE Times ACE awards; the team fully deserves this recognition for its outstanding work. In creating the DMS-02, our talented team ignored legacy architecture and turned its extensive 3D expertise to the task of redefining media processing technology for HD H.264 video decode, 3D graphics rendering and audio processing at less than 1 watt, for portable devices. To this day, the DMS-02 is still the only product on the market capable of performing H.264 HD video decode and other media types who's power consumption makes it suitable for use in a handheld device."

EE Times ACE Awards are presented in 20 categories and are judged by a panel of industry experts, comprised of the leading voices of academia, industry and Wall Street executives. The judges will choose winners in seven categories. Winners in the additional 11 categories are either peer-to-peer or editorially selected.

"This year's ACE Awards finalists mark a shift in the industry, as the electronics industry becomes more focused on creating technologies attractive to consumers - from educational toys, to microphones, cell phones and light sensors," said Junko Yoshida, editor in chief, EE Times. "The 2008 finalists represent the execution of forward-thinking technologies and creativity that captures the imagination of consumers, illustrating the influence that electronics and embedded design professionals have on today's culture."

The EE Times Annual Creativity in Electronics (ACE) Awards celebrate the creators of technology who demonstrate leadership and innovation in the global industry and shape the world we live in. These creators, and their innovations, will be recognised at the EE Times ACE Awards Gala on April 15, 2008, as part of CMP Technology's Embedded Systems Conference Silicon Valley, the largest electronic systems design event in North America and IP Symposium.