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FirmTek Brings Serial ATA Storage to the Macintosh Market

FirmTek Launches World's First Serial ATA Host Adapter for Macintosh Users

UNION CITY, CA (July 14, 2003) -- FirmTek, LLC, pioneer of the world's first Macintosh™ Parallel ATA/EIDE host adapter solution, announced today the debut of their new SeriTek/1S2 Serial ATA PCI host adapter, the first of many such solutions from the company's new line of SeriTek host adapter products. Inviting Macintosh users to take advantage of the market's latest offerings in Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) storage technologies, SeriTek/1S2 boosts overall system performance offering data transfer rates of up to 150MBytes/sec or 1.5Gbits/sec, resulting in high SCSI-like performance and data protection, without the SCSI price.

Supporting Serial ATA's longer, thinner, fully insulated cables and smaller 7-pin connectors, SeriTek/1S2 promotes simplified installation and improved airflow, resulting in a cooler Macintosh operating environment when compared to solutions using standard Parallel ATA cables. The adapter's dual-port internal host controller economically provides high performance support for up to two storage devices, while the 48-bit LBA capability assures unimpeded support for drives beyond the 137 GB limit of many host adapters. As a result, the SeriTek/1S2 is an ideal solution for graphics, publishing, broadband Internet, and multimedia intensive Macintosh applications.

"Since 1999, FirmTek has been committed to providing the most compatible and reliable firmware interface solutions for the Macintosh market," said Chi Kim Stanford, Vice President of Business Development for FirmTek. "Working with many different hardware providers and OEM licensees, FirmTek has provided the most compatible ATA solutions ranging from the first UltraDMA/33 host adapter for the Macintosh, through the sequence of UltraDMA/66/100/133 generations, and now Serial ATA. Following this tradition, we are very proud to announce the SeriTek/1S2, the industry's first Serial ATA adapter for the Power Macintosh market. For the first time," continued Stanford, "Macintosh users are able to install a Serial ATA host adapter, and leverage the latest in Serial ATA interface technologies and storage/peripheral solutions."

The standards-based SeriTek line of Serial ATA host adapters feature fully self-contained Macintosh booting functionality, OS 8/OS 9, native OS X 10.2 and later support, and zero driver installation overhead for highly compatible plug-and-play functionality.

Pricing and Availability

FirmTek's SeriTek/1S2 host adapter for the Macintosh will be available via www.firmtek.com as well as through the company's worldwide distribution channel (dealer inquiries welcome). The SeriTek/1S2 will begin shipping mid-August 2003, with estimated retail pricing starting at USD$69.95.

About FirmTek

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, FirmTek is a leading hardware and firmware research and development company focusing on storage technologies. The company takes pride in developing the most reliable and most compatible high performance enhancement solutions offered through FirmTek's OEM and worldwide distribution channels. For information on how FirmTek helps users deploy, and organizations develop, advanced interface solutions, visit FirmTek's website at www.firmtek.com, or email info@firmtek.com.