SPIRIT DSP is one of those companies that I watch quietly making news week in and week out. Anyone who doesn't see them as a serious contributor to the voice and video space, just isn't paying attention. I'm not at all familiar with Importek, but from what I could learn today, they've been around making pretty solid VoIP phones for quite a while now. That's just a market space I overlook in my watching the industry.

One thing I am keenly interested in is the next generation of telecom devices. The traditional telephone interface hasn't changed since we got the touch pad in the 1960's really. It's way overdue for some serious re-engineering. This announcement seems to be quite focused on video. That's interesting too and there's been a lot of news about video advances lately from serious players like SightSpeed and Skype.

I'll be really interested to see what this pairing brings in future devices. And I'd be keenly interested in getting my hands on some demo/eval gear to be able to present some testing and evaluation results here.

SPIRIT and Importek Team Up to Create Next-generation V2oIP Device

Taipei, November 27, 2007 - SPIRIT DSP (www.spiritDSP.com), the world's leading provider of voice and video software engines, announced today that Inventec Multimedia & Telecom Corp. ("Importek"), one of the largest manufacturers of the multimedia & telecommunication products, will use TeamSpirit® Voice&Video Engine Embedded in Apollo design of NX® product family, manufactured by Importek, a subsidiary of Inventec Group.

"Importek has extensive expertise in IP Terminal Technology and has shipped over 8 million VoIP phones in the past 4 years. Our next-generation devices bring new opportunities and are a break-through for the global communication market, that's why we have chosen SPIRIT - the voice and video engine provider with the best offering and the best reputation," said Larry Sun, General Manager of Importek.

"To stay competitive in the market today, mobile equipment and design manufacturers have to look for mature, high quality voice and video over IP solutions. Today, SPIRIT is the only player on the global internet telephony market who offers not only voice but also video over IP solutions, excellently optimized for embedded platforms, as well as for the PC," said Alex Kravchenko, VP Sales at SPIRIT. "Our technology already powers a great number of world leading products including those from Arima, Compal, HTC, Quanta and other leaders of the industry. We believe our joint project with Importek is a significant move ahead for both companies, and moreover, it is a great leap toward the market of next generation voice and video converged communications."

TeamSpirit® 3.0 Voice&Video Engine Embedded is a highly optimized media processing solution which enables real-time voice & video over IP calls. The engine allows to process video at up to 30 fps on the new devices of Importek, while default market offerings boast only 10-15 fps. The engine supports VGA mode (640 x 480) which is considered to be the best choice for the majority of mobile devices. The SPIRIT's solution also supports widescreen resolution format (16:9), which is compatible with almost all modern HD devices and is the most optimal for the human visual perception. TeamSpirit Embedded is IMS-ready, so new revenue generating applications and services can be implemented on wireline or wireless devices.

About Importek
Inventec Multimedia & Telecom Corporation (Importek) was established in 1999, as well as the establishment of the main R&D and Operation Headquarters at Nei Hu, Taipei, consists of a single manufacturing sites in Tianjin, China, mainly develops and produces IP Telephony Products, Micro Camera Module, Digital TV Solution, Internet Radio etc. You can get into the "Importek Website" for the detailed information http://www.importek.com/about.shtm

About SPIRIT
SPIRIT DSP (www.spiritDSP.com) employs 140 professionals, and has been in the international software licensing business since 1992. A bootstrap company, SPIRIT has been profitable for 15 years. For the last 10 years SPIRIT's focus has been voice and video communication software products. SPIRIT counts among its customers Adobe, Agere, Arima, ARM, Atmel, Cisco, Compal, deltathree, Flextronics, Ericsson, HP, HTC, Korea Telecom, Kyocera, LG, MediaRing, Microsoft, NEC, Nortel Networks, NXP, Oracle, Paltalk, Polycom, Quanta, Radvision, Reigncom, Samsung, Siemens, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Trinity Convergence and Veraz, among 200+ other communication OEMs and software vendors. SPIRIT communication software is used in over 80 countries and powers more than 100 million embedded voice channels. SeeStorm is a SPIRIT affiliate for synthetic video conferencing.