National Semiconductor's Geode™ WebPAD™ Platform Enables GE Smart Appliance Concepts

GE to Demonstrate Several Prototype Units at the International Builders' Show

Santa Clara, CA -- 1/14/2000 -- National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) today announced that its Geode™ WebPAD™ reference platform is being shown as a key part of the smart appliance concepts that GE Appliances is demonstrating this week at the International Builders' Show, booth 4101. Although GE is not announcing plans at this show to bring these smart appliance concepts to market, it will display several prototype units at the show, which takes place January 14-17 in the Dallas Convention Center.

The GE smart appliance concepts exhibit features a Web-enabled refrigerator that uses the Internet with the goal of enhancing consumers' daily lives. GE's smart refrigerator concept also features a detachable wireless Internet tablet based on the National® Geode WebPAD reference platform. The tablet lets users, within a range of up to 300 feet from the refrigerator, surf the Internet, communicate with the refrigerator, control other GE smart appliances, participate in e-commerce and send e-mail.

"GE's advanced concept products are leading edge and provide a clear glimpse into future possibilities of consumer electronics," said Camillo Martino, worldwide director of National's Personal Access Device business unit. "The Internet will become so pervasive that we won't know whether or not we're connected anymore. It will become an integral, yet invisible, part of our daily lives."

The National Geode WebPAD Reference Platform
National's Geode WebPAD platform is a complete hardware and software reference design for a wireless personal access device that is optimized for Internet browsing. The turnkey manufacturing kit allows manufacturers to reduce their overall design and development costs and quickly bring to market simple, easy-to-use Internet appliances.

Weighing less than three pounds, the Geode WebPAD tablet is about the size of a standard 8?-by-11 inch paper notebook and features a simple touch-screen that encourages user interaction. The WebPAD reference design is based on National's highly integrated Geode GXLV processor, a low-power x86-based chip that integrates sound, graphics, memory control and the PCI interface. Geode WebPAD solutions based on the x86 architecture provide consumers with a no-compromise Internet experience, because most popular software plug-in modules for the Internet are supported.

About National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor provides system-on-a-chip solutions for the information age. Combining real-world analog and state-of the-art digital technology, the company's chips lead many sectors of the personal computer, communications, and consumer markets. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, National reported sales of $2 billion for its last fiscal year and currently has about 11,000 employees worldwide.