Ampro Commits to Deliver Rugged, Reliable COM Express Solution

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 8 -- Ampro Computers, Inc., the world's first and only manufacturer of rugged ETX modules, announced today its commitment to deliver its first module compliant with PICMG's COM Express Specification before the end of 2005. Ampro expects its COM Express solutions to offer the same rugged features found on its ETX modules, including a thicker PCB for better connection between the module and baseboard, fanless operation to 70 degrees C, and optional extended temperature operation from -40 degrees C to 85 degrees C. While several module manufacturers have announced similar COM Express commitments for their respective market segments, Ampro's presence ensures that manufacturers of medical, military, industrial, and transportation OEMs will have a supplier of COM Express modules to meet both stringent and low cost design requirements.

"Ampro intends to bring its proven expertise with low-cost and rugged modular computers to a market that demands practical, deployable, and reliable technology," said Joanne Mumola Williams, president and CEO of Ampro. "Ampro's long-term experience meeting the rigors of military, transportation, industrial, and medical requirements will give these OEMs a better alternative to lab and desktop quality modules that require fans and other exotic cooling solutions which are generally not suitable for embedded applications."

Ampro's design will be based on the Intel® Pentium® M family of processors, with state-of-the-art chipset technology supporting PCI Express. I/O signals and bus expansion are provided to a carrier board or baseboard, where I/O can be customized to the application requirements.

Availability

Samples of Ampro's COM Express module for evaluation are expected in Q4 2005, with production quantities to follow by 90 days.

About Ampro Computers, Inc.

Ampro Computers, Inc. is the leading global provider of modular embedded computing solutions for OEM applications. Ampro's mission is to provide time saving solutions for embedded systems designers that accelerate the product deployment process. Ampro pioneered the embedded PC industry creating the popular PC/104 and EBX standards, and recently co-invented the new EPIC standard. The EnCore and ETX families are rugged Computers-on-Modules (COMs) products which enable designers to obtain all the benefits of an off-the-shelf CPU solution while maintaining the flexibility of a full custom design. In addition to EnCore and ETX, Ampro offers five product lines: PC/104-compatible CoreModule CPUs and MiniModule expansion products, EBX form factor LittleBoard single-board computers (SBCs), and EPIC form factor ReadyBoard SBCs and the Mini-ITX form factor MightyBoard. For more information about Ampro Computers, please visit www.ampro.com .