STEEL EXCEL INC

Agilent Technologies Announces Formation of New Life Sciences Business Unit PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 28, 2000--Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) today announced that it has formed a new Life Sciences Business Unit (LSBU) within its Chemical Analysis Group (CAG) to better address the growing demand for its life sciences products. The new LSBU will provide more rapid and comprehensive solutions in genomics, chemical and biochemical measurements, microfluidics, informatics, and other analytical areas to its growing customer base in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, genomics and academic markets. Agilent's CAG will now comprise two business units: life sciences and chemical solutions. The new unit will be headed by Bill Buffington, who will be vice president and general manager for Agilent's LSBU. He will report directly to Rick Kniss, senior vice president and general manager of Agilent's CAG. "Pharmaceutical, agricultural and academic research endeavors in this `Age of the Genome' has created unprecedented customer demand for practical, cost-effective, integrated products that accelerate research of the disease and drug discovery process -- presenting a unique opportunity for Agilent. We see this change as fundamental to Agilent's plans to be a leader in the life sciences markets," said Rick Kniss, senior vice president and general manager of Agilent's Chemical Analysis Group. "By organizing our R&D, marketing and sales organizations into a focused Life Sciences Business Unit, we can capitalize on opportunities in the bioscience and pharmaceutical markets with greater speed and agility. "We also have an excellent position in our traditional chemical, hydrocarbon processing and environmental markets where we are a leader in analytical systems like LC, LC-MS, GC, GC-MS and ICP-MS," said Kniss. "Our customers in these markets are extremely important to us, and formation of our new Life Sciences Business Unit will also allow us to bring new tools to chemical and environmental analysis. Overall we believe that these changes will position us to improve CAG's operational excellence and, in doing so, accelerate our growth and profitability." CAG's new Life Sciences Business Unit will provide integrated solutions to markets from an existing portfolio of products that include DNA microarrays, informatics and lab-on-a-chip microfluidics solutions, as well as HPLC, LC-MS, and CE instruments and data systems. About Agilent Technologies in the Pharmaceutical Value Chain Agilent Technologies is a recognized leading supplier of high-quality instrument and software solutions, such as liquid chromatographs and mass spectrometers, to the pharmaceutical industry's drug development and quality control value chain. Today Agilent is furthering its reach along the entire pharmaceutical value chain by providing tools to scientists working in the fields of disease and drug discovery. Within these fields, Agilent is specifically targeting gene expression, genotyping, screening and proteomics research with nanoscale technologies, such as microarrays and microfluidic lab-on-a-chip tools, coupled with sophisticated informatics software. Pharmaceutical scientists can now use solutions that are faster, more flexible, less expensive, give higher throughput and promote industry standards. Information about Agilent Technologies life sciences can be found on the Web at www.chem.agilent.com/scripts/phome.asp.

August 21, 2000 08:46 Adaptec Ships Fibre Channel to Pinnacle Systems for Video Storage Connectivity; Adaptec Fibre Channel Provides High-Bandwidth Access to Video Processing and Editing MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 21, 2000--Adaptec, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADPT), the global leader in innovative storage solutions, today announced that Pinnacle Systems will be including co-branded Fibre Channel technology from Adaptec and Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) in its ConnectPlus 100 and ConnectPlus 1000 video servers. "Fibre Channel solutions from Adaptec will quickly become a significant presence in the rapidly growing market for PC server connectivity. Adaptec is leveraging its storage connectivity expertise to bring leading Fibre Channel technologies to market," said Peter Aylaian, marketing manager of storage area networking solutions at Adaptec. "Graphics-intensive applications coupled with other SAN applications -- such as remote mirroring, shared storage resources and LAN-free backup -- will help drive the PC server Fibre Channel market." Pinnacle Systems is a leading provider of computer-based video post-production products for broadcast, desktop and consumer use, offering cutting-edge technology and service solutions for telecommunications, medical systems and manufacturing process control. "Fibre Channel is the best choice for real-time video processing and editing because of the high bandwidth, scalability and distance requirements," said Greg Hoberg, vice president broadcast products at Pinnacle Systems. "We are happy to partner with Adaptec not only because of its long-standing reputation, but also because Adaptec's Fibre Channel products are based on proven Agilent technology." Adaptec and Agilent Technologies are partnering to tailor Fibre Channel solutions for worldwide PC server OEMs and resellers. Agilent offers Tachyon ICs, host adapters and software, which provide two gigabit per second throughput for high-performance, enterprise-class SANs. Adaptec builds Tachyon-based host adapters and provides drivers and SAN management software backed by a strong sales, distribution, service and support infrastructure to help customers implement Fibre Channel in demanding, PC server computing environments. About Fibre Channel Fibre Channel provides the connectivity and bandwidth needed to move large data files between storage, server, and client nodes. It is ideal for Storage Area Networks (SANs), an independent network of storage devices that is made simultaneously accessible to multiple servers, computer clusters and other computing resources via a high-speed network connection. About Pinnacle Systems, Inc. Pinnacle Systems' broadcast, desktop, and consumer products provide video professionals and consumers cutting-edge digital video tools to create, store, distribute and view Web-enabled digital video easier and more affordably than ever before. Pinnacle Systems may be reached at 650/526-1600 or on the World Wide Web at www.pinnaclesys.com. About Adaptec Adaptec (Nasdaq:ADPT) is the global leader in innovative storage solutions. Adaptec's hardware and software solutions for Business and Internet applications move, manage, and protect critical data and digital content. Adaptec's direct-attached storage, network storage solutions and desktop software solutions for digital content are found in high-performance networks, servers, workstations and desktops from the world's leading manufacturers, and are sold through distribution channels to ISPs, enterprises, medium and small businesses and consumers. Adaptec is an S&P 500 and a NASDAQ 100 member. More information is available at www.adaptec.com.

sehr schön dabei die Perspektiven: ....that cell phone IC revenues would continue to rise sharply, reaching $53 billion in 2004. Agilent fab gears for phone parts Aug. 18, 2000 (Electronic Engineering Times - CMP via COMTEX) -- PALO ALTO, CALIF. - Agilent Technologies Inc. is building a 6-inch wafer fab in Newark, Calif., dedicated to film-bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) filters for cellular phones and other wireless products. The Hewlett-Packard Co. spin-off also said it was setting up a high-volume, automated assembly line for the new filter products in Penang, Malaysia. Agilent said its FBAR technology will make it possible to miniaturize high-performance filters for duplexers in CDMA handsets operating in the 400-MHz to 1-GHz range. Agilent's first FBAR product will be released in September and aimed at CDMA-based PCS duplexer applications. The CDMAdvantage duplexer combines filters that separate transmitted and received signals in cell phones. The device is based on semiconductor technology that allows the integration of the filters into the radio-frequency section of a phone, said Agilent. The result, according to the company, is ultrasmall RF modules. The 6-inch wafer fab is expected to begin volume production in the fourth quarter. Agilent said it has been working with selected customers to provide early samples of its CDMAdvantage PCS duplexer. General sampling is to begin at the end of the year. The moves by Agilent come amid predictions by research firm Cahners In-Stat (Scottsdale, Ariz.) that cell phone IC revenues would continue to rise sharply, reaching $53 billion in 2004. The In-Stat report is more optimistic than other recent forecasts, which have predicted a cell phone market slowdown, as saturation among business customers puts the brakes on the runaway market growth of recent years.

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