*************************

New kids on the block ...

** Azuro, Inc. announced itself to the industry, and sad the company strategy is to "deliver next-generation design tools that attack the growing power rift in digital chip design. The company is initially targeting manufacturers of next-generation wireless devices with its first product, PowerCentric … Azuro is headquartered in Mountain View, CA, and has a development office in Cambridge, U.K. The company received its Series A funding in 2003 in a round led by Benchmark Capital. Other investors include TTP Ventures and The Cambridge Angels"

Paul Cunningham, Co-founder and CEO at Azuro, is quoted: "The wireless device market is evolving extremely fast, driven by short product lifecycles and rapidly increasing functionality. The consumer’s insatiable appetite for more talk time, more play time, and increased functionality, in ever smaller packages, has elevated power to the key issue for many digital chip design teams. Azuro is committed to helping these design teams significantly reduce the power consumption of their chips."

The company’s management team also includes:

Steev Wilcox, Co-founder and Chief Architect

Barb Acosta, Vice President Sales and Business development, formerly with Get2Chip, Cadence, and Synopsys

Peter Knoop, Vice President Engineering, formerly with Convergys, Geneva Technology, and Alphametrics

Mark Bagby, CFO, formerly with Simplex, Cadence, and Synopsys

*************************

New name ...

** @HDL Inc. announced the company has changed its name to AXIOM Design Automation. Per the Press Release: "When launched in 1999, the company focused on verification productivity tools, providing a suite of products to accelerate development of SoCs and silicon IP. As AXIOM Design Automation the company will offer a complete SystemVerilog verification environment, augmenting its existing leading edge formal verification and debugging products. AXIOM has over 30 customers using its proven technology."

*************************

** Infineon Technologies Asia Pte Ltd, announced it has opened its Asia Pacific Headquarters building in the Kallang Sector, Singapore. Per the Press Release: "The two 10-storey towers house Infineon's regional headquarters functions in the Asia Pacific, including production, logistics, sales and marketing and R&D … Established since 1970, Infineon in Singapore has grown and expanded in tandem with the local economy over the last 35 years, with a total staff strength of approximately 2,350 in Singapore. As one of the pioneering semiconductor companies to invest in Singapore, Infineon has contributed significantly to the growth of the Singapore semiconductor industry, having invested a total of $1 billion in Singapore dollars since its establishment."

*************************

New money ...

** IPextreme Inc announced $6 million in venture investment from Alloy Ventures and SmartForest Ventures. The company also announced that Daniel Rubin of Alloy and Huoy-Ming Yeh of SmartForest will join CEO Warren Savage and J. Peter Herz on the IPextreme board.

*************************

New business cards ...

** Pyxis Technology, founded in 2004, has named Naeem Zafar to be President and CEO. Previously, he was President and CEO at Silicon Design Systems, and CEO at Veridicom, a Lucent/Bell Labs spin off. Before that, Zafar spent 11 years at Quickturn Design Systems as Vice President of Marketing. He has a B.S. from Brown University and an MSEE from the University of Minnesota

The Pyxis management team also includes Co-founders Sharad Mehrotra and Joe Rahmeh, and P.T. Patel serving as Executive Vice President and CTO. Jim Solomon and Joe Hutt are on the company's Board of Directors. The company says it has raised Series A funding from Austin Ventures and CMEA Ventures, and now has an office in Silicon Valley.

Jim Solomon is quoted in the Press Release: "We were looking to supplement this talented team with an EDA industry veteran, and we found a visionary leader in Naeem. He brings fresh knowledge of physical design issues and a wealth of industry relationships that will be essential to making Pyxis a vital supplier to the semiconductor design industry."

Joe Hutt is also quoted: "In my long career as a user and developer of EDA tools, I've rarely seen a team of the caliber of Pyxis. The technical team has developed on of the best approaches I have seen for addressing the enormous challenges of nanometer design."

** Cadence Design Systems, Inc. announced six new executives. Company CEO Mike Fister is quoted in the Press Release: "It is extremely gratifying to work on a team with such depth and breadth of leadership. These six individuals possess the talent, leadership skills and determination needed to drive Cadence forward as we continue to grow our company."

Chip Burczak is now Corporate Controller and is responsible for operational finance activities worldwide. He has 24+ years of semiconductor industry experience in engineering, operations, and finance, most recently at Intel. He reports to CFO Bill Porter.

Tom Cooley is now Corporate Vice President of North America Sales. He joined Cadence in 1995 and was responsible for the company's original enterprise account program. Cooley will now assume increased responsibility for sales strategic planning and connections between the field, and R&D and marketing organizations within the company. Cooley is in Plano, TX, and reports to Kevin Bushby, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations.

Jim Cowie is now Corporate Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary. He has been on Cadence's legal staff since 2000, and has provided guidance for various acquisitions and spin-offs, including Verisity, Simplex Solutions and Silicon Perspective. Now, he will provide legal counsel for finance, M&A, strategic transactions and alliances. Cowie is in San Jose, CA, and reports to Smith McKeithen, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary.

Wei-Jin Dai is now Corporate Vice President of R&D. He joined Cadence in 2001 when the company acquired Silicon Perspective, which Dai co-founded in 1996. At Cadence, Dai was heavily involved with the Encounter product. Now, Dai will be responsible for the digital IC product line. He is based in San Jose, CA, and reports to Jim Miller, Senior Vice President for Development.

Toshifumi Kaneko is now Corporate Vice President of the Account Sales Division in Japan, joined Cadence in 2003 and has driven such programs as the local quality initiative, product launches and the Cadence Users' Meetings in Japan. Before joining Cadence, Kaneko worked at Innotech Corp., Cadence's longtime distributor in Japan. With his promotion, Kaneko will play a larger role in field operations and direct account and global sales. He reports to Ryoichi Kawashima, president of Cadence Design Systems, Japan.

Debi Muchow is now responsible for all global HR functions and Cadence University. She has 18 years' experience in HR and organization development, most recently as an independent consultant. Previously she was HR Director for R&D at Intel. She reports to CEO Mike Fister.

** CoWare Inc. announced two new executives. Joy Leo has been named Senior Vice President and CFO. Athanasios "A.K." Kalekos has been named Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. Both executives will report to company President and CEO Alan Naumann.

Joy Leo has 20+ years of financial management experience in high-tech. Previously, she was CFO and Vice President of Finance and Administrations at Artisan Components. Prior to Artisan, Leo served in a similar role at IMP, Inc., as well as executive positions as Innomedia Inc. and Philips Components, a division of Royal Philips Electronics N.V.

A.K. Kalekos has 25+ years of management experience in high-tech. Prior to joining CoWare, he was a general partner with Telos Ventures, a Senior Vice President at Cadence Design Systems, and served in various executive roles at Computervision Corp., Versatec and Mentor Graphics.

** Xpedion Design Systems, Inc. announced that Dr. Ken Kundert and Dr. Henry Chang have joined the company's technical advisory board. Kundert and Chang recently formed Designer's Guide Consulting, Inc. – Xpedion and Designer's Guide Consulting have established a strategic partnership. Ken Kundert is currently Chairman of the Board for the company, and is the architect of several EDA tools including Cadence's Spectre, Spectre RF and the original Agilent ADS harmonic balance product. Henry Chang has developed multiple analog and mixed-signal design methodologies for IC design.

** Synopsys, Inc. announced that CFO Steve Shevick, is leaving the company to "pursue an opportunity with a private company outside the EDA industry." Rex Jackson, Synopsys General Counsel, will serve as acting CFO until a permanent replacement is found.

Aart de Geus, Synopsys Chairman and CEO, is quoted: "Steve has been a key contributor to cornerstone activities, including major acquisitions, sophisticated business model changes and excellent progress towards timely Sarbanes-Oxley certification. Steve will remain at Synopsys to certify the second quarter results. We wish him well in his next endeavors and consider him a close friend of the company."

*************************

New partners ...

** EMA Design Automation and PartMiner, Inc. announced a partnership to bring together Cadence Design System design technology and PartMiner’s CAPS electronic component database.

Per the Press Release: "PartMiner provides a broad range of extremely valuable services for researching, selecting, locating, and procuring electronic components. These services are specifically designed to facilitate and streamline research and procurement activities. As part of the partnership, these capabilities are integrated into OrCAD Capture CIS, giving users access to over 47 million components from over 1,900 manufacturers for parametric searching and part validation. This enables part validation at the initial stages of the design cycle and allows life cycle status, such as product change notifications (PCN), end of life (EOL), and restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS) status issues, to be solved at the database level."

Michael Manley, President of PartMiner, is quoted: "PartMiner is very excited to work with EMA to provide a content-rich, software solution to the electronics industry. This relationship is a true case of synergy – PartMiner's content combined with EMA's integration with OrCAD software solves key problems for design engineers while supporting management cost reduction initiatives."

Manny Marcano, President of EMA, is also quoted: "We have a unique method of integrating OrCAD Capture CIS with PartMiner, giving the design engineer immediate access to a content rich environment. This electronic interface provides instant productivity by the addition of relevant component data into the OrCAD Component Information System (CIS) at the engineer’s desktop – RoHS data at the design point. This provides information to the right person at the right time to make the best decision possible."

** FishTail Design Automation, Inc. announced that it has joined the Synopsys in-Sync Program. The companies says this membership will "provide customers with complete interoperability between FishTail’s Focus product and Synopsys’ Design Compiler and PrimeTime products.

Ajay Daga, Founder and CEO of FishTail, is quoted: "Being part of the in-Sync Program is very important for us given the importance of the Design Compiler and PrimeTime tools in the market. Our customers routinely push us to strengthen our integration with these tools, and in the short time we have had access to the Design Compiler product in-house, we have already been able to take our integration to another level. Our latest 2005.04 release in production today has this tighter integration."

Karen Bartleson, Director of Interoperability at Synopsys, is also quoted: "For years Synopsys has initiated programs of its own and worked with standards bodies and industry organizations to advance tool interoperability throughout the electronic design automation industry/ Through the in-Sync interoperability program, Synopsys works with EDA vendors such as FishTail, to identify and implement optimal joint flows that maximize the productivity of our customers."

** Open Core Protocol International Partnership (OCP-IP) announced that the VLSI Design and Education Center (VDEC), has joined the organization. VDEC, established in 1996, is headquartered in the University of Tokyo and serves academia throughout Japan. VDEC's mission is to educate students and provide support on VLSI chip fabrication for all academic organizations throughout Japan. VDEC performs various kinds of activities including exchange of VLSI design information as IPs, and provision of CAD software and licenses supporting chip design and fabrication.

*************************

** Cadence Design Systems, Inc. announced that $1,279,000 was raised at its recent Stars & Strikes bowling tournament, an event that involved 220+ companies in Silicon Valley. Cadence underwrote the event. AMF Oakridge Lanes donated the facility for the event.

The Fisher House Foundation and the San Francisco 49ers Foundation are the major beneficiaries of these funds. The Cadence Stars and Strikes tournament has now raised $7+ million since it was started in 1990. Per the Press Release: "Proceeds will be used to begin the construction of a 21-suite Fisher House, a "home away from home", for the families of veterans receiving treatment at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto, and to support the community outreach efforts of the San Francisco 49ers Foundation.

Elizabeth Freeman, Director of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, is quoted: "Having a Fisher House facility at the Palo Alto VA Hospital was a dream just a few short months ago. Now, we will break ground in a month and, by this time next year, the families of veterans will have a place to call home while their loved ones are patients at our facility. I am truly grateful for the generosity of the Cadence Stars & Strikes effort, the 49ers organization and the entire corporate community in Silicon Valley."

John York, Owner of the 49ers, is also quoted: "The Fisher House for our veterans is important for our community. The San Francisco 49ers and the 49ers Foundation are proud to have partnered with Cadence for this year's Stars & Strikes fund-raiser and to have contributed to its success."

*************************

** " Magma Design Automation Inc. announced that the U.S. District Court granted in part Magma's motion to dismiss certain claims brought by Synopsys in the companies' patent litigation. Among the court's rulings are that Synopsys' fraud allegations 'fail to meet the pleading requirements' of the federal rules. Magma may still show that the statutes of limitations have run out based on the actual evidence."

Per the Press Release: "The court's order and other documents relevant to this matter are available on the Magma website."

** Synopsys would like you to hear their side of this week's rulings, which of course you can find on their website.

*************************

** Synopsys, Inc. announced results for its second quarter ended April 30, 2005. For the second quarter of fiscal 2005, Synopsys reported revenue of $244.3 million, a 1% increase compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2005, and a 17% decrease from $294.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2004. For the six-month period ended April 30, 2005, revenue was $485.6 million, a decrease of 16% from revenue of $579.9 million for the same period in fiscal 2004.

The year-over-year comparisons reflect the company's shift to an almost-fully ratable license model initiated in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004, under which most of the company's license revenue is recognized over time rather than upfront in the quarter shipped. As a result, in the most recent quarter more than 90% of revenue came from backlog.

Aart de Geus, Synopsys CEO, is quoted: "Synopsys had another very solid quarter. We are clearly on the offensive with strong technical momentum, and are making good progress on our growth objectives."