Tensilica works with Microsoft to make sure the WMA audio codecs for its HiFi 2 Audio Engine are fully compliant. Tensilica''s Windows Media Audio (WMA) decoder passed compliance testing by Microsoft Corp. This compliance testing is important because it assures system-on-chip (SOC) designers that they can design products with the HiFi 2 Audio Engine that will play all files encoded in the WMA format.

WMA provides consumers high quality music in half the file size of the MP3 format, and makes it easy for device manufacturers and chip manufacturers to license WMA thanks to its attractive licensing terms. As a result, WMA is now supported more than 500 consumer electronic devices including DVD players, set-top boxes, car stereos and portable music players.

"We are pleased that Tensilica is offering high-quality WMA to its customers," said Jason Reindorp, group manager in the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft. "With the growing popularity of consumer electronic devices supporting WMA, Tensilica's Xtensa technology is poised to be an even more popular solution for embedded system developers."