New Program for Next Gen Z-Wave Products Gives Service Providers and OEMs Faster Time-to-Market, Easier Installation and Superior Performance

MILPITAS, CA--(Marketwired - October 22, 2013) - Z-Wave Alliance, a consortium of global companies that oversees the world's largest interoperable ecosystem for wireless home monitoring and control products and services and Sigma Designs, Inc. SIGM a world leader in connected media platforms, have jointly announced a new marketing certification program called Z-Wave Plus(TM). Designed to help consumers identify products that take advantage of the recently introduced 'Next Gen' Z-Wave platform (500 Series) from Sigma Designs, Z-Wave Plus is a selected set of extended features and capabilities that enhance the end user experience and make easy Z-Wave installations even simpler to perform.

Z-Wave has led the market in interoperable devices for the home since the first product was certified in 2004. With the introduction of Sigma's Next-Gen Z-Wave 500 series earlier this year, Z-Wave saw its ecosystem bolstered with new capabilities including increased range, extended battery life, Over The Air upgrading (OTA), additional RF channels and more, all of which are backwards compatible with existing Z-Wave products.

For service providers, these enhancements also have tremendous benefits in terms of shorter and easier installations, less consumer support calls and faster time-to-market for deploying the home monitoring and control services using the Sigma Next Gen turn-key middleware suite. With this new certification program, Sigma and the Z-Wave Alliance are introducing a new Z-Wave Plus series of packaging logos that will be located on every product powered by Next Gen Z-Wave, informing the consumer this product incorporates the enhanced capabilities of the Z-Wave 500 series.

"The Z-Wave Alliance is excited to be working with Sigma Designs to introduce this new certification program and these new brand marks," said Mark Walters, Chairman of The Z-Wave Alliance. "The Z-Wave Plus technical certification program ensures that Z-Wave Plus products take full advantage of all the advancements available in the Next Gen platform. Now, the Z-Wave Plus marketing certification program will ensure that consumers get the best experience Z-Wave has to offer, and that they will be able to easily recognize Z-Wave Plus products through these distinctive brand badges."

"We're excited to join hands with the Z-Wave Alliance in presenting this new certification to the marketplace," said Raoul Wijgergangs, vice president Sigma Designs sales Europe and Z-Wave world-wide. "Sigma's recently released Next Gen platform offers Z-Wave Plus products the utmost benefit, meaning the products are optimized for end-consumer applications through a gateway, set top box or smart TV. Thanks to the market certification program and the new visual emblems for retail products, these advanced Z-Wave Plus products will be easy for consumers to distinguish, and even easier for them to use."

The new certification marks for Z-Wave Plus will reflect the exciting new visual branding of Z-Wave, which will be officially launched in October 2013. For more info go to http://www.sigmadesigns.com/zwavenextgen/ Development kits for new 500 series are available now at DigiKey: www.digikey.com.

Interested parties can hear more from Sigma executives at the Broadband World Forum, taking place in Amsterdam October 22 - 24, 2013. Please attend the press event to be held Oct 22 from 13:00 to 13:30 in the press briefing suite E108.

About The Z-Wave Alliance:
Established in 2005, the Z-Wave Alliance is an open consortium of leading companies worldwide dedicated to delivering affordable, reliable easy-to-use, wireless home control products and services. With more than 900 interoperable products certified and over 250 members, the Alliance represents the largest ecosystem of wireless control products in existence and the global, brand-recognized companies that bring these products and services to market. The Alliance supports its members with marketing, networking, technical forums, training, best practices, test and certification tools and a complete interoperability lab. For more information on or to join the Alliance, please email info@z-wavealliance.org or visit www.z-wavealliance.org.

About Sigma Designs, Inc.
Sigma Designs, Inc. SIGM is a world leader in connected media platforms. The company designs and builds the essential semiconductor technologies that serve as the foundation for the world's leading IPTV set-top boxes, DTV, connected media players, residential gateways, home control systems and more. For more information about Sigma Designs, please visit www.sigmadesigns.com.

Sigma Designs, Secure Media Processor, and the Sigma Designs logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sigma Designs, Inc. and its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are believed to be trademarks of their respective owners.

About Z-Wave Technology:
Z-Wave is an international wireless standard for intelligent, interoperable, low-power, RF mesh networking technology. This powerful smart chip and compact protocol enable two-way RF communications amongst Z-Wave enabled devices, thus allowing products and services from multiple manufacturers to work seamlessly. Z-Wave continues to be the technology of choice for industry leaders representing: Home Automation, Remote Home/Health Monitoring, Home Entertainment, Smart Home Control, Energy Management and Connected Home Services. Z-Wave enabled products represent the world's largest ecosystem of interoperable smart products - www.z-wave.com.



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Ron Goldberg
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