Bob Heile, Chairman, ZigBee Alliance

San Ramon, CA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- December 21, 2006 – The ZigBee® Alliance, a global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions for use in residential, commercial and industrial applications, has announced the public availability of the ZigBee 2006 specification which was released to the Alliance membership last September, and the availability of the first four platforms supporting that specification. The Alliance now offers original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) the latest enhancements to build new products that leverage the numerous strengths and features of ZigBee technology.

The first platforms to implement the latest version of the ZigBee standard and to pass independent testing by one of two ZigBee qualified testing labs receive Golden Unit status. These new platforms are from Ember, Freescale Semiconductor, Integration Associates and Texas Instruments. The Alliance requires a minimum of three independent implementations to prove a specification revision and demonstrate interoperability to insure the quality of future ZigBee products. Golden Units are then established as reference points for future ZigBee Compliant Platform (ZCP) testing.

“Awarding Golden Unit status to ZigBee platforms represents an important step in providing a solid networking foundation for OEMs to develop a variety of products that offer more control for consumers and businesses around the world,” said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. “With certification of these four new ZigBee Compliant Platforms, it made perfect sense for us to post the latest version of ZigBee earlier than our original Q1 2007 date. It is now available for free download – just in time for the holidays.”