Dear Media Contact,

Full release located at http://www.snapgear.com/news20020514.html, text
follows. Other information available from our media room at
http://www.snapgear.com/press.html

Best regards,

Miles Gillham
VP Marketing
---
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SNAPGEAR COLLABORATES WITH HITACHI SEMICONDUCTOR (AMERICA) TO DELIVER
NEXT-GENERATION GATEWAY APPLIANCES FOR BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - May 14, 2002 - SnapGear, a leading supplier of
Internet security solutions, announced that the company is collaborating with
Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. to develop gateway appliances that will
enable network security and services for anyone connecting to the Internet,
from home users to Fortune 500 companies.

The appliances will solve a major security problem currently found in most
existing wireless products - the ability for third parties to eavesdrop on
wireless LANs. SnapGear's VPN (Virtual Private Networking) and firewall
technology will make the appliances more secure than most products currently
found in even Fortune 500 companies, which are presently at risk. Most
existing gateway products lack the processing power to address next
generation network services. Built upon Hitachi's powerful microprocessors,
the new SnapGear products will provide significantly greater processing power
for advanced audio and video applications over broadband and wireless
interfaces.

At the core of the units lies the Hitachi 32-bit SuperH RISC engine, which
optimizes the balance between speed, power and cost. The advantage of the
Hitachi SuperH family of microprocessors is a rich mix of peripherals and
sophisticated integration of hardware, middleware and software tailored for
individual applications. For example, the SH-3 and SH-4 series
microprocessors combine a robust RISC CPU with built-in peripheral functions
and external operating system support to enable digital multimedia
applications for network communications such as streaming audio and video,
MP3 audio, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and 3D graphics processing.
Their connectivity and multimedia functionality also make the devices ideal
for portable communications products, hand-held PCs, set-top boxes and Car
Infotainment Systems (CIS).

SnapGear Inc. has developed Internet security appliances as both consumer
products and custom designs. One such deployment has been the managed VPN
gateways for a major US-based global telecommunications company. MP3.com,
part of the Vivendi Universal group, recently commissioned SnapGear to
provide BMS (Business Music Services) players for their global rollout. A
number of other US and European corporations have chosen SnapGear Inc, often
exclusively, to provide design, development, manufacturing and fullfillment
services for Internet-enabled security appliances.

Pradyumna Sant, strategic marketing manager at Hitachi Semiconductor, said
"SnapGear had the experience and expertise to rapidly develop a range of
network security applications on our SH-3 and SH-4 development platforms by
leveraging open source components. These designs are now being translated
into high-quality products for many diverse vertical markets."

Peter Cronk, President of SnapGear Inc., said "We are pleased to take this
opportunity to co-develop products with Hitachi Semiconductor to address the
growing gaps between consumer demand and present day technology. However our
OEM partners don't need to wait. We have reference designs available now as
part of our SecureEdge range of OEM ready products."

An example is the SecureEdge SE5010 development platform which is powered by
the SH7751 (SH-4 CPU). Further product availability announcements are
expected shortly.

About SnapGear
SnapGear Inc. produces SnapGear VPN Firewall Appliances designed to provide
Internet security and privacy of communications for small to medium
enterprises. SnapGear also does complete custom engineering and provides
turnkey development, design, manufacturing, and fulfillment services for
major telecommunications companies and silicon manufacturers. For more
information on SnapGear please visit www.snapgear.com.

For more information on SnapGear OEM services please visit www.secureedge.net

About Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. 
Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc., a subsidiary of Hitachi America, Ltd.,
supports the requirements of the North American marketplace with a broad
range of standard and low-power semiconductor solutions. Offering some of the
industry's most popular memory components, microcontrollers and
microprocessors, among other semiconductor solutions, Hitachi provides chips
to the world's leading device manufacturers within industrial, consumer and
emerging market applications. Hitachi's substantial design engineering,
research and development facilities in the United States help bring the
world's best technology to U.S. customers. For more information, visit:
www.hitachi.com/semiconductor 

Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), markets and
manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and products,
consumer electronics and semiconductors, and provides industrial equipment
and services throughout North America. For more information, visit:
www.hitachi.com 

Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading
global electronics companies, with fiscal 2000 (ended March 31, 2001)
consolidated sales of 8,417 billion yen ($67.9 billion*) The company
manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers,
semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For
more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site:
http://global.hitachi.com 

*At an exchange rate of 124 yen to the dollar.

SuperH is a U.S. registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. SnapGear and
SecureEdge are trademarks of SnapGear, Inc.

###

Press only, contact:
SnapGear Inc.
Miles Gillham
E-mail: press@snapgear.com