2006 Release
			12/05/06		Sandberg New European Sales Manager
			10/10/06		New Centaur SOC 440 Interface
			8/14/06		inTEST Sunnyvale Re-Certified to ISO 9001-2000
			5/22/06		inTEST Appoints Steve Dale Regional Sales Manager

inTEST’s Centaur SOC 440 is the first interface to work with 440mm probe cards, so semiconductor companies can use the ultra-high pin count potential of the V93000.

CHERRY HILL, NJ, October 10, 2006 – inTEST Corporation (Nasdaq: INTT), a world leader in developing and manufacturing equipment that reduces the cost of semiconductor testing, announced today that its tester interface division, inTEST Silicon Valley, has launched the Centaur SOC 440 Modular Interface. The new interface is the world’s first spring-pin-based tester interface capable of working with 440mm probe cards.

According to Dale Christman, General Manager of inTEST Silicon Valley, test floors running the Verigy V93000 Pin Scale tester can now use the full potential of this powerful test system to dramatically improve test efficiency. “The new SOC 440 lets the V93000 work in an ultra-high pin count environment” said Christman. “That means faster tests. And that means increased throughput and lower test cost.”

The SOC 440 interface can transfer from 512 signal paths all the way up to more than 4,000 signal paths, along with associated ground and utility paths. Because it is based on the modular Centaur design, users can economically increase their pin counts simply by adding additional signal modules – without changing any hardware.

“Our engineers chose spring-pin design because of its proven reliability and excellent bandwidth characteristics,” explained Christman. “Bandwidth is critically important in ultra-high pin count SOC applications, and the SOC 440 really shines here. It delivers a full 2.16 GHz bandwidth over the entire signal path, from the pin card to the probe needle. Its Transpar signal modules themselves provide an outstanding -3dB point of more than 20 GHz.”

A primary challenge in testing with large arrays of I/O pins is achieving dependable electrical contact. The SOC 440 accomplishes this by using a specially designed spring pin to achieve very low contact resistance (less than 50 milliohms per path). In addition, its unique design and super-strength materials allow only minimal probe card deflection – less than 60 microns across an entire 5mm-thick probe card. This is actually less than a conventional interface allows with traditional pin counts.

The Centaur SOC 440 Modular Interface is the product of an intense development project among industry leaders inTEST, Verigy, Accretech, and one of the world’s foremost semiconductor manufacturers. It is the perfect interface solution for high pin count testing with 300mm production wafer probers from Accretech, Electroglas, and TEL. It is compatible with both inTEST and Verigy-provided docking hardware.

The V93000 test system is used to test the System-on-a-chip (SOC) and System-in-a-package (SIP) devices used in a very wide range of electronic products including MP3 players, digital televisions, television set-top boxes, PCs, gaming consoles, cell phones, and other wireless communication devices.


About inTEST® Corporation
inTEST Corporation (www.intest.com) is a leading independent designer, manufacturer, and marketer of products that enable semiconductor manufacturers to improve profitability by increasing the speed and efficiency of the semiconductor manufacturing process. The company’s products, used by semiconductor manufacturers to perform final testing of integrated circuits and wafers, include manipulators and docking hardware products, temperature management systems, and customized interface solutions. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, inTEST has manufacturing facilities in New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Germany, the UK, and Singapore. In addition, inTEST has offices in Japan for design, sales, service, and support, with additional support personnel in Arizona.

inTEST, Centaur, Transpar, Centaur Universal SOC Interface, and Test Design are trademarks of inTEST Corporation.

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