TOKYO--(Marketwired - May 9, 2013) -  The 2013 edition of the VOICE annual Users Group Conference organized by premier semiconductor test company Advantest (TSE: 6857) (NYSE: [ ATE ]) and a committee of partner companies, attracted over 300 test engineers and managers from 43 companies to San Jose, California, on April 23-24. This year's event set a new record for registered attendees with many of them traveling from various locations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, Asia and Japan. For the first time this year, Advantest added handlers to the program to highlight the company's integrated test cell solution.

Continuing the tradition of high quality technical content, VOICE 2013 featured 66 presentations, 20 kiosks and 7 workshops with hands-on labs focusing on the latest semiconductor technologies and techniques. Presentations were organized in ten tracks covering real-world customer needs. 

By vote, conference attendees recognized the following papers as the most outstanding:

• Best Paper 1 in the Test Techniques and Methodologies track, "Avoiding Hot Insertion and Hot Switching in Your Test Flows (V93000)" by Steven McKinley, Qualcomm.
  
  
• Best Paper 2 in the Test Engineering Efficiencies' track, "Xbox Speech Recognition Assistant: Vision for Future Software Interface (T2000)" by Keith Schaub, Hu Yu and Minh Diep, Advantest.

"Now in its seventh year, VOICE continues to develop and grow with the addition of a handler track and in-depth product kiosks," said Advantest's Don Blair, chairperson of the VOICE 2013 conference committee. "The opportunity to talk technology with more than 300 peers from fabless semiconductor companies, test houses, foundries and IDMs (integrated device manufacturers) has made VOICE a must-attend event for the international test community."

VOICE 2013 also included the keynote, Beyond 2020 - Creating True Value in the Future, by Glen Hiemstra, futurist and author.

"VOICE offers our global customer base the opportunity to learn best practices and techniques to reduce their testing time," said Keith Lee, president and CEO of Advantest America, Inc. "The value of this forum is evident in the year-over-year increase in attendees and abstract submissions."

Customers can purchase VOICE conference proceedings, including the presented papers, on a USB memory stick. To order a copy, go to [ www.advantest.com/VOICE2013 ]. Early planning for next year's VOICE conference is already underway. The steering committee for VOICE 2014, to be comprised of volunteer representatives from Advantest and its customers, will be formally announced in mid-2013.

About VOICE
VOICE is the leading conference for the growing international community of Advantest SOC, memory and handler customers and partners. It offers a unique opportunity to make users' semiconductor testing operations as effective as possible. Attendees gain and share valuable insights, build long-lasting relationships and learn what's new about Advantest's products and applications.

About Advantest Corporation
A world-class technology company, Advantest is the leading producer of automatic test equipment (ATE) for the semiconductor industry and a premier manufacturer of measuring instruments used in the design and production of electronic instruments and systems. Its leading-edge systems and products are integrated into the most advanced semiconductor production lines in the world. The company also focuses on R&D for emerging markets that benefit from advancements in nanotech and terahertz technologies, and has introduced multi-vision metrology scanning electron microscopes essential to photomask manufacturing, as well as a groundbreaking 3D imaging and analysis tool. Founded in Tokyo in 1954, Advantest established its first subsidiary in 1982, in the USA, and now has subsidiaries worldwide. More information is available at [ www.advantest.com ].