Broadcom and Philips Team to Transform the Remote Control Experience

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that it has partnered with Philips Home Control, a world leader in advanced wireless input and control solutions, to develop a new generation of remote control devices that will help transform the television, set-top box (STB), and Blu-ray Disc® player interface experience. Broadcom® Bluetooth® technology has been instrumental in introducing and driving the adoption of gestural remote controls for video game consoles and the increasing universe of wirelessly connected devices.

In collaboration with Philips Home Control, Broadcom is now applying Bluetooth and other technologies to enable innovative remotes that can control the home entertainment experience with the wave of a hand, swipe of a finger, or strokes of a miniature keyboard. Broadcom and Philips will be demonstrating wireless gestural remote control technologies at the IBC 2010 tradeshow in Amsterdam, Netherlands starting September 10, 2010.

Highlights/Key Facts:

• Gestural controls (which allow consumers to operate electronic devices by subtle movements of the device or a remote control) have quickly grown into a widely used method for interacting with electronic products, supplanting knobs, buttons and other interface mechanisms. Gestural controls that provide input and control for casual games played directly on the television or STB are also being introduced.
• Touchpad remote controls provide the mechanism to select among a greater variety of menu options, just as the user might use a laptop computer to navigate complicated interfaces.
• As TVs and Blu-ray Disc players become more connected and STBs and digital televisions offer more "over-the-top" services, next-generation remote controls are required that can provide functionality similar to that provided by keyboards and mice for the PC or keypads for the smartphone:
  • Gestural and touchpad remotes provide more intuitive navigation
  • QWERTY keyboards enable more convenient text entry for easier searches for content
• Broadcom Bluetooth technology supports standards-based approaches to remote control functionality for consumer electronics products, as well as additional innovations developed to minimize latency and ensure a highly responsive user experience, even with the most subtle of gestures and movements.
• Once integrated into these various consumer devices, Bluetooth opens a whole world of new capabilities:
  • The near ubiquitous penetration of Bluetooth into cell phones, tablets and laptops enables a second screen for searching content, making Bluetooth an ideal technology for consumer electronics devices.
  • Bluetooth-enabled 3D glasses eliminate interference from other light sources, do not lose sync when objects pass in front of the TV or the user looks away, and they have greater viewing angles and ranges, all at 40 percent lower power consumption than first generation infrared (IR) glasses.
  • Bluetooth enables new ways to enjoy audio, allowing existing wireless headsets to provide a personal listening experience without disturbing others, or enabling audio to be streamed from smartphones or MP3 players for playback on the TV's speakers or through the rest of the speaker system that the STB or Blu-ray player are connected to.
  • Bluetooth also enables voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) applications, such as Skype, and can be used to push pictures taken on a cell phone or camera for display on a TV.

Supporting Quotes:

Jean-Paul Abrams, General Manager OEM Business, Philips Home Control

"Consumer electronics products are currently undergoing a fast transformation, evolving rapidly from passive devices to more dynamic, connected portals for entertainment, communication and more. Similarly, the remote control is also changing to accommodate the breadth of new features becoming available. Our collaboration with Broadcom will enable a new user experience that lets consumers take greater advantage of these features with intuitive, easy to use remote controls."

Craig Ochikubo, Vice President & General Manager, Broadcom's Wireless Personal Area Networking line of business

"The adoption of wireless gestural remote controls by leading CE makers like Philips is a natural extension of the technology and another validation of Bluetooth as an enabler of innovative user interface devices. We look forward to our continued collaboration with Philips and to helping drive this trend forward."

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About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation is a major technology innovator and global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications.  Broadcom products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment.  We provide the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip and software solutions to manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices.  These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything®.

Broadcom, one of the world's largest fabless communications semiconductor companies, with 2009 revenue of $4.49 billion, holds more than 4,300 U.S. and 1,800 foreign patents, and has more than 7,900 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video, data and multimedia.

A FORTUNE 500® company, Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and has offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe.  Broadcom may be contacted at +1.949.926.5000 or at www.broadcom.com.

About Philips Home Control

Philips Home Control, a global leader in remote control technology, manufactures remotes for OEMs. Philips has developed many of the industry's standard protocols (IR or RF) and offers an extensive portfolio of patents that improve the performance, ease-of-use and functionality of remote controls. Offering complete innovative solutions for all possible applications & segments, ranging from IPTV to cable & satellite, consumer electronics, home automation and pc-based applications, Philips prides itself with the broadest worldwide customer base. Whether choosing a standard solution or a customized remote that matches your product or brand identity, Philips is the right partner.

www.remotecontrol.philips.com

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a diversified Health and Well-being company, focused on improving people's lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of "sense and simplicity". Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 116,000 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 23 billion in 2009, the company is a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products for personal well-being and pleasure with strong leadership positions in flat TV, male shaving and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.

Cautions regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry and business, management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us, all of which are subject to change.  Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "would," "could," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words.  Examples of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, references to the demand to connect wireless devices together via Bluetooth, and our collaboration with Philips.  These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.

Important factors that may cause such a difference for Broadcom in connection with adding Broadcom Bluetooth technology to select Philips remote controls include, but are not limited to:

• the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's Bluetooth technologies for mobile applications; and
• trends in the wireless networking markets in various geographic regions, including seasonality in sales of consumer products into which our products are incorporated;

Additional factors that may cause Broadcom's actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to the list that can be found at http://www.broadcom.com/press/additional_risk_factors/Q32010.php.

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss the foregoing risks as well as other important risk factors that could contribute to such differences or otherwise affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.  The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of this date. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement, except as required by law.

Broadcom, the pulse logo, Connecting everything, and the Connecting everything logo are among the trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU.  Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.  

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SOURCE Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Mobile & Wireless