Broadcom Introduces Affordable Bluetooth(R) Hands-Free Car Kit Solution Optimized for Clear Conversations in All Driving Conditions

IRVINE, Calif., April 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced a new Bluetooth® reference design platform that will enable improved audio quality and a more compelling user experience in a broader range of hands-free car kit devices. This new design platform, built upon the successful Broadcom® BCM20741 family of Bluetooth system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions for headset devices, includes an upgrade to its SmartAudio® sound and voice enhancement technology that reduces annoying background noise to deliver clear conversations in all driving conditions. Samsung has adopted this new platform for its HF1000 car kit device, which is now shipping.

Highlights/ Key Facts:

• Municipal and national governments around the world continue to enact 'hands-free' laws that require the use of car kits and headsets when talking on a cell phone while driving.
  • Bluetooth car kits allow users to engage in 'hands-free' phone conversations by pairing with a cell phone and providing speakerphone capabilities in the vehicle.
  • 'Hands-free' regulations will be enacted in Shenzhen, China starting in August 2010 -- China represents the biggest automotive market in the world and a strong opportunity for innovative 'hands-free' solutions.
• Broadcom is working with the leading car kit makers on new product designs based on its BCM20741 Bluetooth SoC solution.
• The BCM20741 SoC is the industry's most advanced low cost Bluetooth hands-free solution, providing the best power efficiency, as well as premium audio quality without the need for costly external flash memory, for the design of compelling new car kits.
  • Utilizing the industry's first 65 nanometer CMOS design process, key user interface enhancements and superior audio quality, the BCM20741 leapfrogs competing solutions.
  • This upgraded reference design and audio enhancement package provides all the components and software required to develop and manufacture affordable car kit devices with premium audio quality.
  • Key features that this new technology platform enables include:
    • Echo cancellation that significantly improves 'double-talk' performance.
    • 'Near-end' speech intelligibility enhancement that automatically enhances the quality and loudness of the caller's voice so that drivers can focus their attention on the road.
    • Integrated multiple language voice prompts (in on-chip ROM) that increases ease-of-use and lowers bill-of-materials (BOM) cost.
    • An integrated 'fast-charging' power management unit that is capable of recharging large car kit batteries in minutes.
    • Highly tunable audio algorithms that enable further differentiation and a unique capability to adapt to various form factors.
• Integrated within the BCM20741 Bluetooth SoC solution is Broadcom's SmartAudio technology that intelligently analyzes digital audio streams within the Bluetooth hands-free device. It differentiates between voice and non-voice characteristics while eliminating background noise to deliver a clearer and distortion-free conversation.
  • In hands-free car kits, loud audio can lead to annoying speaker distortion, which is caused by high intensity, low frequency signals.
  • SmartAudio technology has now been enhanced for car kits, integrating special enhancements that condition the frequencies to deliver a clear audio experience.
• The Broadcom BCM20741 Bluetooth SoC solution with advanced SmartAudio capabilities is now in production by early access customers.

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

"We continue to grow in the Bluetooth hands-free market by delivering a superior audio experience that provides key user benefits, and is friendly to the end-user and the environment. New car kit products based on our technology also benefit from the latest version of our popular SmartAudio technology with revolutionary noise suppression technologies optimized particularly for car kits."

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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 4,050 U.S. and 1,650 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.

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, the demand for Bluetooth hands-free car kits, our position in that market, and the impact of the BCM20741 Bluetooth SoC solution on the hands-free user experience.  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 the BCM20741 Bluetooth SoC solution, 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;
• trends in the wireless networking markets in various geographic regions, including seasonality in sales of consumer products into which our products are incorporated;
• the gain or loss of a key customer, design win or order;
• the volume of our product sales and pricing concessions on volume sales; and
• competitive pressures and other factors such as the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products.

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/Q22010.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, the Connecting everything logo and SmartAudio 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.

SOURCE Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Mobile & Wireless