CSR, SiRF to launch new era of connectivity and location

CAMBRIDGE, UK & SAN JOSE, USA: CSR plc and SiRF Technology Holdings Inc. completed the merger between SiRF and a wholly owned subsidiary of CSR, creating a leading pure play provider of connectivity and location platforms and a company with the scale, technology and strategy to enable its customers to address the exciting and emerging opportunities in mobile markets.

The merger yields an enlarged development team, a strong IP portfolio, and a broad base of market leading customers. Customers of the enlarged CSR group will be able to deliver new user experiences of connectivity and location technologies in a diverse range of devices such as mobile phones, personal navigation devices, in-car navigation and telematics systems, laptop and netbook PCs, mobile Internet devices, digital cameras, gaming machines, cellular accessories, and consumer electronic devices.

Joep van Beurden, CEO of CSR said: “In bringing together the combined capabilities and broad range of CSR and SiRF technologies and platforms, we have created a new force in the industry and a world class organisation with the commercial, technical and operational scale to build on CSR and SiRF’s existing customer relationships and deliver the next generation of connectivity and location enabled products.

“Our strategic goal is to address the existing and emerging needs of our combined customer base for connectivity and location technologies. The potential applications and benefits to the end user of connectivity plus location are only just starting to open up, and these exciting new opportunities will be driven by our unique combination of leading location technologies and connectivity solutions.”

“CSR and SiRF have a shared vision of using innovation to bring the benefits of wireless connectivity and location to mainstream consumers and enterprises and to enable new and exciting user experiences”, commented Kanwar Chadha, co-founder of SiRF and newly appointed board member and Chief Marketing Officer of CSR. “We believe that through this merger, our customers and consumers will derive benefits from a much stronger player whose focus is on delivering best in class connectivity and location platforms.”

“Technology innovation represents the foundation for both CSR’s and SiRF’s success in the market place,” said James Collier, co-founder, board member and CTO of CSR. “We look forward to combining the complementary expertise of our teams to take innovation to the next level in our multifunction radio and system platforms to address emerging customer and market needs.”

For CSR’s customers, the merger with SiRF means CSR’s Connectivity Centre products are augmented by GPS technologies that are well respected and enjoy widespread adoption. SiRF brings to CSR a strong IP portfolio in GPS and assisted GPS (A-GPS), dead reckoning and location centric platforms.

SiRF’s customers benefit from enhancements to SiRF’s Location Platforms, with CSR’s Connectivity Centre capabilities and strategy of Smart Integration delivering industry leading performance, low cost and small size.

The enlarged CSR group will have its global headquarters in Cambridge, UK, with SiRF’s headquarters in San Jose, California becoming CSR’s US headquarters.

The combined CSR group enters the prestigious list of the world’s top 10 fabless semiconductor companies, with an enviable combined customer list including six of the top seven handset manufacturers, the top five personal navigation device makers, the top two automotive telematics suppliers, and other leading auto and consumer electronics providers.

RMI delivers Android capability for mobile connected applications

COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2009, TAIWAN & CUPERTINO, USA: At COMPUTEX Taipei 2009, RMI Corporation, a leading provider of high-performance processors for communication and media rich applications, announced the availability of a complete Android version 1.5 (“Cupcake”) reference design for mobile connected applications.

The Android solution benefits from the power-optimized, high performance Alchemy processor family and brings a complete turnkey solution aided by partnerships with Embedded Alley, a leading provider of embedded Linux and Android solutions, and MIPS Technologies Inc., a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for home entertainment, communications, networking and portable multimedia markets.

“By bringing the Alchemy processor to the market with Android capabilities gives us an additional advantage for success with MIDs and connected media devices,” said Mike Wodopian, vice president and general manager, RMI. “The power-optimization and the high-performance processing offered opens up a variety of applications and capabilities that our customers are demanding.”

“The MIPS architecture brings a powerful capability to the Android market, giving our licensees such as RMI the flexibility to meet the needs of their customers in the connected portable media market and beyond,” said Art Swift, vice president of marketing, MIPS Technologies. “With our focus on Android combined with RMI’s innovative developments, the world’s leading consumer electronics suppliers will be able to implement capabilities and features that were not possible before.”

The Alchemy Android reference platform is the ideal solution for mobile connected applications such as MIDs, Netbooks, AVN, Home Media Players, PMPs and PND devices. The Android solution runs on the Alchemy Processor family and highlights:

* A powerful open connected applications platform, customizable for each device.
* Android V1.5, with libraries and Dalvik VM optimized for MIPS.
* Broad support for all significant Video and Audio content standards.
* High performance processing at ultra-low Alchemy power levels.

The Embedded Alley Development System for Android-based devices supports cross development for both platform and application software. It targets MIPS architecture devices, with support for the RMI Alchemy Processor family development board (BdAu) and HMP Processor solutions.

In the development system, Embedded Alley provides an up-to-date production kernel (2.6.29), run-time libraries, the Android application framework and off-the-shelf applications. Embedded Alley has optimized the Android Dalvik VM and bionic library for MIPS processor cores and enables developers to prototype and test using the Android Device Emulator, an Eclipse-based plug-in for the Embedded Alley Development System, and customize the emulator to match their end products.

“Together, Embedded Alley and RMI deliver a turnkey solution for OEMs creating multimedia, mobile internet, automotive and a wide range of other applications,” said Matthew Locke, Embedded Alley COO. “Embedded Alley expertise and experience in enabling Android-based devices and applications, and the power of RMI Alchemy processors, make an unbeatable combination.”

In its suite at the COMPUTEX Taipei conference, RMI, along with MIPS Technologies and Embedded Alley featured multiple demonstrations of the Android platform including a Home Media Player (HMP) running Android. Attendees can see the power of Android in several applications, including full internet browsing capability.

Embedded netbooks could blur broadband service boundaries

NEW YORK, USA: The growing popularity of netbooks and laptops with embedded broadband wireless modems could lead network operators to offer single-price broadband services that include both mobile and fixed connectivity, marking a significant shift in the way broadband services are used and sold, according to the latest report from Light Reading Insider.

The Netbook Effect: Remaking Broadband Price Structures identifies and analyzes key issues that will affect the embedded laptop and netbook market through 2010. It forecasts the adoption of these products and discusses barriers to and drivers of that adoption. This report also examines the competitive environment, such as pricing pressure on modem vendors and how embedded PCs will affect the wired broadband market.

"Until the past year or so, embedded laptops were aimed primarily at enterprises and business users, but with the arrival of embedded netbooks, the addressable market now includes consumers," says Tim Kridel, research analyst for Light Reading Insider.

"While the full impact of embedded PCs on broadband services is not likely to be felt over the next 12 to 18 months, network operators will have to respond with different service options as more of these devices are put into use," he added.

As embedded netbooks grow in popularity and accessibility, consumers will look for more choices from their broadband service providers, Kridel notes. "Operators that figure out how to offer service that cuts across fixed and mobile lines stand the best chance of succeeding with this emerging user group," he says. "The amazing growth of mobile data services driven by devices such as the BlackBerry and the iPhone, coupled with the arrival of higher-speed mobile data services, will likely spur a huge opportunity for operators that can adapt their services to fit user demands."

Key findings of The Netbook Effect: Remaking Broadband Price Structures include:
* About 3 million embedded laptops and netbooks were sold in 2008, with at least 4.5 million possible this year.
* Some laptop and netbook vendors say that up to 40 percent of their 2008 sales were embedded.
* Despite the growth of embedding, USB/PC card adapters are selling briskly and remain in the majority.
* Bundling wired/wireless broadband removes a major barrier to consumer adoption of embedded products.
* Competition and pricing pressure are fierce among makers of embedded modems.Embedded netbooks could blur broadband service boundaries.