Broadcom intros inexpensive "3G phone on a chip" solution

Broadcom sure has been on a roll of late, introducing the feature-packed VideoCore III multimedia processor earlier this month and following it with the "world's first 3G phone on a chip" solution. The BCM21551 baseband chip was developed on a single, low-power 65-nanometer CMOS die and features Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, FM radio, an FM transmitter, support for up to five-megapixel cameras, 30fps TV out and "advanced multimedia processing." Notably, you won't find integrated WiFi or GPS, but it does play nice with HSUPA, HSDPA, WCDMA and EDGE cellular protocols. Best of all, this system-on-a-chip is available now to "early access customers," and the low, low $23 pricetag (when purchased in bulk, of course) is music to our ears.

[James Ollier @ Oct 15th 2007 3:32PM]

Echoes of the 2G iPhone...

[andy @ Oct 15th 2007 3:37PM]

can't be. This includes features years ahead of iPods/iPhones..... a radio.

[grub @ Oct 15th 2007 3:38PM]

Just added some funds to my sharebuilder account.....gunna throw down 4g's on some broadcom -- this is gunna be good! Damn shame I didn't get in a month ago when it was $35 instead of 41.3 now... :(

[James Ollier @ Oct 15th 2007 5:59PM]

Oh you mean an FM radio that will be useless when analogue radio is swithced off??

[Crayola @ Oct 15th 2007 3:41PM]

OK the hardware is obviously cheap and very capable, so can someone explain to me why mobile data service is still so much more expensive?

[grub @ Oct 15th 2007 3:48PM]

R&D

[thethirdmoose @ Oct 15th 2007 4:10PM]

Because IF the telecoms can make money off you, by god, they WILL!

[JeffM @ Oct 15th 2007 4:22PM]

Sadly I think it is because data is largely consumed by corporations - I don't pay a cent for my data plan and I don't really care how much it costs. Data would have to be sub $20 before I'd personally pay for it; however, my corporate gladly pays whatever outrageous charge Verizon asks for each and every month.

Simply put service providers see demand for data plans at this point as corporate not consumer oriented.

[Matt @ Oct 15th 2007 4:29PM]

And there still wont be open drivers. I will not buy anything broadcom.

[Andrew @ Oct 16th 2007 12:27AM]

funny you should mention that. There is a whole operating system (which, i would imagine, contains drivers) running on a Broadcom chip, completely open, right here on my desk. Invest in a Linksys WRT54G. and use OpenWRT, or DD-WRT. both VERY open.

[Matt @ Oct 15th 2007 4:29PM]

And there still wont be open drivers. I will not buy anything broadcom.

[Frankenstein Black @ Oct 15th 2007 4:49PM]

"B-boyz FTW!" F Qualcomm!!

[Chris @ Oct 15th 2007 4:54PM]

For the completely ignorant person (me)... what does this mean? I have ATT/Cingular w/Nokia 6682. It runs on EDGE. My question is, if I slap this thing in my phone... will it automatically be 3G???

[Johnny @ Oct 15th 2007 5:04PM]

Yep, it is just a simple replacement. Pop it into your phone and you get FM reception and transmission, 5 megapixel camera, and 3G internet for only $23!!!

[Razor @ Oct 15th 2007 5:28PM]

You forgot to tell him though Johnny that he has to buy a few thousand to get them at that price... ;-)

[cromas @ Oct 15th 2007 5:40PM]

I wonder if the internet will ever graduate from "I know more than you so, rather than sharing my knowledge with you, I'm going to make mean-spirited, sarcastic comments meant to mislead you."

Chris, this is a chip that manufacturers will use in future mobile phones. It's significant because many current-generation 3G phones require a number of chips (around a half-dozen, maybe more?) to support the functionality that this one chip provides. However, it's virtually impossible that this could work as an "upgrade" to another phone, as both the physical and digital architecture would be completely different.

So to you, right now, this means nothing but that your next 3G phone will probably be cheaper and smaller than it would have been otherwise.

[Chris @ Oct 15th 2007 5:59PM]

Thanks for the info cromas =]

[Erik @ Oct 15th 2007 5:53PM]

Interesting...Gizmodo ran this same story, but placed an emphasis on iPhone use, claiming they'd be dumb if they didn't. Yet you wrote it just as it is--a 3G on a chip development--and have about three times as many comments.

Anyway, this is a sweet development (not that I can really take advantage of it, living in Alaska and all) and I hope this gets more funding to integrate other technologies as well.

[equalizer @ Oct 16th 2007 12:55AM]

Advances in 3G aren't interesting as long as TOS (term of service) are so restrictive.

[Ahmed Alzayani @ Oct 16th 2007 1:43AM]

Sorry 3G is an old tech because it’s not IP based ; Wimax is the future, just skip 3G altogether.

[NeoDarkSaver @ Oct 16th 2007 3:49AM]

I posted this at digg, why isnt there a digg button on this page?

http://digg.com/gadgets/Broadcom_intros_inexpensive_3G_phone_on_a_chip_solution