Broadcom announces dual-core BCM2157 processor, promises high-end features for cheap Android phones

As you might haveheard, 2011 is shaping up to be a big year for dual-core smartphones, and it looks like you can now officially count Broadcom in on the act. It's just announced its new dual-core BCM2157 platform that provides both HSDPA modem connectivity and applications processing courtesy of some dual-core, 500MHz ARM11 processors. The platform as a whole is also designed to support features like HVGA multitouch displays, 5-megapixel cameras, and mobile hotspots, among other standard fare -- all of which is specifically tailored for Android devices. That obviously doesn't place the processor at the high-end of the dual-core spectrum, but Broadcom says it will allow companies to "deliver high-end smartphone features on more affordable 3G Android handsets," and that's surely a goal we can all get behind. Head on past the break for the complete press release.

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Broadcom Announces New Android™ Platform to Enable Mass Market Smartphones

Cost-Effective Dual-Core Processor Delivers Simultaneous 3G HSDPA Connectivity and Applications Processing for a Compelling User Experience

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 14, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced a new baseband platform that provides simultaneous HSDPA modem connectivity and Android™-based applications processing. The new Broadcom® BCM2157 dual-core baseband processor provides a full suite of advanced functionality to deliver high-end smartphone features on more affordable 3G Android handsets. This includes mobile hot-spot, multi-touch screens, innovative media and applications processing, and other capabilities that will help handset makers drive these features to a larger tier of users.

Broadcom is demonstrating its new affordable 3G Android smartphone platform at its Analyst Day conference today in Irvine, California.

Highlights/Key Facts:

* The features that have made the smartphone widely popular are driving demand for a more affordable tier of handsets, satisfying a broader consumer desire for the ability to run applications, view and share media, and enjoy a dynamic touch screen experience, all at a lower price point.
* The increasing proliferation of these features is driving growth in mobile data consumption, with a recent study from Informa projecting that smartphone traffic is expected to grow by 700 percent over the next five years.
* Broadcom's new BCM2157 Android baseband platform will enable handsets to satisfy a broader consumer demand for smartphone features and enable the growth in data traffic among cellular operators.
* The BCM2157 baseband processor platform includes the following advanced features:
o 3G HSDPA modem supports 7.2 Megabits per second (Mbps) downstream connectivity and worldwide roaming.
o Built-in support for HVGA displays, multi-touch screens, 5 megapixel digital cameras, 3G dual SIM/dual standby, and other key smartphone capabilities.
o Powerful dual-core ARM® processors for dedicated modem support and superior application processing (500MHz).
o Broadcom's complete connectivity suite, featuring industry-leading Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and NFC solutions, including InConcert® technology that makes these various technologies work better together.
o Support for mobile hotspot functionality, allowing the handset to share the 3G connection with up to 8 simultaneous devices or users via Wi-Fi.
o The platform is based on mature technology, building on the proven architecture of the BCM2153 and is now sampling to early access customers with first commercial launches expected in Q1 2011.


"The smartphone continues to influence the cellular industry, with defining features like multi-touch screens and the ability to run applications now enriching lower cost handsets. We've maximized the functionality of our new Android-processing baseband platform to enable our partners to deliver the most popular features in more affordable designs." - Scott Bibaud, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Broadcom's Mobile Platforms Group

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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 4,500 U.S. and 1,900 foreign patents, and has more than 7,800 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, broader consumer demand for advanced smartphone features and the ability of handset makers to drive these features to a larger tier of users through the use of our baseband processor platform. 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 its BCM2157 dual-core baseband processor include, but are not limited to:

* the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's products and technologies in the HSDPA Android space;
* trends in mobile 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/Q42010.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 InConcert® 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.