Date: 17/09/2010

Broadcom and Philips partner in developing remote control for home entertainment sys

Broadcom has partnering with Philips Home Control to develop remote controls for television, set-top box (STB), and Blu-ray Disc player and further enhance home entertainment. Broadcom Bluetooth technology has been used in introducing and driving the adoption of gestural remote controls for video game consoles and wirelessly connected devices. Broadcom in colaboration with Philips Home Control plan to apply Bluetooth and other technologies to power the remote controls.

Key facts of the colaboration are:

1) Introducing gestural controls, which allow consumers to operate electronic devices by subtle movements of the device or a remote control.
2) Provide touchpad remote controls to provide the mechanism to select among a greater variety of menu options.
3) Provide QWERTY keyboards enable more convenient text entry
4) Broadcom Bluetooth technology supports standards-based approaches to remote control functionality for consumer electronics products.
5) Once integrated into these consumer devices, Bluetooth opens new capabilities:
--The near ubiquitous penetration of Bluetooth into cell phones, tablets and laptops enables a second screen for searching content.
--Bluetooth-enabled 3D glasses.
--Bluetooth enables new ways to enjoy audio, allowing existing wireless headsets to provide a personal listening experience.
--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.

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

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