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CSR Throws Spotlight on Wireless Networked Audio and Bluetooth Smart Technologies at CES 2013
[January 07, 2013]

CSR Throws Spotlight on Wireless Networked Audio and Bluetooth Smart Technologies at CES 2013


LAS VEGAS --(Business Wire)--

CSR (News - Alert) plc (LSE: CSR; NASDAQ: CSRE) today unveiled at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show a bold array of demonstrations of turnkey hardware and software solutions that manufacturers can use to deliver exciting capabilities and differentiating features in the next generation of wireless and networked audio products and a variety of Bluetooth® Smart devices. With more than 40 public and private demonstrations at the show, CSR underscores the diversity of wireless connectivity, voice and music, advanced imaging and printing, automotive infotainment and indoor location and navigation solutions it is providing to the world's most popular consumer electronics brands.

New Platforms for Wi-Fi Enabled Audio

At the show, CSR is demonstrating its leadership in Wi-Fi® enabled home audio by introducing the Sonata™ networked media processor and the VibeHub™ and VibePlayer™ networked audio platforms. These turnkey hardware and software solutions will make it easier for manufacturers to rapidly create a broad range of affordable DLNA-Certified® intelligent audio hubs and low-cost, portable, battery-powered wireless speakers and speaker docks with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Bluetooth Smart connectivity that will allow people to enjoy very high-quality, synchronised multi-room audio throughout the home, indoors and out.

"Networked, wireless home audio and the smart home present exciting new opportunities for CSR, and we have put a huge effort into building upon our proven technologies to create exciting new solutions for consumer electronics manufacturers in these markets, as evidenced by the extent of the demonstrations we are presenting at this show," said Patrick Little, senior vice president of sales and marketing at CSR. "Our µEnergy and Wi-Fi technology opens the door to exciting new applications in the home, outdoors and on the road by enabling smart devices and sensors to interact with each other to automate many common tasks and provide greater convenience. Our turnkey solutions make it easier for manufacturers to bring new applications to market quickly and cost effectively."

New Platforms for Sound Bars

CSR is also introducing two new platform solutions that will enable OEMs and ODMs to quickly and easily develop a full range of high-quality, cost-optimised sound bar products with Bluetooth wireless subwoofers addressing the low to high ends of this growing market. From a single-chip platform for sound bars based on the CSR8670™ wireless audio SoC (system-on-chip) to a fully integrated and scalable solution based on the CSR MAPX™ multimedia applications processor SoC family, these turnkey hardware and software platforms give consumer electronics manufacturers the greatest flexibility to address all segments of the market with a comprehensive range of products from a single vendor.

New Low-Latency aptX for Gaming

CSR will also be demonstrating numerous Bluetooth enabled headphones, speaker docks, sound bars, tablets and smartphones that incorporate CSR aptX® technology for delivering high-quality audio over wireless connectivity. The aptX audio codec now features in consumer audio products from leading global brands such as Beats®, Creative®, Denon®, Monster®, Nokia®, Samsung®, Sennheiser® and many others.

In addition, CSR will be giving what is believed to be the first practical demonstration of its aptX Low Latency audio codec being used to empower Bluetooth connectivity to deliver action-synchronised, high-quality audio to a wireless gaming headset. By overcoming Bluetooth's inherent inability to allow users to play games interactively with synchronised high-quality audio and visual action, the aptX Low Latency codec opens the door to new markets for Bluetooth, making possible "universal" headsets serving both high-fidelity wireless audio and gaming applications.

Elsewhere, CSR will be demonstrating the superb audio performance and software-driven configurability of its unique DDFA® all-digital amplification technology which employs direct digital feedback to make extremely efficient, compact, multi-channel, high-quality audio power amplifiers for a variety of speaker systems designed for the home and for in-car entertainment.

µEnergy latforms for Bluetooth Smart



CSR has extended its leadership in ultra low power connectivity technology with a collection of CSR µEnergy® Bluetooth low energy solutions that OEMs and ODMs can customise to rapidly develop new and innovative Bluetooth Smart fitness, smart home and human interface products. Various practical demonstrations of these Bluetooth Smart solutions illustrate the revolutionary possibilities that CSR µEnergy technology can enable across a range of applications, allowing, for example, smart devices and sensors to interact with each other to automate common tasks and provide greater consumer convenience.

SiRFusion Platform for Location-as-a-Service


CSR will demonstrate its innovative SiRFusion™ location platform at this year's show. SiRFusion combines GNSS, Wi-Fi and pedestrian dead-reckoning measurements on a smartphone platform with indoor maps to provide an unparalleled user experience. This capability will be demonstrated live, together with CSR Location Services, a new, cloud-based location service platform that enables seamless indoor/outdoor positioning augmented with proximity awareness and geo-fencing for rapid deployment in asset and data management applications for enterprise and government systems.

AtlasVI Platform for Automotive Infotainment

On the automotive infotainment front, CSR will demonstrate a number of automotive-grade multimedia SoC, location, connectivity and audio technologies. For example, one demonstration shows the SiRF AtlasVI™ platform, the latest-generation, location-aware, multimedia SoC from CSR, performing a number of graphics-intensive applications combined with in-vehicle use cases for Bluetooth Smart; another demonstration shows how the SiRFstarV™, the latest-generation, location-aware SoC is capable of simultaneously tracking GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO and COMPASS global navigation satellite systems. Finally, the UniFi® CSR6000™ Wi-Fi demonstration highlights the exciting range of use cases for in-car Wi-Fi, while another automotive infotainment demonstration proves the concept of using Bluetooth to stream high-quality audio within the vehicle by making use of the CSR aptX audio codec.

COACH Platforms for Digital-SLR Cameras

A collection of the latest CSR COACH™ video and image processor-based cameras will be demonstrated, highlighting advanced video, connectivity and image quality features.

All of this and more will be presented in the CSR booth #MP25179 and private suites during the show. Attendees wishing to view the private demonstrations should contact CSR for an appointment.

All CSR's news at CES (News - Alert) can be found on its online press kit: http://www.tradeshownews.com/events/2013-International-CES/CSR/

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About CSR

CSR is a global provider of innovative silicon and software solutions for the location-aware, media-rich, cloud-connected world. Our platforms are optimised for the automotive navigation and infotainment, digital cameras and imaging, connected home infotainment and wireless audio markets. We provide solutions to complex problems in the audio-visual, connectivity and location technology domains across a broad range of markets, with a technology portfolio that includes GPS/GNSS systems, Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi®, FM, NFC, aptX® and CVC™ audio codecs, JPEG, MPEG, H.264 imaging, PDL printing, microcontrollers, DSPs and broadband receivers. CSR's technology solutions and market platforms enable its customers to deliver a superior user experience and are adopted by leaders in the auto, computer, home and mobile markets. More information can be found at www.csr.com. Keep up to date with CSR on our technical blog or CSR people blog, YouTube, Facebook or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at twitter.com/CSR_plc

CAUTIONARY NOTE ON FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains certain statements (including statements concerning plans and objectives of management for future operations or performance, or assumptions related thereto) that are not historical facts and constitute 'forward looking statements' within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 in relation to CSR's products and technology, including those designed for networked audio, sound bars, high-fidelity Bluetooth stereo, Bluetooth Smart, advanced imaging, location-as-a-service, and automotive infotainment products, devices and other technology, and their performance characteristics in manufacturer's products, devices and other technology, and other future events and their potential effects on CSR. These forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as 'will,' 'can deliver,' offers', 'allows', 'to enhance,' 'enables,' 'designed to' and other similar expressions regarding the performance characteristics of CSR's products and technology, and their performance characteristics in consumer electronics products, and their potential effects on CSR. Any future release of CSR's products and technology or consumer electronics products containing such technology, related products or modifications to such products' capability, functionality or features are subject to ongoing evaluation by CSR and its customers, and may or may not be implemented and should not be considered firm commitments by CSR or its customers and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. Such forward-looking statements represent the current expectations and beliefs of management of CSR, and are based upon numerous assumptions regarding CSR's business strategies and the environment in which CSR will operate and therefore involve a number of known and unknown risks, contingencies, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of CSR, including, but not limited to, those detailed from time to time in CSR's periodic reports (whether under the caption Risk Factors or Forward Looking Statements or elsewhere), which are available at the SEC's (News - Alert) web site http://www.sec.gov. Each forward looking statement speaks only as of the date hereof. CSR does not undertake to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward looking statements contained herein, otherwise than required by law.

Bluetooth® and the Bluetooth logos are trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and licensed to CSR.

Wi-Fi®, Wi-Fi Alliance (News - Alert)®, WMM®, Wi-Fi Protected Access®, WPA®, WPA2®, Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ and Wi-Fi Multimedia™ are trademarks of the Wi-Fi Alliance.


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