The announcement comes in two parts: one from Nvidia; one from Broadcom. Both promise full hardware acceleration for Flash video, primarily by means of upgrades to Adobe's plugin, guaranteeing smooth playback of HD flash video. Perhaps more importantly, this also means much, much lower CPU usage during regular video playback.

The reason behind this two-pronged announcement strategy, unfortunately, is that the first wave of optimization will only benefit hardware based on either Nvidia's powerhouse Tegra solution, or Atom netbooks which have Broadcom's Crystal HD video accelerator add-on, which must either be installed by the OEM (rare) or plugged into a PCI-E Mini port or ExpressCard port. In other words, current-gen netbooks, based on Intel's chipsets, are kinda left out in the cold, unless Adobe pulls a surprise out of their hat in the next few months.

We won't see this Flash upgrade for Atom until "the first half of 2010", though the release hints the Tegra will support it from the get-go. It's a step in the right direction, but not a huge one.

Equipped with the latest Bluetooth 3.0 (reaching 24Mbps), unspecified Wi-Fi and FM radio, Broadcom's BCM4325 is the first chip of its kind to receive the go-ahead from the Bluetooth Qualification Board. And were Apple to upgrade the semi-dormant Bluetooth chip in the iPod touch and stick with Broadcom as the manufacturer, logic would tell us that this is the chip they'd use.

But don't get your hopes up about Apple activating that FM radio. The old version had that, too.

Broadcom's Combo Chip and Software Achieve Bluetooth® Qualification to Newly Ratified Bluetooth v3.0 + HS Specification

New Specification Adds Enhanced Functionality to Broadcom® InConcert® Combo Chip Products by Enabling Bluetooth Profiles to Leverage High Speed Wi-Fi®

IRVINE, Calif. – April 22, 2009 – Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that its leading Bluetooth® combo chip technology and associated BTE software have been qualified as compliant with the ratified Bluetooth v3.0 + HS (high speed) specification. The new standard significantly expands the capabilities of Bluetooth wireless technology in multimedia smartphones, netbooks and other devices by enabling the transmission of large files via Bluetooth profiles at speeds up to 24 Megabits per second (Mbps), or a 10 times increase in speed over the previous Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR (enhanced data rate) standard. With the company's InConcert® BCM4325 Bluetooth + Wi-Fi® + FM combo chip solution (which was the first product in the industry to achieve qualification) and Bluetooth software, Broadcom is uniquely positioned to support the latest Bluetooth specification with proven single-chip solutions.

While competing implementations require multiple discrete components that raise cost and power requirements, Broadcom is able to provide a single-chip solution that includes both a qualified Bluetooth v3.0 BR/EDR (basic rate) controller and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ media access controller (MAC)/physical layer (PHY) device. When combined with Broadcom's v3.0 + HS qualified host software solution, these products enable OEMs to add the convenience of high speed Bluetooth data transfer while reducing board space, power consumption and overall system cost in next generation Bluetooth-enabled devices. Broadcom's high speed Bluetooth technology was recently demonstrated at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced the formal adoption of its next generation Bluetooth v3.0 + HS wireless connectivity technology on April 21, 2009, at the SIG Annual All-Hands meeting in Tokyo.

In addition to enabling Bluetooth profiles to utilize high speed 802.11 data rates, Broadcom silicon and software solutions will further enable mobile devices to leverage the low power connection management features provided by Bluetooth wireless technology, increasing the valuable synergy between these already popular technologies. Broadcom is working together with other companies and various standards groups to standardize these additional capabilities.

"The new Bluetooth v3.0 + HS specification is a welcome step in the continuing evolution of Bluetooth technology, adding industry approved techniques for leveraging the high data rates of Wi-Fi with the ease of use, low-power and utility that Bluetooth wireless technology is recognized for," said Craig Ochikubo, Vice President & General Manager of Broadcom's Wireless Personal Area Networking line of business. "The new specification makes our combo chip products even more attractive to OEMs who seek to provide their customers with the most complete wireless user experience available."

The Bluetooth products now qualified as compliant with the v3.0 + HS specification include the Broadcom® BCM4325 802.11b/ combo chip solution that combines Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and FM radio functionality on a single-chip design. Broadcom's popular BTE software, the core Bluetooth software stack for which all Broadcom Bluetooth software is based (including BTW, BTW Mobile and embedded software for cellular handsets and other devices) has also been qualified as compliant with the new v3.0 + HS standard. The BCM4325 is also Wi-Fi CERTIFIED in a number of customer products.

In addition to enabling 10 times the transmission speed over previous Bluetooth specifications, v3.0 + HS provides other useful innovations that Broadcom combo chips and BTE software can utilize as well. This includes expanded capabilities for remote control applications featuring Unicast Connectionless Data (UCD) functionality that enables low power operation and reduced latency, making Bluetooth's radio technology ideally suited for consumer electronics remote control applications. The Bluetooth v3.0 + HS specification also enhances the already powerful security capabilities of Bluetooth technology by including the new Read Encryption Key Size feature that allows Bluetooth applications to ensure an appropriate level of communications security.

Broadcom's Bluetooth BR/EDR controller solutions, including the BCM4325 and BCM4329, further provide support for the Enhanced Power Control feature introduced in the Bluetooth v3.0 + HS specification. This feature provides improved control over transmit power levels on Bluetooth BR/EDR links, improving the robustness of communications and providing better optimized power consumption.

"The Bluetooth Special Interest Group is gratified that Broadcom has played an active role in helping drive the evolution of Bluetooth technology through its contributions to the standard and timely implementation of these new features," said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. "With strength in multiple wireless technologies, the company is helping make the vision of high speed Bluetooth technology a reality."

Products we've seen to date—namely the Intel Media Processor, Yahoo! Connected TV platform and smattering of proprietary connected sets—have offered up a taste of what Flash support means for TVs, albeit through often-clumsy widget systems and the tolerable Flash Lite. Now—through another offshoot of its Open Screen Initiative—Adobe wants to expand Flash support to all kinds of hardware, in what looks like a bid to set a new VOD standard, inking deals with companies as diverse as Comcast, Broadcom, Netflix and Intel.

In theory, this means we'll see a wave of Flash-enabled DVRs, set-top boxes and HDTVs by the middle of this year, and they told us you'll see new Flash applications for the framework early next. Since Yahoo actually uses Flash in their own widget framework for TVs, they're not exactly competing—Adobe wins either way. Adobe's goal is to be just as ubiquitous on embedded devices as it is on computers connected to the web: Over 90 percent have the Flash plug-in installed.

The above is just one concept of how a Flash-based UI could look. Hulu just inched closer to millions of living rooms, and there's really no downside to that. [NYT]

The new Bluetooth specification—technically denominated alternate MAC/PHY—will be official this April. And unlike other technologies, it won't be in limbo for a while before reaching consumers. In fact, your phone may support it right now, according to Broadcom's Mukul Suth: Some of their current production chips already have this ability and they will only require a software upgrade to implement it.

The alternate MAC/PHY method is quite clever: The two devices discover each other and shake hands using Bluetooth (being cellphones, computers, or any other shiny thing supporting the standard). When you start any file transfer, the communication gets passed to the Wi-Fi hardware layer, which will transfer your data at 54mbps. Once the transfer is over, Wi-Fi is disconnected and the control passes again to Bluetooth.

It just works. According to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, the standard will allow you to easily:

• Wirelessly bulk synchronize music libraries between PC and MP3 player
• Bulk download photos to a printer or PC
• Send video files from camera or phone to computer or television.

Sounds good to me. Having this easy-to-use, straightforward ability to just connect to any device and transfer information in a fast way, without needing any wireless network or access points, will be great.

While mobile browsers are far from fast enough to handle data coming in at draft-N speeds, this does open the door for some nice wireless syncing potential. The chips won't be in phones ready for consumers until late 2009, so by then, perhaps there will be a market.

Oh, and about battery life: Broadcom actually claims that the 802.11n combo chip is more power efficient than similar 802.11g chips in phones now by allowing for single streams of data over a single antenna and packet aggregation. Full release follows:

Broadcom(R) BCM4329 Continues to Raise the Bar for Mobile Connectivity by Delivering Cost Effective Combo Solutions with More Features and Lower Power Consumption

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced the availability of its newest wireless combination chip that enables mobile phones to support more media and data applications without impacting size or battery life. By integrating Broadcom's industry leading 802.11n Wi-Fi(R), Bluetooth(R) and FM technologies on a single silicon die, the new combo solution offers far more functionality than any other single-chip wireless solution on the market. The highly integrated Broadcom(R) chip also provides significant cost, size, power and performance advantages over discrete semiconductor implementations, making it ideal for handheld electronics.

Combination chips have gained tremendous traction as more manufacturers add multiple wireless features to mobile phones and other handheld devices, and will account for nearly one-third of all wireless connectivity solutions shipped in 2012*. To serve this growing market, Broadcom recently announced its plans to introduce a new combination chip every 60 days over the coming months. A variety of products based on the Broadcom BCM4325, the industry's first Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM chip, are already on store shelves, and devices based on the Broadcom BCM2049 Bluetooth/FM chip are currently nearing production. Now the newest member of this award-winning combo family, the BCM4329, adds the most advanced Wi-Fi technology and FM transmit capabilities to enable even more powerful applications in smaller devices.

As mobile phones become more media-centric - with cameras, full-featured browsers and enhanced audio capabilities - many consumers want to share photos, videos, music and data between their portable devices and other electronics such as TVs, PCs, printers, remote speakers, headsets and car stereos. These applications can benefit from the new 802.11n standard, which offers higher throughput, more robust connections and much greater coverage than previous Wi-Fi technologies.

Broadcom continues to raise the bar for mobile connectivity by delivering one of the industry's first solutions to offer 802.11n for mobile devices. It provides up to 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) of actual wireless throughput, allowing large file transfers to happen more quickly while consuming less total power. In addition, the BCM4329 employs space time block coding (STBC), an 802.11n feature that enables a mobile device to maintain a connection with an access point anywhere within an expanded coverage area.

The BCM4329 includes both FM transmit and receive capabilities. FM transmit enables consumers to stream music directly from a personal media players (PMPs) or mobile phone to car stereos or home theater systems without having to purchase special adapters or use bulky cables. FM receive is already a popular feature that enables consumers to obtain real-time traffic information as well as listen to music, news and sports broadcasts on their mobile phones.

The BCM4329 also integrates Bluetooth, which is already a ubiquitous feature in mobile phones and PMPs, enabling hands-free communications with wireless headsets, cordless data synchronization and stereo music streaming to headphones and speakers. Since Bluetooth and Wi-Fi operate in the same 2.4 GHz band, both the Broadcom BCM4325 and BCM4329 combination chips use innovative co-existence algorithms and a shared antenna system to minimize interference and provide even better performance than products that use separate Bluetooth and Wi-Fi solutions.

"Handset manufacturers are excited about the opportunities that 802.11n brings, but they are looking for single antenna solutions that meet stringent size and power requirements," said Chris Bergey, Director of Broadcom's Embedded WLAN line of business. "The BCM4329 is another example of how Broadcom is driving the industry towards combination solutions, not by delivering a one-size-fits-all technology, but by integrating the right mix of technologies for the right applications."

Technical Information

Since handheld devices lack the space, battery power and processing power to support 802.11n implementations with multiple antennas, the BCM4329 uses single-stream 802.11n to transmit and receive data. This significantly reduces the system's footprint and power consumption when compared to multi-stream solutions. Despite the use of a single antenna, the BCM4329 provides faster and more reliable wireless connections than current 802.11g products.

In addition to its performance advantages, the BCM4329 is the industry's smallest and lowest cost dual-band 802.11n solution. Dual-band capabilities allow Wi-Fi users to leverage the less crowded 5 GHz spectrum for media applications that require faster guaranteed bandwidth. To eliminate the cost and size barriers of adding dual-band functionality to mobile devices, the BCM4329 integrates 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz CMOS power amplifiers, which can reduce bill-of-material (BOM) costs by up to 75 cents while providing the same or better performance than solutions using external power amplifiers. Broadcom's extreme integration also reduces power consumption and makes BCM4329 designs fifteen percent smaller than those based on its predecessor, enabling modules that are less than 75 mm2 to accommodate the board space requirements of handheld devices.

Availability and Pricing

The BCM4329 combination chip is now sampling to early access customers and is scheduled for significant production quantities in 2009. Pricing is available upon request.