CSR brings Bluetooth to stereo headphones for the iPod; DSP-based designs with native MP3 support result in twice the battery life

Cambridge , UK – 6 July, 2005 – CSR (LSE: CSR.L) today announced its BlueCore silicon is now inside iPod compatible stereo headphones from three companies: iTech, WiGear and Airlogic. All three companies now use BlueCore for Bluetooth stereo headphones (and plug-in adaptors) that have been designed to work with Apple’s iPod as well as other MP3 players. Three other tier-one cellular OEMs, existing CSR customers, use BlueCore for stereo headsets designed for use with mobile phones. The Digital Signal Processing (DSP) architecture built into CSR’s BlueCore technology means CSR offers the only Bluetooth silicon with native support for MP3. This results in better design functionality and up to twice the battery life.

CSR’s DSP inside the BlueCore IC is highly optimised to run audio CODECs including the basic SBC (Sub Band CODEC). More importantly however, CSR’s DSP architecture has the processor throughput to support MP3, AAC and other proprietary CODECs, with power consumption figures low enough for battery powered applications. Competing solutions only offer support for SBC and consume twice as much power as CSR’s 95mW, making them unsuitable for such applications.

CSR’s BlueCore is the world’s first and only Bluetooth silicon to support and integrate MP3 and other highly compressive CODECs. Because of this, customers for CSR’s stereo headphones or headsets benefit from enhanced audio quality and improved wireless operating range compared to those using first generation designs that support only SBC.

John Hodgson, CEO of CSR commented, “There are already tens of millions of people who own iPods or other MP3 players and these people will now be able to benefit from much more convenient wireless headphones”. Hodgson continued, “CSR is the leader in each and every Bluetooth market sector -- that includes both mono and stereo headsets. In 2004, CSR‘s BlueCore was designed into 85 percent of Bluetooth headsets.”

Glenn Collinson, Co-founder and Sales Director added, “CSR offers customers native support for MP3 and twice the battery life offered by the competition. It is clear why headset makers continue to choose to design in BlueCore.”

Only Bluetooth headsets designed using CSR’s BlueCore can wirelessly connect to a Bluetooth mobile phone and a music player simultaneously. When the user receives a phone call the device will automatically mute the sound and connect to the mobile phone. At the end of the call the original music connection will resume automatically. Only CSR’s BlueCore can reliably support multiple simultaneous connections meaning that headsets designed using other silicon cannot successfully support this feature.

About CSR
CSR plc is the leading global provider of Bluetooth technology and has developed expertise in other single-chip wireless communication standards such as Wi-Fi (IEEE802.11). CSR offers developed hardware/software solutions for Bluetooth based around BlueCore, a fully integrated 2.4 GHz radio, baseband and microcontroller. 

CSR is now producing its fourth generation BlueCore devices. BlueCore4 supports the Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) standard which was ratified at the end of 2004. BlueCore4 remains the only EDR silicon to be shipping in volume today. In November 2004 CSR launched UniFi, the first single chip 802.11a/b/g embedded solution specifically targeting the mobile phone and consumer electronics markets.

BlueCore features in over 51 per cent of all Bluetooth devices shipped and over 60 per cent of all qualified Bluetooth enabled products and modules listed on the Bluetooth website with industry leaders including Nokia, Dell, Panasonic, Sharp, Motorola, IBM, Apple, NEC, Toshiba, RIM and Sony using BlueCore devices in their range of Bluetooth products.

In March 2005, CSR acquired Clarity Technologies Inc., for its Clear Voice Capture (CVC) technology that enhances the audio performance of any voice-based product or system. Applications for CVC include wireless headsets, handsets and automotive hands free systems.

CSR has its headquarters in Cambridge, UK, and offices in Richardson, Texas, USA; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, Korea; Taipei, Taiwan; Aalborg, Denmark; and Lund, Sweden.

More information can be found at www.csr.com and the partner web site
www.btdesigner.com

More information about Bluetooth technology can be found on the SIG web site at
www.bluetooth.com