CSR today announced the launch of
Synergy for Android, a new version of its groundbreaking, embedded
wireless system software. Synergy for Android is a complete
plug-and-play, multi-radio software platform that provides
end-users of Android-based handsets with advanced connectivity
capabilities. It also enables OEMs to quickly and easily develop
differentiated handsets with a richer set of features than the
standard Android platform can support. CSR’s Synergy for Android product
is being designed into several tier one handsets. Amongst the
first to be qualified by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group
(SIG) is a smart phone from the Japanese vendor Sharp.
“Android is growing in popularity and is set to
be one of the most dominant operating systems in the next
generation of smart phones,” commented Raj Gawera, Vice President
of Marketing for CSR’s Handset Business Unit. “The recent launch
of Google’s Nexus One has set a very high standard in terms of
features and performance within the developing Android handset
market. However it has also opened the door to a whole new range
of handsets with enhanced connectivity and location capabilities.
By using CSR’s Synergy for Android platform these phones will be
easy to develop and deliver the best user experience.”
First
announced in February 2009, CSR’s Synergy was the industry’s first
multi-radio connectivity software platform to offer overarching support
for all wireless technologies in CSR’s Connectivity Centre. The
new Synergy for Android is a complete plug-and-play connectivity
package for Android and includes support for Bluetooth, FM, Wi-Fi
and GPS. Synergy for Android drastically simplifies the
integration of multiple wireless technologies, speeding
time-to-market and reducing development cost for OEMs by including
everything from low-level transport drivers, to high level UI
add-ons for Android.
CSR’s new Synergy for Android platform enables
OEMs to differentiate their products with advanced connectivity
capabilities that the current standard Android platform may not
provide. Features include support for Bluetooth v3.0+HS (High
Speed), enabling users to transfer large multimedia files between
devices, as well as support for developing and new technologies
such as Wi-Fi Direct.
Synergy for Android platform also offers
performance improvements in wireless technology interoperability
and enables advanced new end-user use-cases by allowing multiple
radio technologies to act in a co-ordinated, collaborative manner.
For example, an NFC radio could be used to pair multiple devices
and trigger music streaming or a file transfer over Bluetooth or
Wi-Fi. This leads to a very intuitive and smooth end-user
experience.
CSR Synergy also extends the use cases of
Bluetooth technology further within Android-based handsets with
support for a variety of profiles including CSR’s proprietary
Proximity Pairing technology, image and data file sharing and
transfer between devices using BIP and FTP profiles, as well as
wireless printing using the BPP profile.
Allan Eriksen,
Software Marketing Manager, Handset Business Unit, CSR commented,
“The second wave of Android-based handsets is dawning and OEMs
have a tough challenge ahead of them, competing with some very
strong smart phones already in the market. However because CSR’s Synergy
for Android is able to support a richer feature set than the
current platform, we can offer designers a real competitive
advantage. Not only can we support features that we believe no
other platform can, the intelligence and collaborative nature of
the software also enables OEMs to provide consumers with new and
enhanced end-user experiences. The race is on, but thanks to the
plug-and-play nature of the platform, we can significantly reduce
the integration time, speeding time to market as well as reducing
the overall cost.”
CSR is a member of the Open Handset Alliance, the
group of companies driving forward the Android platform. Synergy
for Android is available now, and is already being designed into a
number of tier one mobile phone products as well as other
consumer electronics devices.
CSR will be demonstrating Synergy for Android at
Mobile World Congress, Barcelona from 15–18 February 2010 on stand
E51 in Hall 1. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. Use of this
trademark is subject to Google
Permissions.
