CSR adds Bluetooth to Actions MP3 designs

CSR disclosed that an MP3 design from Actions Semiconductor features its BlueCore technology for Bluetooth, enabling wireless stereo streaming music, handsfree calls from a mobile phone and wireless music file transfer from PCs or other Bluetooth-enabled devices.

The combination of the Actions chipset and reference design with CSR's Bluetooth silicon provides MP3 manufacturers with a low-cost but high-quality and highly differentiated offering.

Actions has designed the MP3 evaluation board around its MIPS 4KEc MP3 player chipset on a hardware development board and software development environment along with the CSR BlueCore4-ROM silicon.

As the functionality of MP3 players continues to evolve, wireless connectivity is set to be the biggest differentiator in products hitting the market this Christmas and into next year. Actions Semiconductor is offering OEMs further differentiation for their MP3 products with its own design by integrating wireless connectivity to a mobile phone. The addition of mobile phone connectivity was made possible by the two companies' close collaboration on the design.

With the call handling function, when a call comes in, the mobile phone pages the MP3 player, which will route the call to the Bluetooth headset and pause the music at the same time. Once the call is finished, the Actions-based MP3 player resumes MP3 playback.

Tracy Hopkins, VP of CSR's consumer business unit, commented, "With the huge growth in the MP3 and PMP market, it is crucial that manufacturers are able to offer consumers the best functionality. Wireless connectivity is becoming a must-have." Hopkins continued, "We have worked with Actions to also bring the added function of handling calls via the MP3 player/Bluetooth headset. Actions have put together a very feature-rich product that really uses Bluetooth functionality to the full."

John Lee, Actions global marketing strategy director, said, "The quality of CSR's support and its technology offering, as well as its understanding in integrating Bluetooth into a portable music platform meant it was very easy to work with CSR."