Broadcom today announced a single-chip Bluetooth solution optimized for wireless stereo headsets. The new chip features Bluetooth Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) capabilities that provide superior audio fidelity and longer battery life for an improved end-user experience. The new device is the first Bluetooth chip designed specifically for stereo headsets offered by Broadcom, and is the first product resulting from the company's recent acquisition of wireless audio specialist Zeevo, Inc.

The Broadcom Blutonium BCM2037 stereo headset chip includes a Bluetooth baseband and radio, as well as an optimized architecture designed to provide the best audio experience possible for users of wireless stereo headsets. In particular, the BCM2037 is the first headset-specific chip available that includes EDR, a technology that triples the data rate of non-EDR Bluetooth chips from 1 Megabits per second (Mb/s) to 3 Mb/s. To complement this solution, Broadcom has already introduced an EDR chip (the BCM2045) for host products such as cellular phones, notebook computers and other mobile devices. The higher throughput significantly reduces power consumption by minimizing transmit times and thereby increasing the battery life of headsets based on the BCM2037.

The higher data-rate of EDR also provides other user advantages such as:

• A more robust connection between the headset and the host by enabling the system to retransmit packets and refill buffers faster, minimizing the possibility of missed packets or interrupted audio
• The ability for a device based on the BCM2037 to connect and maintain simultaneous links to multiple Bluetooth enabled devices, such as an MP3 player, a phone, and a personal computer
• The ability to stream stereo audio from a single source to multiple headsets
• The ability to transmit full, uncompressed stereo audio rather than imposing limits on the types of audio files that can be transmitted to the headset

The BCM2037 is currently sampling to Broadcom's early access partners with production availability expected in the third quarter of 2005.