Broadcom has introduced a new platform for Android Wear smartwatch that reduces power consumption on these device. The company has announced that its latest products can be used in wearables to boost battery life and improve other features.
Broadcom claims that its new platform for its existing smartwatch chips cuts back on battery use enough to get a smartwatch that today can work up to two days to last about twice as long. The platform offers original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) more features including GPS with sensor hub processing,near field communication (NFC) and wireless charging support. Broadcom’s new smartwatch platform reduces power usage by up to 40 percent over the previous generation, driving further improvement on the core challenge of battery drain in wearables. The platform improves function and performance by offering a smaller form factor, enabling OEMs to add more features or include a larger battery inside their wearable to allow for even longer time between charges.
New smartwatch hardware will be shown by Broadcom at MWC 2015. In addition to an advanced application processor (AP) and Broadcom’s leading Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo chip in the new platform. The company introduced a smartwatch reference design platform for wristband-style wearables and higher-end smartwatches. Broadcom offers a complete smartwatch reference design including hardware, Android Wear-enabled software, an optimized bill of materials (BOM) and a rich set of features