CES 2014: It's More Than Gadgets

Everyone knows the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is all about showcasing the latest and greatest electronic gadgets. Sure 4K ultra HD (UHD) TVs are pretty amazing, and so are the curved TVs, as well as some of the wearable devices and tablets crammed with all kinds of functionality. But these devices wouldn't exist without the tiny components developed and manufactured by the most innovative component manufacturers in the industry.

Component manufacturers leveraged the annual show to launch, demo or showcase some of their latest component designs, aimed at the consumer electronics market, ranging from wearable and handheld devices to satellite and smart TVs. Here's a sampling of some of the newest components for next-generation electronics devices unveiled by component suppliers at this year's show.

First up are PNI Sensor's Motion & Measurement (M&M) modules for wearable fitness devices, smartphones, video game consoles and TV remote controls. The company claims these devices are the industry's first M&M modules. The integrated platform provides accurate motion and heading measurement for any of these applications.

TI showcased its streaming audio system solution for streaming audio in home and portable applications. This solution, comprised of the Sitara AM335x processors, WiLink 8 connectivity solution, power management IC, audio codec and Aureus high-performance audio processors, enables consumers to connect all their portable or home connected audio devices that support AirPlay and DLNA.

Conexant Systems unveiled its CX2092x high-performance far-field voice input processor SoC designed specifically for smart TVs. The company says the chip "uses third generation voice processing technology to deliver "superior voice control with excellent speech recognition hit rates and voice communications with increased clarity in far-field conditions - up to four meters away from the TV."

Another first of its kind comes from MEMSIC. The company claims its connected watch development kit is an industry first. This dev kit is said to simplify the integration of sensors by providing all of the required calibration libraries and sensor fusion software. The wearable connected watch development kit is designed for a variety of wearable consumer electronic applications with connectivity to Apple and Android platforms, including health and fitness and sports devices.

Toshiba America Electronic Components unveiled new enhancements to its TB6865FG power transmitter and TC7763WBG receiver chipset that enable wireless power transfer to charge mobile devices faster. The wireless power chipset now supports 5-watt power transfer, and is compatible with the Qi low-power specifications version 1.1 defined by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC).

Also announced at CES 2014 is Bosch Sensortec's BME280 integrated environmental device that combines pressure, humidity, and temperature sensors in a single package. A major benefit for mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, smart watches, and electronic wristbands is its small footprint of 2.5 x 2.5 mm2 with a height of 0.93 mm in an 8-pin LGA package. The BME280 also offers very low current consumption of 3.6 µA (at 1 Hz), making it suitable for battery-driven applications.

Murata Americas took advantage of CES 2014 to launch its XRCGD series of quartz crystal resonators in a 2016 package size for wearable and handheld electronic devices. These devices are said to offer a cost advantage over other similar sized hermetically sealed packaging used today. The quartz crystal resonator line meets the strictest frequency tolerance requirements for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and radio frequency/baseband applications, said Murata.

MaxLinear used the show as a platform to announce that it has started shipping its MxL5xx family of Full-Spectrum Capture (FSC) tuner-demodulators for DVB-S/S2 satellite television systems. Designed for multi-channel gateways, the MxL5xx devices are touted as the first single-chip Full-Spectrum Capture satellite TV receiver ICs that support single or multiple RF inputs, up to a maximum of four. The six SoCs in the MxL5xx family of satellite front-end devices also integrate from four up to a maximum of eight DVB-S/S2 demodulators, which enables reception and demodulation of an equal number of digital satellite TV channels simultaneously.

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